Joe’s Issues Worksheet: Student Teachers

This Issues Worksheet was completed by a 7th grader in US History. The Issues Worksheet
requires students to determine an issue (from a reading or elsewhere), define the issue,
determine the pros and cons of the issue, form an opinion, offer a solution, and discuss the
issue. This was the introductory Issues activity for this particular class, so the topic was chosen
by the student in the class and had to revolve around a topic from school. Joe’s Issue for the
day was the topic of student teachers and their impact on schools and student learning.

How this work shows growth in student learning:

This work shows the growth in a student’s ability to think critically about issues in everyday life
and within topics in social studies. The crucial part of working with issues is to allow students
the ability to reason through issues in social studies and their lives by using pros, cons,
opinions, and new solutions. The Issue Analysis Worksheet allows students a structure to
explore these topics.

Why the sample was chosen:

Joe’s sample was chosen because while he was one of the best students in his particular class,
even he needed to make corrections to his work in order to clarify his points. The purpose of
doing an activity that forces students to think critically is to make them clarify their ideas
through writing and verbalization of thoughts and ideas. Joe was able to state his opinion and
cite reasons why he held that particular attitude.

How this work has an impact on student learning:

Overall, this work impacts student learning in three ways: Forcing students to think critically,
challenging students to be clear and concise when communicating ideas and opinions, along
with giving students the ability to see multiple perspectives. All of these factors contribute to
a student’s ability to evaluate and reason when dealing with complex subjects. By allowing
them a structure to analyze issues, a teacher gives students a tool that can aid them in their
learning beyond this particular assignment.

How this work enhances my ability to understand and assess student work:

This work enhances my ability to understand and assess students’ literacy, critical thinking
skills, and communication of ideas through various forms. This worksheet is generally
accompanied by a reading hand out and students are challenged to read the information and
develop ideas about the issues within. This establishes the level of literacy while the analysis
allows me to assess critical thinking and communication ability of the students for all of the
reasons mentioned previously in this reflection.