A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. - Henry Adams

Jerry Smith's Digital Teaching Portfolio

Welcome Resume Standard I: Plans Instruction Standard II: Creates Learning Climates Standard III: Manages Instruction Standard IV: Assesses Results Standard V: Reflects on Teaching Standard VI: Collaborates with Others Standard VII: Professional Development Standard VIII: Demonstrates Content Knowledge Standard IX: Implements Technology

Standard I: Designs/Plans Instruction & Learning Climates

Introduction

The planning and designing of lessons and learning climates has probably taken more time than any other area of teaching: It was certainly the hardest to get the hang of. Designing lessons with a good hook takes about three times as long as actually delivering the lesson! Most of the time, the well-planned lessons go more smoothly than those that have not been scrutinized as much.

I had no trouble populating this standard with materials simply because I have done more planning than anything else this year. You will find many of what I consider my best lesson plans in KTIP format. You may notice that some lessons include a few components that others do not. This is because there have been a lot of people who have influenced the way I put a lesson together. If you look at my lessons a year from now, chances are they will be a little different than the ones presented here, but that's just part of evolving as an educator. All the lessons, however, contain all required KTIP sections.

The Evidence

Note: The green box around two or more items indicate that the items are meant to be used together.

Unit Plan

Unit Plan for Advanced Excel Features in Computer Applications - This unit plan begins with stated objectives as to what the students should know by the completion of the unit. Following this is a list of student activities and behaviors that indicates the student has achieved a particular objective. A crosswalk is provided between all the unit objectives and other recognized curriculum standards.

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Accounting Lesson Plans & Supporting Materials

Accounting Lesson Plan - Cash Purchases using a Computerized System (Word Format) - This lesson leads the students from performing cash purchases by hand to using the Automated Accounting Software.

Accounting Lesson Plan - Using T-Accounts to Record Simple Transactions (Word Format) - This lesson moves students from using the basic accounting equation for recording transactions to using the classic bean counter's tool - the T-Account. This lesson makes uses a modified pair-share technique to help with the reading tasks.
Simple T-Account Practice Sheet (Excel Format)
Using T-Accounts PowerPoint Slides (PowerPoint Format)

Basic Business Subjects Lesson Plans & Supporting Materials

Career Exploration - Interest Inventory Activity using the Internet (Word Format) - This lesson (designed for middle schoolers) uses an online interest inventory (CareerKey.org) to help students figure out what they may want to do for a career. It makes use of the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Interest Inventory Worksheet (Word Format) - A structured document to help the students make sense of the career inventory.

Business Math - Calculating Gross Pay (Word Format) - This lesson plan covers calculating gross pay using under various conditons (overtime, piecework, etc.). Answers to the exercises are delivered via an online answer sheet (see below).
Calculating Gross Pay Answer Sheet (Excel Format) - The students can use this spreadsheet to compute and submit the answers to an online class management site like Moodle.
Calculating Gross Pay PowerPoint Slides (PowerPoint Format)
Gross Pay Quiz (Word Format) - A short formative assessment.

Computer Applications Lesson Plans & Supporting Materials

Writing a Letter to President Bush - Computer Apps/Government Integrated Plan (Word Format) - This lesson is a joint venture between a computer applications teacher and a government teacher. The lesson uses excerpts from the 2005 State of the Union Address and provides students an opportunity to express their feelings on the President's policies via a personal business letter to him.
Prompt & Rubric for Integrated President Bush Letter Project

Bobcat Candy Company Quality Control Analysis using Excel (Word Format) - For this lesson, students get to play with M&Ms and do statistical analysis using Excel's capabilities of mean, median, and mode. This is perhaps my most popular Computer Applications lesson.
Using AutoSum and Creating Formulas (Word Format) - While not specific to this lesson plan, I created this document for students to reference if they need help remembering the specifics of formulas in Excel. This can be used with any lesson that deals with Excel formulas.

Introduction to Excel Formulas and Functions (Word Format) - This lesson introduces students to creating formulas in Excel through hands-on demonstration.
Excel Formulas Quiz

Introduction to PowerPoint (Word Format) - This lesson outlines the basic bells and whistles that makes PowerPoint so much fun to use. This lesson has proven very effective if used after Microsoft Word has been introduced.

Creating Your Personal PowerPoint Presentation (Word Format) - This lesson lets students create a PowerPoint presentation about themselves. For many students, this lesson represents their first experience speaking in front of a group. The student prompt and scoring guide are attached to this plan.
Creating Your Personal PowerPoint (PowerPoint Format) - This presentation first lays out the expectations for the personal PowerPoint project, then it provides an example of a good presentation (about me).

Keyboarding Lesson Plans & Supporting Materials

Learning the H & E Key (Word Format)- This lesson plan is very simple, yet I feel it contains a proper sequence and structure to allow for the efficient learning of new keys.
Keyboarding Technique Assessment Instrument (Excel Format) - Used to assess student technique and disposition during the lesson.

Marketing Lesson Plan & Supporting Materials

Desktop Publishing - Designing a Magazine Cover (Word Format) - This lesson can be used in Presentation Skills for Marketing with a print media unit. The students use page layout software to design a faux magazine cover. The students get really excited while doing this lesson and love to show off their finished products to each other.
Designing a Magazine Cover PowerPoint Slides (PowerPoint Format)
Guidelines & Rubric for the Magazine Cover Project (Word Format)
Audience Analysis Sheet (Word Format) - A worksheet that asks probing questions about the intended target audience to help scaffold the students to the creation of the magazine cover.
Magazine Cover Style Sheet (Word Format) - Another supporting worksheet that helps students arrive at their final product.

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Reflection

Learning how to do lesson plans was a very painful process for me. When I first started, I continuously beat myself up day in and day out because many of my lessons didn’t go so well, even though I spent a great deal of time creating them. What really helped me to stop panicking over my lesson plans was the fact that my students were learning, even though everything wasn’t always super-smooth. The trick is to remember what went wrong (by looking at reflections) and then changing the plan next time to try to compensate for the previous shortcomings.

The All Important Lesson Planning Question

As time has went along, I have learned the right questions to ask myself while I am creating a plan. My starting point is: When that bell rings, what do I want the students to be able to do that they couldn’t do before they came in here today? Since most of my lessons are very task-oriented, the "do" part of that question is what is most important. Everything else associated with planning (standards, essential questions, and activities) just falls into place when subordinated under this one question. Obviously, the standards provide me an idea of what all the "do’s" should be by the end of the year, but if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to get hung up in trying to hit too many standards with each lesson. It overcomplicates things and nothing seems to go right.

A Starting Point

The lesson plan is a starting point. In the daily grind of teaching, there are interruptions and circumstances that could not be anticipated a week ahead of time when you are preparing lessons. Therefore, you must keep in mind that a lesson plan is not the omega but rather the alpha. If something in a plan needs remedial attention, it’s best to do that instead of forcing ahead with new material. You must be careful to keep moving forward without going too fast.

Knowledge for All: IEP Modifications

I have had very little help from the high school in finding out about the needs of my IEP students. (It was late October before I received the IEPs for first semester, and I still haven’t seen them for the second semester.) Most of my IEP students perform well in my classes because of the task-oriented curriculum. I haven’t had any students with anything more than a mild mental disability, so my lesson modifications have never exceeded more than providing assistance with reading and extra time. I have been very impressed with the great effort that my IEP students will give me if I am willing to help!

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