[Education 410—Teaching in Today’s Schools

[Education 410¡ªTeaching in Today¡¯s Schools

Brittani Bush

Impact on Student Learning Project

My impact on student learning project focused on health education at the ninth-grade level.

This project allowed me to gage student learning as my students and I moved through Unit 7 covering

tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. My 2nd period health class contains 24 students including 13 boys,

and 11 girls. The majority of my students are Caucasian, there are no African Americans, Latinos, or

other groups present in my 2nd hour class. However, even though my students may not be racially

diverse they are all truly different in their own ways. Each student has his or her own way of learning

and they all function at various levels.

For this health unit, my goal was to introduce the unit by seeing what the students already

knew. To do this I created a short pre-test containing 18 questions, worth a total of 25 points. The pretest was made up of a variety of basic questions relating to the drug unit. I feel as if the pre-test helped

me in planning my unit lessons by providing me with a basis of where my students were and what I

needed to focus on in order to help them gain further knowledge.

To engage my students in learning I found it to be necessary to shift my focus as a teacher away

from the beliefs of standardized testing and focus more on the behaviors of my students. I believe that

the best practices should be geared to meet the needs of each individual student. As an educator I have

found that it is my job to work collaboratively with other teachers, parents, administrators, board

members, as well as my students in order to drive student learning. Effective teachers are able to shift

the focus of their lessons away from views and beliefs and focus on behaviors (Whitaker, 109). By

understanding the behaviors of my students and how they learn I will be able to meet their learning

needs and better help them overcome the challenges they face when it comes to absorbing new

information. My goal is to work toward student success by engaging students in a variety of learning

methods and assessment techniques. ¡°Effective teachers focus on the behaviors that lead to success,

[Education 410¡ªTeaching in Today¡¯s Schools

Brittani Bush

not the beliefs that stand in the way of it; effective teachers don¡¯t let standardized tests take over the

entire class they simply use it as a way to guide student success¡±, (Whitaker, 110).

"A positive impact on student learning means that a teacher through instruction and assessment

has been able to document students' increased knowledge and/or demonstration of a skill or skills

related to the state goals and/or essential academic learning requirements." Through this teaching

experience I was able to observe student knowledge prior to teaching my lessons through a pre-test.

Then throughout each lesson I was able to implement the information that I found necessary for my

students to learn by creating a visual aid through Power-point, by implementing various hands on and

interactive activities, and by providing in class review time. I believe that each of these things is essential

to meet the learning needs and domains of each individual student. One of the best practices includes a

balanced curriculum that focuses on educating the whole child through a challenging and common

curriculum. A balanced curriculum should be based on the best knowledge of how children develop and

learn, promoting brain growth and development through an enriched environment. Within a balanced

curriculum all subject areas should be presented, not just those that students will be tested over. By

incorporating a balanced curriculum within my classroom I hope to prepare students for success in not

only in school but also in life. I believe that education should be geared toward the students, therefore

by implementing a balanced curriculum it will be my job to make sure that each lesson is student

centered rather than teacher centered. Through this learning project I discovered that teaching is not

effective if my only goal is to teach to improve performance on a test. Teaching is being able to figure

out the learning styles and interests of my students and being able to implement various teaching

strategies into each unit. Implementing a balanced curriculum will help students find relevance in and

connections with what they are learning. It will also enable them to develop a passion for learning,

enabling them to become lifelong learners.

[Education 410¡ªTeaching in Today¡¯s Schools

Brittani Bush

Another practice I used while teaching this lesson was integration. By integrating the curriculum

I was able to provide my students the opportunity to identify various topics relating to drugs, develop

questions, plan inquiry, work in groups, research information, and share the learning process and

information with one another. This type of teaching practice allowed students to take ownership for

their performance and growth within the classroom.

Active learning opportunities were also provided for students throughout this Health Unit 7:

Drugs. Each lesson was structured to provide the students with basic information through a Power-point

presentation along with the opportunity to apply the skills being taught through hands-on experiences

and activities. I believe this type of learning is essential because it allows the students to work with

others to construct meaning from new ideas and concepts based on the background knowledge

provided. Active learning engages students by allowing them to apply new skills, try things out, ask

questions, and collaborate with one another. This was method was used in almost every lesson I taught

during the duration of this unit. I believe that these kinds of learning experiences and opportunities are

the most beneficial and most memorable for students.

The level of participation from my students was overall evenly disturbed. I feel as if the students

all participated in some way whether it be by answering a question presented in my Power-point

presentations, or by asking a question related to a video clip, or even by completing an in class project

or participating in a class activity. As a teacher I know that all students learn in different ways and that

all students have their own way of expressing themselves; that is why I want to be able to incorporate a

variety of learning opportunities and ways for my students to engage themselves in each lesson within

my classroom. I believe that by providing students with options I will better be able to stimulate critical

thinking. One way of doing this is by asking the students questions throughout each Power-point

presentation in which they have to think about and work together to generate the most appropriate

answers.

[Education 410¡ªTeaching in Today¡¯s Schools

Brittani Bush

The results of my pre-tests and post tests are evidence that my students learned something

throughout the course of this unit. The results of my pre-test showed that the students did not have

much knowledge relating to drugs and how they affect the body. However, the results of the post test

show that the students had a basic understanding of what they had learned. They were able to identify

and define key vocabulary words from the unit, they were able to explain the affects that drug abuse

and drug misuse can have on the body, and they were able to answer a variety of multiple-choice

questions. I would use this data to recognize the importance and the value of getting to know my

students and being able to understand their individual learning needs. As a teacher it is important to me

that I focus on what really matters¡­and that is the students. According to Whitaker, ¡°good teachers

consistently strive to improve¡­, ¡°not only student performance but also their own.

[Education 410¡ªTeaching in Today¡¯s Schools

Brittani Bush

Health Unit 7: Drugs¡ªUnit Lesson Outline

Day 1: Thursday, March 29, 2012

Introduction to Unit 7: Drugs

? Short Pre-test (25 points) outlining the basic objectives of the unit.

Test Contents:

o 3 Short Answer¡ª

? Define what a drug is and how it affects the body

? List three out of the five ways that a drug can enter the body

? List at least five risk factor associated with drug use

o 15 Matching¡ªMatch the vocabulary word with the correct definition

Activity:

Drug Scattergories Game¡ªin pairs students will work together to list as many drug

names, both legal and illegal, as they can think of on a sheet of paper. Student goal is to

come up with as many as possible. Once everyone has created their list together as a

class each group will share their list. They must cross off the drugs that other groups

have (no one can have the same drug as another). The group at the end with the most

drugs still left on their list win the challenge

Day 2: Monday, April 9, 2012

Chapter 19: Medicine and Drugs

? Power-point Presentation (Slides 1-10)

Worksheets:

? Unit 7: Chapter 19¡ªReteaching Activity Worksheet

? Unit 7: Chapter 19¡ªLesson 1 Quiz

Day 3: Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Chapter 19L Medicine and Drugs

? Using Drugs Safely¡ªPower-point (Slides 11-13)

? Short Youtube Video Clips (Drug Abuse and Drug Misuse)

? Video Reflection: have students reflect on what they heard, or saw in each

video.

Worksheets:

? Unit 7: Using Medicine Safely Quiz

Day 4: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Chapter 20: Tobacco

? Power-point Presentation (Slides 15-23)

? Slide 24¡ªPromoting Smoke Free Environment Youtube Video

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