My name is Tamara Ross McCallum, I am a final year, 66 credit Literacy
Studies student, with at least 6 years of teaching experience at the primary
school level. I believe that this assignment was beneficial to my professional
growth. Through prior knowledge and the contents of this course, I was able to
manipulate the curriculum to extend my knowledge and locate the information
required for the compilation of this assessment. Though I am familiar with the
features of the National Standards Curriculum (NSC) such as the focus
questions, strands, skills, and objective, I did experience a few challenges
designing this lesson. Notwithstanding, the course (EDCU2013) content helped
me to navigate my way through the curriculum, as well as the assistance of my
group members.
The first challenge arose when it came to topic selection. Each member of the
group had different ideas. However, through effective communication we were
able to agree on a topic. One member suggested a topic found in the NSC for
grade 9 and because of my unfamiliarity to that grade, I was a bit hesitant. After
listening to and observing the ideas presented by the member, I agreed with her
choice of the topic.
The second challenge arose in our efforts to integrate the selected Language
Arts topic, which was “Informational Text Features with another subject,
simultaneously incorporating our curriculum concern. With the current
situation, being online teaching and learning because of the Pandemic, we
decided as a group to integrate the manipulation of technology in our lesson as
well as allow students to demonstrate their skill using software applications
such as google docs to complete their tasks.
This assessment has allowed me to gain a different outlook on conceptualizing
and planning lessons with regards to integration. I usually think about lesson
integration in lower school, such as grades 1 to 3, however I am realizing how
valuable it can be when utilized at any level of learning. In research from
education.ne.gov “An integrated curriculum implies learning that is synthesized
across traditional subject areas and learning experiences that are designed to be
mutually reinforcing.” Therefore, once integration within a theme or across
subjects is done effectively, students would have gained a more holistic
experience.
Another valuable lesson I learnt from the process was the importance of
planning and knowing my content, which would increase my chances of
intentionally meeting my learning objectives. Because I was unfamiliar with the
grade 9 curriculum, some research was required, both within the curriculum for
objectives and wider, for deepening my understanding of the topic. Through
strategic research on the content and brainstorming ideas with my group mates,
we were able to plan a realist lesson, aligned with the standards of the NSC and
if executed, the learning objectives would align with the assessment.
Thank you for this opportunity to reflect and I believe that I have grown
professionally through this experience.