Reflections

In preparing for and then teaching our lessons, I have learned so much about ancient Egypt and I now understand just how well versed teachers need to be to teach the subjects at hand. I am assuming that my first couple of years of teaching will require a lot of reading up on different subjects. I guess the years that follow will require some researching as well to be up to date on information that children will need (and want!) to know.

I believe that our biggest downfall in our unit was the lack of proper assessment throughout the week and at the end of the unit. While discussions were plentiful we should have created some sort of rubric or checklist to be able to note who is saying what in discussions and who is demonstrating what kind of knowledge or understanding. We ended the unit feeling like it was pretty successful but looking back on it, we have little documentation to prove that the students actually learned something. Assessment for younger grades especially is something that I want to continue to explore. It is a challenge for me to think outside of the traditional assessment box and realize that assessment can take varied forms.