Mr. Early's Decision

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Name:

  Principles of Teaching

  Course Title:

  Foundations of Curriculum and Instruction

  Course Number:

  8909030

  Career Cluster:

  Education & Training

  CIP Number:

  0713129900

  Course Type:

  High School – Career Preparatory

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, "The Right Copyright Mindset". See CPALMS resource ID# 222017.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Education professionals must adopt a growth mindset to support student learning in schools. By exploring various outcomes to the scenario "The Right Copyright Mindset," students will examine potential consequences to external motivators.

  An understanding of learning theories should inform decision-making at all levels in the educational field. Building fortitude will also enhance learners' ability to make decisions confidently.

  Many education professionals work autonomously without direct oversight or colleagues for collaboration, so empowerment in decision-making will elicit fortitudinous new educators in an everchanging educational landscape.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Apply theories of learning to an educational scenario
  • Role-play a character to demonstrate their understanding of effective decision making in a real-world education scenario.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Learning theories like behaviorism, constructivism, and motivational theory
  • Differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
  • The role of stakeholder input in educational settings

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How do effective classroom management techniques relate to theories of learning?
  • How do stakeholder concerns affect decision-making in classrooms?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. Set the scene for students: begin with the prompt, “It’s the end of the year, after testing, and your students are restless: what do you do to maintain educational focus?” Call on students to share what they would do and what they’ve experienced in the classes they’ve taken.
  2. Provide the case study, “The Right Copyright Mindset.” (ID# 222017) Give time for students to read and annotate.
  3. Facilitate a whole-group discussion with students: “What is Mr. Early’s dilemma?” [
     • Consider how he worries about the timeliness of getting the form back, possibly being denied, and getting student homework submitted.
     • it’s not about what is stated in the case study explicitly, it’s about what’s missing from the case study and Mr. Early’s train of thought. Educators should be curriculum-driven and keep focus on our purpose: in ELA. acquiring skills to support reading, writing, and speaking.]
     • Probe further; ask students, “What skill is Mr. Early assessing his students’ knowledge of in the homework they are not submitting?” While Mr. Early contemplates ways to externally motivate students to complete work, he does not consider how highlighting real-world applicability could inspire his students to perform despite having taken the end-of-course exam.
     • This discussion will pivot towards curriculum-driven teaching and intrinsic motivation.
  4. Put students into groups of 4 (If there are some groups of 3, just eliminate one of the stakeholders or make a group of 5 with any additional stakeholder you choose).
     • Provide students with the role-playing guide (see Attachments).
     • Assign each student a character role from the case study (see the list on the handout: either Mr. Early, a 6^th grade student in Mr. Early’s class, a parent of a 6^th grader in Mr. Early’s class, or the Dean of Students).
     • Each student should then independently complete the role-play guide based on their assigned character.
  5. Set a timer for 3 minutes: within each group the Mr. Early character should share their role play guide responses first.
  6. Then set another 3-minute timer and have the 6^th grade Student character share their role-play guide responses.
  7. Set another 3-minute timer for the Parent character to share his or her role-play guide.
  8. Set a final 3-minute timer for the Dean of Students to share his or her role-playing guide responses. While members are presenting, the teacher should circulate and support engagement.
  9. Next, give each group one of the group scenarios (see Attachment); because there are only 3 scenarios some groups may have the same scenario.
     • One suggestion is to make Mr. Early the group leader who opens the scenario and reads it to the group.
  10. After groups have read/heard the scenario, each character needs to respond to the situation based on their stakeholder's perspective.
      • Give adequate time for each member to share their responses within their group in character.
      • Teacher should encourage active listening, empathy, and respectful communication.
      • Optionally, rotate scenarios so each group experiences more than one situation.
  11. Once everyone has shared within their groups, have a representative from each group share their assigned scenario with the whole group and how each character in role responded to it.
  12. Assign students a writing task: Given the activities completed in class, students should rewrite the case study and provide a different scenario.
      • Give students the background and have them rewrite the scenario and provide a learning theory as evidence.
      • In their writing, they should discuss learning theories that apply to classroom management (like getting students to turn in homework.) They should consider how teachers can motivate students and what approaches appear to work on the surface but actually distract from learning.
  13. Future of Work Reflection Questions: As an education professional, how can class management garner long-term benefits to students? How can educators support a growth mindset to prepare students to become life-long learners?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Plan for odd-numberd groups (i.e. some groups of 3 or 5) and adjust roles as needed.
  • Do not distribute scenario cards until all role-play guides have been completed and shared.
  • Consider modeling an example character response for struggling students.
  • Emphasize empathy and communication throughout.