Week 7 Post 1

Throughout this experience, we have used positive and negative feedback from our mentor to shape a classroom activity that will (hopefully) really work when we have our own classrooms. Our activities changed drastically every week, from a basic idea to a detailed lesson plan. I know that some of us have even scrapped our entire plans at least once. I personally have seen my activity go from a vague concept to a well thought out plan for a whole semester! I realize that I didn't get as detailed as some of the activities that were only scheduled to last for a day or a week, but I feel that the day to day plans that I gave were sufficient.
During week one, I gave a very basic idea for a lesson plan that focused on powerpoint and persuasion. Despite the fact that I got very good feedback on the whole idea (brittney f. said on 2/18: "NICE idea for an activity! I wish I was able to participate in an activity like this when i was in middle school.") there were some criticisms. For example, although I had a powerpoint activity planned, I assumed that they would know the basics of powerpoint. In response to this, Meredith said on 2/19: "I think you have a good idea here, but make sure you in your plans you include an introduction to powerpoint and the materials that you will use for your project."
I made adjustments accordingly, and saw my activity go from being a basic idea with a focus on language arts to a detailed plan focusing more on math. I made changes, and once again recieved positive feedback. Kelli said on 2/22: "Wow! What a difference from last week. You did an excellent job with making things more appropriate for the age group." Comments like these really boosted my confidence, and with some of the constructive criticism, I was able to further mold my activity.
I ended up with a final product that was detailed and student-oriented. Some of the final comments that I recieved from livesimply and meredith were, "I like how indepth your intructions are. Having your process and directions so thought out is the way to be. Good job! " (Meredith, 3/24/05) and "You are doing wonderfully, especially at being specific about timetable and tasks for the teacher and the student." (livesimply, 3/25/05)
Despite the fact that these were some of our last activity-related postings, Richard continued to offer suggestions for improvement. I really appreciated that a lot, especially since this is most definitely the kind of activity that I would use in my classroom. Thanks for the feedback everyone!