I spent this weekend working on curriculum planning and grading. I will be the first to admit that I like lesson planning a whole lot more than I like grading, but then, everyone has parts of their job that they prefer to others. For me, the best part of my job is getting to work with young people and learn with them. My love for that aspect of education even spills over into my choice of where to get my hair cut. I go to Aveda and let beauty students cut my hair...partly because it's a great deal monetarily, partly because I love having my scalp massaged while they wash my hair, but mostly because I love being part of helping someone master skills..if they make a mistake? It's just hair - it will grow back!
So, how does all of this relate to my weekend? I spent HOURS on both Saturday and Sunday working. Over the last week, I have developed a unit for my regular classes that I'm really excited about. I have researched a technique called the layered curriculum...once I knew there was a "term" for what I wanted to do, it made finding examples and research a lot easier! We will start the unit on Tuesday and they will have two weeks to master the content related to federalism. Each student will have control over how they choose to learn the content and prove their learning from within a framework of choices. The curriculum layers up from the bottom two levels of Blooms Taxonomy to the very top of the taxonomy. If students are content to stay at remembering and comprehending, their grade will reflect that they only have minimal mastery which translates to a C. If they want to master through application and analysis, they will earn a B. If they want to show mastery through evaluation and creation of new learning products, they can earn an A. On Saturday, I finalized putting all of the assignments and links to resources in Moodle. I then created several flipped lectures for the unit...watching lecture and taking notes is a choice in the bottom of the pyramid. The most important part of this process is the face to face conversation that students will be required to have with me as they finish each lesson. It's going to be labor intensive, but also rewarding. I hope they like this unit as much as I do!
I spent the afternoon today catching up on reading my AP student blogs. It was really interesting to see what they chose to write about. I am gaining quite a few insights into their personalities through this assignment and I am watching them grow as political thinkers...it is quite fun. The less fun part is assessing their writing. Oh, how I wish students could be motivated to work without grades! Actually, some of them could be I think, but I'm not in a position to test that theory.
On a personal level, I am slowly making progress in physical therapy. They are bumping up the activities a little bit each time. As a result, I come home wiped out, and sometimes uncomfortable. I have a second epidural block scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon. I need to write out my questions about it before that appointment. After the first block, the pain eased quite a bit and my mobility and ability to proceed with therapy improved dramatically. However, the sciatica on my right side returned. I need to ask whether we should direct the second shot to the right or elsewhere. I just want all of the pain to ease so I can get back to normal sooner. I'm thankful to have the insurance to do this....no complaints.
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