I feel that this unit plan is really great. I am very proud of the outcome, and there is very little that I would change, without having tried it in a classroom. As a whole, I feel that the unit flows wonderfully. There is a natural progression to the lessons; the order of them really helps to understand the material. The topic evolves from understanding fear to broaden into understanding media in general. I think the topic is appropriate for cycle 3 students and I think they would really enjoy a lot of the material and the work.
I think that the materials used are reasonable, and that they would not provide a problem in most schools. Access to a SMARTboard is possibly the biggest issue. Though the lessons are intended to be shown on a SMARTboard, a computer that the whole class will be able to look at will work fine.
I feel that the work that would be produced in this unit is too great to keep to themselves. Ideally, after the project, the work would be put on display and the videos put together to show the parents.
I honestly think the unit plan turned out really well. I would love to be critical with it, but really, when I look at it as a whole, I think it is excellent. I can’t wait to have a chance to try it out in a classroom.
The website itself is just the best thing ever. I think that this is so much better than paper lesson plans for so many reasons. For one, teachers from all over the world can read these lesson plans. It is a much easier way of looking through a unit plan. Another benefit is that pictures can be included, websites easily linked to, and videos made accessible. I also think my website is beautiful. I struggled to get it to look the way I wanted it to. I probably spent about 8 hours playing with colours, pictures and settings until I had it looking just right. This is one disadvantage—had it been paper lesson plans, I would have those 8 hours back. However, I will never have to spend the time figuring out how to work this particular blog site again, so it was worth it in the end. I already have plans to continue putting lesson plans into blogs. It will be useful for my career and for my portfolio, and it is also helpful to others.
I do not, however, think that my unit plan or my website are perfect. One comment I received is that, in lesson 03, more explanation of tone and how it can be changed would be necessary. More examples and explanation may be necessary for other lessons as well.
Another problem is that the time estimates are really just guesses—I have no idea how long any of this would take. I think that the estimates are reasonable, but I may be way off. For example, the collage project could probably take much longer, even several hour long sittings. Without more classroom experience, it is really hard to say. Also, being a substitute, I know that if these lessons were indeed undertaken by a sub, they would take much longer.
Something to take into consideration is that many school boards block access to certain websites. Youtube, where all of the videos are from, may be a blocked site. The links may not be accessible at schools. I don’t know how to overcome this problem.
One other change I would make were I to do this over would be to put the competencies and professional development goals for each section on a subpage, like the materials and evaluation. The reason for this is that they are only valid in Quebec, and have little relevance outside of our education system. For this reason, I would separate them from the lesson plans so that anyone from outside of the province would not need to scroll though them.
I have enjoyed making this website and I am thoroughly please with the outcome.
I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I do.
~Kate Poirier
