Brittany Stanford

A.C Flora High School, John Codega

Weekly Reflection
March 20, 2016
This week at A.C. Flora was really great. I finished up officially teaching
my two weeks and it was one of those weeks that really reminded me why
I choose this profession. I was really proud of my lesson plans. I felt as
though they incorporated a lot of different instructional strategies and the
students seemed genuinely interested in the content.
On Monday and Tuesday I facilitated a PowerPoint on the rise of
communism in Russia, the students read some primary source documents
from Fascist Germany and Japan on the expansion of territory, and we
finished with watching Education For Death by Walt Disney. Prior to this class,
we have looked at a lot of propaganda from Germany and Russia. By
watching Walt Disneys Education For Death, the students were able to see
how the U.S used propaganda in World War II just like everyone else! The
Students absolutely loved the short film and we had a very good discussion
afterwards.
Wednesday and Thursday we focused on the causes and consequences
of World War II through a student activity and then I led a PowerPoint of the
rise of communism in China. This lesson was more challenging for me
because I previously didnt know a lot about Communist China, especially in
comparison to communism in the Soviet Union. I read a lot the night before
the lessons and Mr. Codega was a really good resource when I had questions.
The IB Design Technology students spend most of the week on timber,
steel, and glass production as materials for design. The majority of their
lesson plans consisted of student activities that required them to research
the topics and present the information themselves. This took a lot of the
pressure off to me. Im really glad to not have to worry about teaching IB
Design Tech anymore so I can just focus on A.P World for the rest of the time
Im at A.C Flora!
Also this Thursday night I went to the school musical production of The
Sound of Music. Four of my A.P World students had lead roles and two of my
IB Design Technology students had other roles. I was honestly blown away by
the musical as a whole and the talent my students have! It was so cool to
see them excel in something outside of school. It truly has given a complete
new perspective on teaching because although my students may not have
perfect As in my class, they are stars in other areas of their lives. This has
encouraged me to try to attend as many after school activities as possible to
support my students not only in my classroom, but also on the stage, field,
etc.