Reaching

All Students

The unit plan I designed is for the upcoming Organic Chemistry unit that students

will work on in preparation for the Regents Exam. I teach in a 10th grade high school

chemistry class where 3 of 4 sections are ICT with two having a Special Education

teacher push in to provide support to students. The lead and special education teachers

typically co-teach most sessions, but also implement parallel teaching when needed,

grouping students based on their needs and performance on ongoing assessments.

Given that the school is project-based-learning style, chemistry is rolled out in a way

that differs from the traditional “this is what it is,” and really works to have students own

their educations and explore the topics as they are relevant to their educations making

the necessary connections to understand why these things are taught and deemed

important. This affects my lesson because I have to create the unit in a way that is

student driven with the teacher serving as the facilitator making sure that the

appropriate questions are asked and the lessons are designed in a way that promotes

student mastery of objectives.

The Organic Chemistry Unit will cover three standards and is anticipated to

extend across 7 lessons with a summative unit exam consisting of both multiple choice

and short answer regents questions. I have planned a number of activities and mean of

representation to make a somewhat boring unit more engaging and accessible to

students at all levels. I’ve worked to include visual, videos, online simulations,

independent practice, and really present the topics in a way that is relevant to their lives

and covers all of the areas needed for success in the regents exam. I also want them to

take away knowledge of organic chemistry that can be applied future classes and their
everyday lives. The mastery goals are for student to be able to identify organic

substances, compare functional groups, and explore the impacts of organic substances

in relation to their everyday lives. In addition to their need to pass the class and the

regents, this unit serves to provide students exposure to chemistry knowledge and set

them up to be more rounded citizens capable of making informed decisions as it

pertains to organic substance v inorganic substances and their uses in society.

Having worked with my students for a few months now, I have developed a

knowledge of how they learn and their preferred methods for engaging with materials. I

know that some student have extensive knowledge of chemistry topics and that others

have no prior knowledge outside of what has been learned. I also know that there are

students that work better in small groups as well as the effectiveness of various

representations in relation to others. I’ve also learned that many students learn from

watching videos but. Number of students are not yet at the level to etch a video and

take detailed notes about what was presented, so majority of the students benefit from

having guiding questions that thy answer as the video plays.

Knowing that students may be familiar with the term organic as it pertains to foods and

maybe other household items like cleaning supplies, I aimed to make the lesson play up that

exposure as a means for hooking students. Yes these things may be organic, but does that term

share the same meaning across items. Does what constitute something being organic mean

that other things deemed organic share similar properties. I recognize that students are

operating and navigating the technological era, so because anything can easily be Googled and

have the answer spit back at them it was important to hook students early and make the

following lessons as engaging as possible. While the class houses a great amount of diversity, I
think most kids when introduced to something in an exciting manner, regardless of what it is

will be intrigued by what happening and curious about the reasons behind things taking place

the way they do.

As mentioned previously, we are in a new age where strategies such as “chalk & talk”

are outdated, so technology has to play a role in most lessons to the greatest extent possible. I

also recognized the use of videos (EdPuzzles) in particular to reinforce or introduce material, so

I wanted to include as many videos as possible for those students who preferred that method

of teaching, It is also a good way to differentiate explanations in an effort to provide

information in a way that can be understood by students. I knew the levels at which students

worked, and grouped students in heterogeneous groups to enhance learning and manage

student needs more effectively. It was my goal to minimize the time spent lecturing and really

play up video discussions, interactive simulations, and independent research and discovery.

This was my goal because lectures put high school students to sleep and a number of the

students are kinesthetic and visual learners, so that is what I aspired to do. I also wanted to

make things relevant for students of NYC, and tie in things important to that overall culture

aligning with the standards and really working to have all student achieve mastery.

The considerations made are visible in the lessons, the ordering of topics, and the

accompanying activities of each lesson. All of this was done understanding that students may or

may not feel how I feel about the lessons or my overall plan and that adjustments may have to

be made at various point based on the assessments and how students are engaging with the

materials, but it was definitely my goal to meet each student and to the best of my abilities plan
a unit that effectively allows students to meet the standards and learn valuable content that

can be applied to other aspects of their lives.

There are several activities and assignments built in to assess how students are handling

content. Depending on the assignment, students will receive feedback in the form of written

suggestions, or simply communication of right/wrong denoted by a symbol known to all

students.

In conclusion, I believe that many factors go into designing units and lessons that will

reach all students. You must be well versed in content, knowledge of students, and flexible.

With these things in mind and the desire to make even the most irrelevant content relevant

and fun for students, it can be challenging but also super rewarding when your efforts are met

with interests and you spark something in them that takes your least engaged student to a

students wishing to pursue further knowledge even beyond the highschool level.