March 7 Reflection

Today was a long, tiring day. I had three 75-minute blocks. My students were surprisingly well-behaved and attentive, even though it was a long lecture. We are doing a unit on Latin America and the lecture focused on Mexico and the Caribbean. At the beginning of class, we went over the countries that would be on their map test next week. Then I explained that I was going to collect their notes at the end of class and they would be counted toward their participation grade. This seemed like enough motivation for them to be attentive because they all were engaged in the lesson and asked really good questions, which let me know that they were not only paying attention but also that they were thinking about the information and applying it to a "bigger picture" in their minds. To tap into their prior knowledge base, I started my lecture by asking them to compare two pictures: one was of the Spanish conquest of Guam and the other was the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Many students were able to draw connections between the influence of Spanish colonialism on the lives and culture of the natives of both Mexico and Guam. My lecture ended up being longer than I planned because the students were asking really good questions regarding the material being presented. As a closing activity, I passed out the lyrics to "War" by Bob Marley and we listened to the song as a class. After the song, we discussed how reggae music in the Caribbean was influenced by social problems and was also used to influence social change. My students were really receptive and responsive during discussion. I plan to use music again in future lesson plans. 

My main concern at this point is learning new ways to differentiate instruction. My class size ranges from 26-28 students and there is a wide spectrum of learning abilities in each class. Suggestions will be greatly appreciated!