I am a day behind in posting my weekly EPI updates. It’s been a difficult few days, but I am getting by.
Regardless of the other stuff that’s going on in my life, I am chugging right along in EPI. I am officially halfway through with this, my last, term of EPI. Woo hoo!
I spent most of the week in my pajamas, semi-permanently affixed to the couch, surrounded by all of my class materials…
I alternated between reading chapters of my educational psychology book, taking quizzes on said chapters, and writing critical reviews of them.
I managed to finish all of the assignments for my Diversity class, with the exception of two responses that I will make to other students as soon as they post their critical reviews. In essence, I finished four weeks early.
I did not do any work for my Classroom Management class because I was already ahead.
My problem-based learning assignment for the week was to create the Capstone Performance for the lesson plan. This is the summative assessment that will gauge if students have mastered the learning objectives I have previously aligned to Florida standards. I had to write a description of how students will create the performance — the strategies they will use, how the room will be set up, and how students will be assessed. In case you’re interested in what this looks like, I have pasted part of my assignment below:
The capstone performance for this project is divided into two parts. There will be a written component and a movie project; both parts will have their own rubrics. Although the movie project will be a group effort (teams of three or four students), students will still be graded individually – both for the movie project as well as the paragraph each student will be required to write. First, students will research and compose paragraphs that provide two solutions for the problem and four justifications for each solution. Members of each group will approach the problem from the perspective of their specific roles. For example, child psychologists will present solutions that address the psychological effects on young hurricane victims. Students who play the role of “principals” will address issues from the perspective of school administrators. Likewise, students playing the role of student body leaders will research the problem from a student’s perspective and will devise solutions that encourage civic participation by the student body at large. Students will present their paragraphs to other members of their respective cooperative groups. Then, the groups will discuss all presented solutions while analyzing them for their viability. Group members will then synthesize the information presented by all members and will work together to formulate one solution that they will present to the audience.
Each group’s final, agreed-upon solution will be presented in the form of a movie, which is the second part of the capstone performance. Students will create their movies using school computers and movie-editing software. Movies must be between five and ten minutes long. Prior to presenting each movie to the audience on September 15, each member of the group will stand up and explain how the solution that is about to be depicted in the movie addresses the problem from his or her role’s perspective (i.e., psychological, educational, and civically). These oral presentations will be limited to two minutes. The time frame for completing the entire capstone performance will be fifteen days (eleven full class days and two weekends).
The audience will consist of the class’s students, the Hickville County Board of County Commissioners, and Hickville County’s School Superintendent. School administrators will be asked to play the roles of the commissioners. The class will invite Mr. Superintendent to participate in this exercise; however, should he decline, a school administrator will play his role. The room will be arranged so that the commissioners and Mr. Superintendent are sitting at a long table in the back of the classroom. The table will face the whiteboard, which will have a movie screen that can be pulled down from the ceiling above it. Students will sit on chairs that have been placed on the side of the room in such a position that students can easily see all group members as they make their individual presentations before each movie. Students will also be able to look to their right at the commissioners and Mr. Superintendent and to their left at the movie as it is projected onto the screen in the front of the classroom. Members of each presenting group will sit at a table near the podium when it is their turn to present. The teacher will sit on the side of the room to take notes and during each presentation.
Throughout this lesson, students will employ metacognition skills as they formulate a plan for arriving at a solution to the problem, analyze and synthesize the information they collect during the research process, monitor their progress, and make adjustments as they deem necessary. Students will also be responsible for making sure that all technical aspects of the assignment are in working order; thus, they will need to ensure that they allow enough time in the planning process to deal with last-minute issues that may arise. In addition, the written component of the capstone performance will require students to employ metacognition skills as they justify the solutions that they present to their respective groups. Student autonomy will be incorporated as the students will individually decide which roles they will play during the course of this lesson. Students will, at times, work independently during the research process unless they request feedback from their peers or the teacher. In addition, students will select one member of their respective groups to act as the spokesperson who introduces the movie project to the audience.
As you can see, there is a lot of brain work that goes into planning a lesson of this nature.
Whew!
The weekend brought with it my final Saturday class sessions. Although I had not gone to bed until 2am (I was finishing the Estonian Lace Doily), I had no trouble getting up for class. I was psyched! I was also eager to see my classmates for the last time.
My first class of the day was Classroom Management. It seemed to take forever to get through. I was eager to get to my next class, which was Diversity. This class is comprised of my fellow veteran EPI classmates as well as the newest round of teacher-wannabes. Those poor students. I remember that point in my first term of EPI. Although we were over the hump, we were exhausted, as they were. However, my instructor, the director of the program, was wonderful. She always incorporates cooperative group work in her Saturday classes, so time flew by. I talked to a young lady who very much impressed me. She was very articulate and had a lot of experience that will serve her well in a classroom one day.
After this class, I had to attend an advising session. This is what students always have to do during the second Saturday class of each term. There are two classrooms set up for advising. Returning students – those registering for the next term’s classes – go into one room. Completing students – those finishing EPI – go into another room.
Folks, I’d been waiting to enter Door #2 for twenty long weeks.
I was so excited that I took the following picture…
That was the sign just outside of the room.
I did the happy dance as I entered. 😀
My advisor, the assistant director of the EPI program, provided much-needed information on the final steps that we students will need to take to obtain our permanent certification. I still need to take the Professional Ed test and get my fingerprints done.
Then, it was lunch time.
A few of us ladies went to a local restaurant, but first I visited a grocery store in the same plaza so I could pick up an arrangement of flowers for us to present to the teacher of our last class — the problem-based learning class.
She has been so amazing. I’ve written about her already.
Everyone had already signed a card that I’d picked up before the day started.
She seemed surprised when we entered class after lunch and handed her the flowers.
She asked what they were for, and we jokingly told her we hoped she would grade leniently for the rest of the term.
LOL
That was when she blew our minds away by reviewing the assignments we will be completing during the last half of the term.
Oh.
My.
Word.
I thought the first half was difficult. The program saved the best for last (insert sarcasm).
I know I will get through these last assignments, although I may officially be ready for the white strait jacket afterwards.
And thus ended my week.
I am creeping closer toward the finish line.
I feel like the guy who I watched on The Biggest Loser 365 last night. There was a point in the program when he was doing a low crawl while pushing a heavy box of some sort across a floor.
He kept thinking about the promise he had made to his mother before she died…a promise to get healthy.
Long ago, I made a promise to myself that I would be a teacher in every sense. These EPI classes have been the weights that I’ve been pushing across that floor.
Though I won’t lose 200 pounds in the process, my brain will be healthy from all of the exercise it will have been put through, and I will be able to share with my own students how to properly exercise their own minds.
Onward I go…
Pushing for a strong finish.
I. Will. Do. This.
Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: EPI, problem based learning, teaching, teaching certification | 1 Comment »
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