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REFLECTIVE PRACTICE – SLO1
Semester Unit Plans– SED525
Website Development – SED619, SED646, SED695
The unit plans involved backwards planning and organization of topics and resources to
needed to teach units with the semester of biology A. Dr. Herr provided his SED525 students
with a template that included the visual organization and space available for each topic and its
standards, notes, readings, homework assignments, labs and projects, audiovisuals (videos,
internet sites), demos, tests, and even points. In this template, I compiled a rich collection of
resources and ideas to make the biology curriculum accessible for all students who have distinct
and unique learning needs and abilities.
Science is different from other subjects and it is considered to be a more difficult
subject for many. A reason for this may be because it demands different approaches to learning
and special characteristics of the learner that other subjects do not, such as reading and analyzing
information, developing and testing hypothesis, collecting data and drawing conclusions, etc.
Science has a structure and many hierarchical concepts, and making connections between those
concepts is vital for understanding. Biology is really a branch of science that encompasses many
other branches such as chemistry, physics, health, and math. Considering the difficulty and
complexity of science, the process of learning science becomes overwhelming most of the time
and for most high school students. Planning ahead thoughtfully, how to cover the many topics in
an organized and comprehensible manner allows of the efficient use of time and the
overwhelming feelings may be kept to a minimum.
I feel I was successful in preparing unit plans of the first semester of biology because I
have been teaching biology for seven years and I am very familiar with the topics covered. I
have also attended numerous professional developments, science and learning workshops, which
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have provided me with a rich collection of ideas and techniques in how to present the material to
a variety of learners. In addition, taking four technology classes as part of the masters’ program
have made me realize the importance of technology in the science classroom, and the many
resources available to present abstract concepts. During these classes with Dr. Herr, I collected
numerous websites that contain video-clips, games, power points, and even audio about biology.
I am also grateful to the many lab activities, especially the discrepant events that we did in Dr.
Herr’s class. I have included many of those in my biology A semester plan.
Putting in writing everything necessary to teach an entire semester allows me to use
time efficiently, keep track of deadlines, and most importantly keep students and others
informed, to an extent, of the kind of learning that takes place in my classroom. From these unit
plans: Introduction to Biology, Biochemistry, Cellular Biology, Cellular Energetics, and
Genetics, I created a semester plan. I provided my students with a copy of the semester plan at
the beginning of the semester This semester plan, in one single paper had enough information for
students to know what, when, and how they were going to be learning biology A. I was pleased
to see that many students on their own initiative kept checking what had been done in class. In a
way the semester plan served as a motivator because students kept looking forward for the next
and perhaps exciting activities. Many times they question why we are falling behind or why did
not covered a topic or why did not do an activity. That type of student involvement inspires me
to keep giving my very best. In a way, it also forced me to do my unit plans for the second
semester because I knew my students were expecting it. I believe that showing students
preparation and organization gives them confidence that their teacher is competent and actually
cares about their learning. In the other hand, this kind of teacher preparation sets a tone for
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students to know what is expected of them. It may teach them time management and life skills to
be successful students.
I will continue to refine my unit plans, semester plans and everything in them. After
completed the masters’ program, I will definitely have time to coach new teachers and share this
type of planning. I will also collaborate with colleagues who teach other subjects as we will
begin to work on the humanities model of interdisciplinary units.
I must dedicate my reflective practice to Dr. Herr because even though his classes were
extremely difficult and made me cry several times in the past two years, I became a better
prepared teacher, which was my goal when I started the science masters program. I was able to
create a website that displays a collection of resources to teach biology. I will definitely
continue to make this website richer as I get more time to work on it, continue learning about
website design software, and look back and reflect on the infinite things I learned form Dr.
Herr’s wealth of knowledge. I thank Dr. Herr for helping me realize that knowing how to use
technology and having a wealth of scientific knowledge makes science teaching and learning
much more fun and efficient for everyone.