Matthew Graham

GPDI 5184
Conducting Inquiry: Teacher Effectiveness

Part One of the Assignment

1) The part of Danielsons Framework that I will be working on is as
follows:
Domain 2: The Classroom environment
Component B: Establishing a Culture for learning
Element: Importance of content and expectations for learning and
achievement

In order to increase student learning, I will implement an entrance and

exit ticket to assess the effectiveness of my structured lesson plan
meant to increase student engagement.

Response to comment (MU1): The entrance ticket and the exit

ticket are used for
Doman 2: The Classroom environment. Specifically they are used for
the element of
importance of content and expectations for learning and achievement.
The entrance
ticket makes the students tell me what our class expectation is for the
day. The
entrance ticket also introduces the students to the content that we will
learn in that
particular day and asks them to give me there background knowledge
on the topic. It
ends with them rating their knowledge of the subject on a scale from 1-
10. The exit
ticket asks the student to tell me if they feel that we reached our goal.
This applies to
our expectations. Then, in regards to the material, the questions in the
exit ticket make
the students explain the material that they learned on that given day.
Then it ends with
rating them with the material and my performance. I have included
a template of the
entrance and exit in the conclusion.

Part Two of the Assignment

2) My plan that correlates with this Identified Danielson area will be my
lesson plan and the procedure in which I implement that plan. An
important note: Our block is 80 minutes long. I will note at the end of
 each step, how much time of the class will be used for that particular
step.

I will now take you through a step by step process where my lesson
plan will reflect the elements that I have chosen from the Danielson
Framework. Here is the artifact that I have created:

Step 1: What I will do at the beginning of every class since we have

long block periods, is to give the students the goal as to what I expect
them to be able to do by the end of class, so that they know what the
overarching goal of the day is.
-This step will last three minutes.

Step 2: Show a very short video that will give them a little introduction
to what topic I will be introducing them to today.
This serves two very important purposes:
1) It introduces them to the topic and it helps them to hear it from
another source, so that they are not just hearing my voice for an
hour and twenty minutes.
2) The students are not focused at the beginning of the class. As
teachers we need to be honest with ourselves that at the beginning
of class our students are still thinking about the news they just
heard in the hallway or still in shock that they just found out that
they have a test in Statistics today. So, starting off with a quick
video warms up their brains and gets the gears moving, which we
will need for the rest of the class. It focuses them in on what we are
doing after they have received the goal for todays class.
3) The video will last three minutes.

Step 3: -After the video, I will have the students grab a partner, and
they will explain to each other what they saw in the video and what it
meant to them personally. One of the best parts of education is how
every student is unique in their own way and sees the class from a
unique perspective than anyone else, even the teacher.
1) During this time, I will have the students do what I call an entrance
ticket. The students write all that they know about the topic we are
discussing today, before we actually get into it.
2) Students will be put into groups of similar intellectual range to help
them get the most out of each other so that one student doesnt give
up because their partner is at a higher intellectual level than they are.
-This step will last eight minutes.

Step 4: Now is the time for the actual lecture. Since the block is so
long, I have plenty of
time to explain the topic at hand in depth, in addition to giving the
students time to
 work and grapple with the information themselves.
1) One method I use often in lecture is analogies, because students
can understand analogies much more than just throwing very
comprehensive information at them.
2) As a side note: One of my best strategies to reach the students and
have them understand the class material is my authenticity.
Sometimes as a Religion teacher, students who especially dont know
God, can be very tempted to tune the teacher out. However, I
personally go to all the students games, even if they are an hour away.
I have learned that this investment in them, has caused my students to
push harder in my class than they do in their other classes. They see
that authenticity and that I actually live out that message of love and
care that I teach them.
-This step will last forty minutes.

Step 5: Now I have students do more extensive group work.

1) The students will now get into groups of four. I will give each group
three to four items that we talked about.
2) Together they will have to write about those topics and then present
it in front of the class.
I find this to be very productive as the students know this is going to
happen at the beginning of class. They know they have to pay
attention and actually understand the work.
3) Every person in the group has to present part of what was written.
This has been a huge success for me. The students know they are held
responsible for actually having to talk about the topic in front of their
peers. It holds them accountable. They know they do not want to look
like they dont know what they are talking about in front of me and
they also dont want to embarrass themselves in front of the other
students. Thus, they really do work hard.
4) Then the questions become what about the students not
presenting? How to do you stop them from goofing off? These are
questions I would have. So, what I do is that the other students take
notes on what the presenting students say and they have to turn it in
at the end of class
-This step will last 23 minutes.

Step 6: By the time we have reached this step, there is only about
three minutes left in class. However, I want to use that time wisely.
Now, the students fill out an exit ticket. The exit ticket is where they
now explain to me what they know now after everything that we did
today in class.
1) I really like to use entrance and exit tickets as it causes me to
evaluate myself and my students on a daily basis and it has been
essential to helping me know their strengths and struggles.
-This will last three minutes.
 Part Three of the Assignment
Now I will show the material I will be using, and how I will implement
it into the
procedure I put together in part two of the assignment.

Step 1: The goal given for what the students will be able to do at the
end of this class is:
1) The students are expected to be able to tell me what a Sacrament
is, what Sacraments do for a person, and why it is imperative that
Christ has a dual nature (of being perfectly divine and perfectly human
at the same time).

Step 2: I have a video to show the students, by Father Robert Barron,

where he does a great job of opening them up to Sacramental
Theology in a quick three minute video.

Step 3: Now that the students have seen the video, they will with a
group or partner
discuss and take notes on what they learned from the video, and what
they thought
Father Barron was trying to say.
1) Father Barrons video focused on the point that Christs dual nature
was a necessity
for mans redemption and is the opening to Salvation.

Step 4: Next I lecture. Here is a quick synopsis of the main topics that
will be covered in the class:

All Sacraments have three things present within them:

1) Matter
2) Form
3) Substance

Matter: the material objects used to represent what is truly present in the
Sacrament

Form: the words the Church uses in the Sacrament, to make the effect of the
Sacrament present.

Substance: What the Sacrament truly represents, what is truly present in the
Sacrament.

Why does God use matter in the Sacraments?

God uses matter in the Sacraments because, as human beings, we only have
a human nature. Thus, God uses matter to appeal to our senses, such as
sight, touch, and smell. Appealing to our senses helps us to ascend from the
human to the divine, since we cannot do it naturally.

As humans we have one nature.

Thus we, when acting in the body alone, we are inclined to selfishness.

When the body and the spirit (Divine and human together) are working
together, then we can live out the perfections that were present before the
Original Fall.

The Church says that there needed to be a victim who can make recompense
for our sins committed after the Original Fall. Someone who was perfectly
divine and human at the same time had to die for us.

This is what Christ was, the perfect victim. Had he not died without ever
having sinned in a state of perfection, than we would not have an
opportunity to live in a state of perfection.

All of the perfections before the fall such as justice, purity, love and holiness
became our biggest struggles after the fall. However, Christ dying for us and
implementing the Sacraments and the Church as an institution of grace,
allowed us the possibility to live out these perfections in our lives again.

The Eastern Orthodox Church also, appeals to our senses.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, they still practice complete submersion for
their practice of Baptism.

They do this in order to help the people to see that in Baptism, we have co-
died and co-resurrected with Christ.

The visible aspect of this genre of Baptism helps us understand better what
is really happening.

This is why the Church promotes artwork. Religious artwork, such as the
saints and angels visibly adoring Christ at Adoration, helps us to visibly see
what is truly happening at this event. To us, it appears to just be maybe
ourselves alone in the Church and this artwork, allows us to see what is truly
happening.
Sacraments are signs, only in as much as they make man holy. What does
this mean? It means that the matter of the Sacrament, contains the
Substance and the Substance of the Sacrament is that which makes man
holy.

Other than give grace what do Sacraments do?

Sacraments point to a greater reality that is present in heaven.

For example: The Eucharist takes on the appearance of bread and wine, but
this matter is pointing to what is truly present in heaven, the Body and
Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.

Sacraments are what we call efficacious signs. What the Church means by
this is that Sacraments are efficacious signs that bring about an effect that
wasnt present in the person before receiving the Sacrament.

Christ is the only one who gives grace. Christ works through the minister of
the priest. The Church teaches occasionalism. This means that the Church
in confession, for instance, is the occasion where grace is given. However,
the Sacrament does not give grace. Only, God gives grace working through
the Sacraments.

The Sacraments are an outward sign, instituted by God, to give Grace.

Mortal sin on someones soul completely blocks their ability to receive grace
from the Sacraments.

In order for man to receive as much grace as possible, he must obtain self
mastery over the three-fold concupiscence.

Concupiscence is defined as Lust of the Flesh.

The three fold concupiscence is:

1) Lust of the eyes

2) Lust of the flesh
3) Pride of Life

Step 5: Now the students will be broken up into three groups of four based
on this particular class size.

Group 1 will write on the following topics:

-What are matter, form and Substance?
-Why does God appeal to our senses?
-What does the Eastern Church do as a means of symbolism to help people
understand what is going on in the Sacrament?

Group 2 will write on the following topics:

-What do Sacraments do other than give grace?
-What does it mean to say that a Sacrament is a sign?
Why are Sacraments efficacious?

Group 3 will write on the following topics:

-What is occasionalism?
-What is the importance of the dual nature of Christ?
-What is the three-fold concupiscence and its connection to mans personal
holiness?

Now, the students will have to work together on this and write out notes they
will present on.
Again, the students also have to take notes on what the other students are
presenting on, to make sure that they are quiet and focused.

Step 6: The Students will now write an exit ticket on how then understand
the material now. I will use this information to judge if students have been
matched well with the group I put them in and see if there needs to be a
change to benefit them.
This shows me their strengths and weaknesses, which helps me prepare for
the next day.

Part Four of the Assignment

Reflection

By implementing this style in my classroom it has taught me a plethora

of things. Students have what I refer to as three different areas:
White
Black
Grey
The white area is the information that they just simply dont
understand. Even with students in this area, I ask them When working in
your groups, can you tell me about this topic in your own words?
The black area is the information that just clicks well with the students.
The grey area is when you can get the students to take the information from
the black area and actually apply it. I have realized these steps help for the
gray area to be realized. You may ask why? Well, starting with a video
warms up their minds and gets rid of distractions in their minds that they
had. Then, they have to talk about it with a partner, which forces them to
have to pay attention.
The entrance ticket has been enormously helpful in letting me see how
much the students progress throughout the class. When I lecture, the
students know they will be accountable for all the material for the group
work that is coming up next. In the group work, they work hard because
they have to present the information. They cannot get away with not
knowing the material.
When doing group work, sometimes I have the students take an
archaic idea in a particular society and modernize it and put it in a current
events example. This really makes the students think, analyze and apply the
information. They have to know the structure of the different societies and it
really helps them to work together and see what each one knows and
doesnt know in their group.
They have to take notes on the other groups presenting, which
continues to hold them accountable. Then, in the last step, the exit ticket
shows me what they know at the end of the class. Doing this evaluation is
for both them and me to see their strengths and weaknesses.
I believe this method to be helpful because the students hear the
material from someone in a video, then from their group member, then from
me, then from their extended group and then they get to hear the whole
class present on the material. Moreover, they get the same material from so
many different perspectives and I think that makes a huge difference.

Response to comment (MU2): I will now include a template of both

an exit and entrance ticket:

Example of an entrance ticket template

Mr. Graham
Name:_____________________
Sacraments
1/5/2015

1. What was our class goal to achieve by the end of today?

2. What background knowledge to do you have of Sacraments?

3. What background knowledge do you have of what occurs in the

Sacraments?
 4. Do you know how many natures Christ has and why that is important?

5. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Sacramental

Theology? One being very little knowledge and 10 being very
knowledgeable. (Circle One)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Example of an exit ticket template

Mr. Graham
Name:_____________________
Sacraments
1/5/2015

1. Do you feel that we achieved our class goal today? Why or why not?

2. What can you now tell me about Sacraments?

3. What can you tell me about what occurs in Sacraments now?

4. How many natures does Christ have and why is this important?
5. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Sacramental
Theology after the class? One being very little knowledge and 10
being very knowledgeable. (Circle One)
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my teacher performance in

helping you understand todays material? (Circle One)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Additional Comments:

Response to comment (MU3): I will continue to use entrance and

exit tickets in the
future. However, I will make a change to it to try to increase my
abilities with
Danielson. In my continuation of using them, I plan on adding one
more question to the
entrance ticket. There will be a question from the class prior, so
that the information
from the day before, the class material and the class expectations
from that day are
reinforced in their minds again. I will also add to the exit tickets an
extra part. The
extra part will be for students to rate other students knowledge of
the topic we
studied that day and the day before. This serves two purposes. It
makes the students
evaluate each other and it also reinforces the importance of the
material and what the
class expectations are for the elements we are focusing on from
Domain 2. Also at the
end of the week, I am going to have them tell me on their tickets,
what all of the goals
were for the week and to give me a general summary of all of the
information. This will
be very helpful in their studying for their test.