This standard focuses on using authentic local and global issues to help learners connect concepts and solve problems. To meet this standard, we were given the opportunity to work with a partner to design a place based lesson. For our place based lesson, my partner and I focused on teaching as if we were addressing a group of learners in Atlanta, Ga. We situated our lesson around a recent local issue that we felt learners in Atlanta would be able to relate to or had heard about. Our lesson had two key idea, natural resources and eminent domain. We began our lesson with an engagement activity that showed our peer learners the construction of the new stadium which began with a still image of the land that had been cleared. After the video we had our peers tell us what they observed and what natural resources were being used or wasted. Then, we began with a reading and discussion about an eminent domain case. We had our peers work in pairs or small groups to exchange their notes or discuss before sharing their thoughts with the class. The final activity, which we did not demonstrate in our short preview, was to have the learners assume a role participate in a mock town hall meeting. I believe this activity would have directly aligned with the standard by having the learners assume a perspective that may have been different from their own and work with the other town stakeholders to come to a solution that could be mutually beneficial.

After watching a video of our performance, there are some thing we did well, but some key ideas I learned that Informed how we made changes to our lesson plan. I believe we connected with our peer learners well and did well at engaging everyone in the lesson. For improvements, we realized that the two concepts did not relate well to each other in our lesson and it felt like we were teaching two separate lessons in one instead of one cohesive lesson. Since then, we have narrowed the focus of our lesson plan to focus on just one concept. Another observation was the use of filling words such as “um” and “like.” This is something I am working to be more conscious of and improve upon as I continue. The final observation is body language. I noticed that I cross my arms, fidget, and tap on surfaces a lot. Again, this is something that I believe I can improve upon by simply making myself more aware.