LAI 590

I was really excited to be able to create my own TED-Ed lesson in this module. I have completed TED lessons for not only this class but also other classes and I really like doing them. The idea of using a video to teach a concept is really neat to me. For my own TED-Ed lesson, I chose to use Parts of a Plant as my main concept. My main science objective is: Students will be able to name the parts of a plant and briefly describe what they do through an interactive video lesson and mini-assessment. The science performance indicator is 3.1b. These are the standards currently being used in Buffalo Public Schools. The science curriculum is going to be revamped for younger grades in the coming years so these will change. As with all lessons I teach, English Language Arts standards are incredibly important. For this lesson, I chose to focus on L.K.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standards English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. This standard fits this activity be...

The concept of a flipped classroom seems scary. Students doing the "lecture" portion at home and homework portion at school seems crazy, but it works. John Graney perfectly describes a flipped classroom setting in his article, Flipping Your EL Classroom: A Primer . He says "Learners gain control over their learning." I am a firm believer in that statement. When I first heard about the idea of a flipped classroom, I too, thought it was crazy and could never work. Once I was able to observe a flipped classroom in action though, I realized that by allowing students to do the "more cognitively demanding activities in class", the teacher was able to reach all students where they needed help most. It should not be assumed that students can go home and complete homework in a proficient manner. Not all students will be proficient. In my class, that statistic is closer to 25% proficiency at the end of a lesson. With a large ELL population, my students require more....