This unit planning project was a series of firsts for me.

It was the first

time I had every planned a unit, constructed a teachable lesson in my
subject area, and taught as a primary instructor. So, as I was planning I was
constantly reviewing the lessons and unit in order to identify any potential
hindrances that would disrupt that actual implementation of the lesson. I
discovered two key things. One of these was the factor of time. The
classroom that I aided in has class sessions that are slightly less than an
hour long. When I was planning (and teaching) lessons I had to consistently
be aware of how much time I was spending on one thing or another, and how
much time was left in the period. In order to work around this barrier, and to
ensure that I or the students never got to fixated on one topic, I not only
anticipated potential time constraints in my lesson plans, but in the actual
teaching of my lesson I utilized an online stopwatch in order to monitor time
spent during activities.
The other thing that I identified as a barrier was the accessibility of
certain activities for my students. In planning I had to balance the interests
of my students with the topics with which I believe they should engage. In
my lessons I identified and set apart multiple times where students would
have opportunities to discuss and evaluate the themes present in
stories/myths they had read or learned about. However, I recognized that
certain classes and students would be less interested in these kinds of
activities than others. Thus, I often devised a backup activity if I noticed that
these discussions were failing, or tried to make the things discussed more

relatable/interesting to students in some way. Therefore, the planning and

implementing of my unit did indeed meet obstacles, but I attempted to work
around these through preparation and execution.
In terms of the actual success of the unit, it appeared to me to be
effective. Indeed, there were points that students were more engaged in
than others, but overall the students demonstrated the acquisition of the
target skills. The unit was centered on the learning of new vocabulary, a new
grammatical concept, and the evaluation of Roman beliefs about death. In
order to assess the first two concepts I worked with students in small groups
as they were reading and translating Latin stories that utilized these new
concepts. While not every student translated perfectly, when a student was
unsure about a word or phrase often another student chimed in with the
correct information. So, these interactions illustrate that students were not
only aware of the target knowledge, but were even using it to assist their
fellow students in their own learning. Furthermore, during a cultural lesson
that I taught on Roman values about death students were to present what
they learned and discuss the themes of the sources they read in comparison
with their own views. Throughout this activity I noted multiple students who
pushed toward higher order thinking, and addressed the questions/values
with a critical and conscious mindset, which is what I wanted the students to
do.
Ultimately, this unit planning activity helped me to become much more
aware of myself and my tendencies when it comes to approaching education.

Specifically, I was made aware of how I tend to shape lessons toward what I
would want to learn about, plan my lessons too tightly, and have poor
classroom management. So, moving forward from this unit I aim to be
consciously aware of what topics I put emphasis on in my units and how this
information can apply to all learners. Also, I will work toward creating units
that have alternative topics/activities that can move and change with the
flow of a class period. Lastly, I will direct study and practice toward
managing a class well, gaining the students attention, and maintain it.
Therefore, by engaging in these activities I am aware not only of improving
myself as an educator and a person not only in the present, but I am also
working towards shaping a mindset that is constantly evaluating my teaching
an self so that I can always accurately judge where I am doing well or poorly.