Sunday, June 28, 2009

Project Piglet - Devil's in the Detail

I generally start my unit planning with some sort of brainstorm these days. It helps me to clarify the multiple aspects of the necessary content and assessment, helping me as a sort of 'checklist' of what I need to make sure to include. 'Project Piglet', the unit I'm preparing for Year 12 English about Shakespeare's play Hamlet, looks pretty simple at it's first level of planning:

The next stage is where things get more complicated - and a whole lot of fun! What activities will help the students get to the end point? First port of call, what do I already have in my teaching tool box?
Obviously, I can't use them all - especially given that for some strange reason I have found my Year 12 clss less tech savvy and accepting than my Year 11 group. And yet I'm considering stepping away from the front of the class for this unit.

The expectation for Senior English students is that they will now work towards independence for their last unit - I'm not convinced my students understand what this exactly means, but I can use this unit as a precurser of sorts (or I could rely on direct teaching and make myself a sage on the stage..nah, sounds way too conformist for me). I'm still working out the details of what shape exactly this unit will take, but I'm on the way I think...

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