My lessons are unique because I do not have a set curriculum to follow. I am able to create my lessons solely based on standards and my own creativity. This also allows me to effectively scaffold lessons so students truly understand the concepts I’m teaching. The creativity comes into play when I’m using the SAMR model. I’ll take a concept I want my students to learn - like Writing News Stories - and then I have to use my creativity to imagine the best way to teach the lesson that is novel, effective and whole. Students do not want to memorize/take notes, so the question becomes: How can I plan a lesson that will allow students to master concepts to the point they could explain it to me or help another student with project-based learning? I decided to have students analyze leads, re-arrange stories so they are in the correct order, and then they will write their own news stories. They will have to choose a topic, prepare interview questions and interview two people all before coming back and organizing their notes, creating a story, and then editing it. By working through every step in a real-life example students will effectively learn how to write news stories in one project. My thought process moved me from planning a lesson to being a true designer because I had to layout each step, ensure that my plan would meet each standard, and that through this project students would have an effective and whole lesson. If I sent students out without preparation, they would fail. My design scaffolds the project so it is manageable and setting students up for success.
