Action Plan

One comment on my curriculum unit plan was that I should add more activities and supplements to aid in the learning because I might not have enough to fill all of the time. Looking back on my curriculum plan and having the experience I have now in the classroom, I definitely agree that what I had wasn't enough for a 90 minute class. Now, I intentionally way over-plan for each block. I have never run out of things to do because I have a million activities ready for each block. Most times, we don't finish anywhere near all of the activities I have planned, but we always get to the content, as it comes first. Then, I move on from there in order of importance and coolness (ha!). The kids are never sitting around waiting on the bell to ring... they are always producing something fruitful and doing something important and meaningful to learning the content.

Another comment that I had on my curriculum unit plan was that I should add more visual aids on my Power Points. I have done that as well. Almost every slide has a little picture to help the students to grasp the material. If I am talking about a primary reinforcer, there is a picture of a snickers bar (food); If I am talking about a secondary reinforcer, there is a picture of a $5 (money to buy food). If I am talking about Pavlov's Dogs, there is a cartoon of how the experiment happened, and pictures to visually represent the UCS, CS, UCR, and CR. For the States of Consciousness, on the slide about sleep walking, I have a little man in his nightgown walking around (he's animated)... it's cute. =) I have also added clips to them for openers and as little aids to help them learn a particular thing.

A third comment on my curriculum unit plan was that I should put more information on my Power Points and make them longer. This has also just happened, without even trying. My lessons are longer than they were in my curriculum unit, and my lecture is longer as well. The students get a great deal of information in one day... they learn 1/3 to 1/2 of a chapter per 90 minute block, so this makes my Power Points a lot more detailed and elaborate. I put a lot of time into them with all of the information and animation that I do.