Integrated Unit Lesson Plan Reflection

I felt very good after presenting my integrated unit lesson plan for the class. I thought that, in the spirit of the class, I employed the Wiki to its greatest potential by having it be the center of not only the unit and lesson, but also of the entire class.

I feel that Mr. Murphy's Wiki has had a tremendous effect on my educational philosophy. I explained to my class that having a class website provides everyone - teacher and student alike - with the ability to communicate and collaborate better than they ever have before.

What I like most about the WikiSpace is that it offers the user to attach a variety of items to a web page. Whether it's an educational video, a recorded explanation of assignment directions, or even a .pdf file of the class syllabus, the WikiSpace can hold the entire array of class information. What's even more incredible is that everything on the class Wiki is available from any computer with internet access. Therefore, students in the future will have fewer opportunities to approach a teacher with an excuse for not having their homework; if it's on the website, there shouldn't be a reason.

Another aspect of my presentation that I liked was in my ability to explain my thought process to my colleagues. As I watched a few of my peers struggle with the assignment of creating a poem from scratch, I was able to foresee where I might experience some reluctance from my students. I have since been able to go back and modify my procedure to accomodate those learners who might be afraid to share their own work on a public domain.

Each day brings new opportunities to create and reflect. I enjoyed the process of creating my class Wiki because it gave me an opportunity to really reflect on how I want my classes to be conducted in the future. I am fully confident that I will be able to employ the class Wiki to my classes someday, and that the time-consuming aspects of teaching like passing out papers and repeating directions may hopefully become a thing of the past.