Reflection On Creating a Unit Plan

      The unit plan project that we did in this class was a very great experience for me. Throughout this first year of teachers college we have done many different lesson plans but it was a little different planning an entire unit. We had to complete one in science, but the unit plan that we had to plan in this course, I found to be more difficult, though educational. This specific unit plan, and in particular the template, was A LOT of work. 

http://bit.ly/24kCm52

     Although, I can say that it was very educational and informative planning a unit this way, this specific unit planning process was very in depth. However, there were a number of specific things that I thought were very interesting and useful from the template. I liked how Zoe provided us with the section on Instructional Strategies and Approaches for integrating all the different cross curricular subjects and issues such an equality/equity, Environmental Education, Financial Literacy etc. I thought that this was very useful because it allows you to quickly jot down ideas that you would like to incorporate within your unit. I can imagine that while planning a unit, many teachers have a bunch of different ideas about integrating learning and cross curricular integration etc, but when it comes time to execute the lesson they may forget these great ideas. I think that the template is great for this as it forces you to write your ideas down, which allows you to go back and look at the different ideas that you had, when preparing to execute each lesson from your unit plan. I also thought that the backwards design was a great way of creating a unit; starting with a culminating task based on a big question, and then plan your unit around your class being able to answer that big question and complete the culminating task. Working as a group was also beneficial to me, because this process is all new to me. 

http://bit.ly/1QPeMjH

    Being able to create this unit plan alongside my peers was useful as we became a community of learners, who have been helping each other figure out this process as we go along. We have been collaborating and bouncing ideas off of each other, making our unit plan stronger. Overall, I thought that this unit plan assignment was a great assignment. Not only did it foster great collaborative learning, it also provided a challenge for us to rise to. Furthermore, even though I do not think that I personally will go about planning my units this way, I think it is a great way to demonstrate different ways in which teachers plan units, and provides myself with a great point of reference for when I have to create other unit plans, in terms of strategies to implement cross curricular learning, as well as planning and organizational techniques.

   After my group and I have finished presenting our Unit Plan I will provide a link in this post for you to view our unit plan, as well as the template that Zoe provided us for planning!

FNMI Ed Con't. Learning Activity

Another great way to address FNMI issues within the class is to have the class take part in the Activity which Andrew, Randy, and Myself came up with. I will provide a link to the activity for those who wish to view it, however, I will quickly summarize the activity.

http://bit.ly/1W3i1Mw

ACTIVITY
Separate the class into 3 groups. Provide each group with a puzzle, and designate each group as either Red, Blue, or Green.
The Red group will have to complete the puzzle without any verbal communication.
The Blue group will  have to refrain from touching any of the pieces or continuing to solve the puzzle every two minutes, for a minute.
Both the Red and Blue groups will be missing key pieces for the completion of their puzzle.
The Green group will have no obstacles, they will have all of the puzzle pieces and will be able to work uninterrupted.

The point of this activity is to demonstrate how residential schools operated, as well as how schools with a high number of FNMI students, or in a highly populated FNMI area are underfunded.

The missing pieces represent the lack of funding, the continuous stopping of the Blue group represents how Aboriginal students in residential school were only in the classroom for a few hours a day, and the rest of the time was spent doing manual labor around the school grounds. The lack of communication for the Red group represents how FNMI children were stripped of their culture, and lastly, the Green group represents the 'Normal' public school.

After the activity, speak to the students about their experience and if they thought it was fair. There are ample opportunities within this activity for further inquiry such as funding for schools in areas of high Aboriginal population, schools on reserves etc. In addition, there are also a number of different opportunities for cross-curricular integration within this lesson, such as history, geography, math and art.

Integrating Aboriginal Education

There are number of benefits to integrating aboriginal ed into our curriculum. 
      For one, the indigenizing of our curriculum is something that we can do to help  make indigenous peoples feel represented in an education system that has failed them so terribly. In addition, by doing this we are also helping to stop the marginalization of indigenous peoples within our country and schools. For example, in science, indigenous culture and beliefs are considered non sense. So as an indigenous child, when you come to science class your teacher is telling you that what your grandparents believed in and the knowledge they have passed down is nonsense. That is no way to treat someones culture. 
         Instead, we should be incorporating indigenous knowledge into our curriculums. There are also essential skills that are valued in indigenous cultures that we, as a community, seem to be lacking today, such as working together and reverence for nature and living sustainably and cohesively with the earth. In addition, where our subject areas are so disjointed and separate, in indigenous cultures all of the 'subject areas' are taught in one, as life lessons. Life does not happen in separate subject areas, and most problems we face in life involve a number of moving parts and thus, by learning all subject areas at the same time we are better equipped to solve real world problems.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR INTEGRATING FNMI EDUCATION
          There are so many opportunities to integrate aboriginal education into our current curriculum that there really is no excuse that educators are not doing it today. For example, Zoe showed us a great chart that listen the common characteristics of aboriginal knowledge, some of which included teamwork, reverence for nature etc. Topics such as teamwork can be taught everyday in the classroom when you do group work. Reverence for nature and sustainability can be taught through recycling or cleaning up the school, or more specifically, you can have the students research how we are destroying the ecology of our planet by polluting. Aboriginal education is very much similar to common sense, so there will always be opportunities to integrate aboriginal ed throughout the school day.

Innovative Lesson Plan Review

Lesson By: Gary Simmons, Ontario

http://www.canadashistory.ca/Education/Lesson-Plans/Lesson-Plans/High/Survivor,-Canada-Style-Overcoming-our-Environment

Grade Level/ Strand: Grade 7, History, New France and British North America, 1713-1800

Topic: Life as an indigenous Canadian before the settlers, Challenges, Strategies and Technology

http://bit.ly/1Gf2Tif

Overall Expectation: Grade 7, A1. Application: analyse aspects of the lives of various groups in Canada between 1713 and 1800, and compare them to the lives of people in present-day Canada (Specific Expectation: A1.1 analyse key similarities and differences in social values and aspects of life between present-day Canadians and some different groups and/or communities in Canada between 1713 and 1800)

 Lesson Explanation: 

This lesson Is meant to take place over four classes

The students are separated into groups and are giving instructions- they must survive for a month in the wilderness with the clothes on their backs and one plastic lighter. Everything else must be done using past indigenous technology. Students will be tasked with recording information such as shelter plans, plans for food, protection, important tasks etc- all solutions must be viable. During the 4^th class a winning team will be announced based on their answers to the questions provided, as well as bonus points awarded for extra questions and performance tasks.

Class 1- Explain the background to the problem and begin the simulation. Have the students read the explanatory hand-out: What situation are the students in, what resources are available for them, what are the challenges they face? Set the class up into teams of three to five and explain the competition. Go over the "rules of the simulation and show slides of their new home (slides of local wilderness or forest). Students should begin thinking about their answers to the group questions provided on Appendix A sheet.

Class 2- Add the enrichments, e.g., rock sample for tool making, wood for fire-making, other local resources. Do out-of-class activities to enhance the students' awareness of the challenges. Some activities might include having the students try and start a friction fire, create an axe out of rocks and sticks, create a wooden spear and throw it at a target, create a lean-to/tepee, weave a basket etc.

Class 3- View the students' results. Answers should be written on large sheets of newsprint so the entire class can see their ideas. Students view each other’s answers. Lead a discussion with the class, some prompts include: What are some challenges you faced? How did indigenous peoples of the past overcome these challenges? The class should also discuss who they thought provided the best/most innovative/most detailed/practical answers and solutions to the presented problems.

Class 4- Announce which team won based on the criteria and bonus questions. Possible prizes could include certificates, pizza, no homework for a day etc. Enhance learning with a good video on First Peoples.

Homework Consolidation- Students do an individual assignment. They answer a series of questions on the survival stimulation, including an appreciation of what they learned about the abilities of our First Peoples.

http://bit.ly/1X5GmAJ

Why Should This Lesson Be Considered Innovative

             I think that this lesson/activity should be considered innovative for a number of reasons. 

Firstly, I think that the idea itself is very innovative. Survivor is a show that is, and has been popular for quite some time now and I think that having the student’s pretend/think about what it would be like to experience Survivor in their local community is something that they would find interesting and entertaining. Also, having the students learning outside of the classroom is essential to the lessons innovation. The students are learning about survival and their local/Canadian ecosystem by actually being outside in nature. This lesson is also innovative because it appeals to many different learning styles. Students who do not benefit from being inside and reading textbooks all day are now engaged because they are outside, moving around, picking things up, building things etc. Artistic students are given the opportunity to create tools, baskets, shelters etc. Students who prefer to write are given the opportunity to write up their answers. In every group there are enough differing tasks that every member could have a preferred learning style and have an aspect of the activity that they can be excited about. This activity also allows for a number of different ways to be evaluated as you can see above. 

            This activity is also innovative because it allows for so many cross-curricular integrated learning opportunities as discussed above; time permitting you can literally integrate every subject in the Ontario curriculum into this activity.  This activity is also innovative because it forces the students to look at an issue, or idea in a different light. For example, in this activity students will gain a new appreciation for how hard life and survival for the past indigenous peoples must have been and how ingenious and adaptable they were. In addition, they will also learn how much they rely on technology and the modern comforts of our society. They will also learn the importance of humans working with nature to survive. By having the students play a game like this, they are learning every step of the way, across all subjects, while still having fun.

If you would like more information on this lesson feel free to contact me!

http://bit.ly/1W3ii1U