Name: Kendra Keegan

Best Practices Protocol:

West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, . (Producer). (2011). West 	
	Virginia: Wild and Wonderful. [Web]. Retrieved from https://	
	thepartnershipfor21stcenturyskills238.eduvision.tv/default.aspx

Overview of the Lesson: Students were given an essential question that the lesson/project was based on. What are the factors that make West Virginia an attractive tourist destination? The teacher led a group discussion about important things that happened in West Virginia. The teacher used responders (clickers) to get all students involved. Then they broke into small groups and were given a rubric, so they knew exactly what was expected of them. Within the groups, students took on a specific role to complete the project (transitions, titles, videographer, audio). Before the projects were complete they shared them with the class for feedback. After presenting them, classmates filled out critique forms telling what needed to be added, what they liked or what needed to be changed. Throughout the lesson, the teacher was up and around the room assisting students when they needed help, especially when using various types of technologies.

Does this video exemplify Best Practice?
Yes, I feel this video exemplifies Best Practice. The lesson was very hands-on and engaging for the students. They also used many forms of technology throughout the lesson as well.

The lesson was very student centered - The teacher connected what they were learning to real life experiences and building on their prior knowledge. Students were to create a video about West Virginia to get people interested in what is there. This is beneficial because the students may not know all the interesting facts about their home state, but with this project they will learn them.

The lesson allowed for student choice - When working in the small groups to create to video, students were able to select which role they wanted to take. Transitions, titles, videographer and audio are a few of the things the students could do.

The lesson incorporated rich class discussion - The class started out with answering question facilitated by the teacher to discuss and connect prior knowledge of what they already know about West Virginia.

The lesson had both small group and whole group - The class started off in whole group session with rich class discussion facilitated by the teacher. Then they smoothly transitioned into small group to work on their projects facilitated by the students themselves.

The lesson allowed for assessment and reflection - The teacher provided every student with a rubric so they knew exactly what was expected of them. The students completed a critique after the presentations to say what needed to be added, what they liked and what needed changed.

Even though not every lesson incorporates every Best Practice, I feel this lesson did a good job of incorporating the different elements.

Element of Best Practice with definition	What the teacher is doing...	What the students are doing...	Comments	
Student centered  Allowing students the opportunity to experience a holistic, authentic, experiential, and challenging approach to learning.  	* Provides relevant lessons that allow students to engage with the content - Differentiate - Inquiry based learning - Facilitating the lesson - Providing multiple texts and resources for students - Hands-on approach - Authentic learning experiences - Meaningful assessment - Creating lessons that connect to real-life experiences and build on prior knowledge	*Working at their own pace *Motivating themselves - discovery based learning - working in depth on a specific topic - engaged continually - connecting to real-life - building on prior knowledge  
	-Making students aware of all the things that can be done in WV and allowed them to gain more of an appreciation for the state
-Reviewing using responders to connect to prior knowledge
-Multiple uses of technology for students: Responders (clickers), Internet for research, Word Processor, Videography, SmartBoard	
Student Choice  Allowing students to choose inquiry projects and take initiative in their learning to prepare them for democratic citizenship.
	-Exploring multiple texts and genres to guide students in their choices -Providing lists of significant topics -Giving mini-lessons on choosing study and focus on and having student conferences to discuss progress - Teacher is guiding students to provide students with broad choices.
	-Engaging with materials that interest them. -Making informed decisions -Monitoring their own progress - Gaining responsibility  - Taking ownership of their work 
	-Students each have specific duties: transitions, titles, videographer and audio
-One student will be responsible for taking video clips with 'the small wonder'
-One student in charge of coordinating sequence of transitions and titles
-One student in charge of creating and writing all content	
Rich Class Discussion  Incorporate engaging questions and thought provoking to provide in-depth responses.  Providing students with a non-threatening environment.  	- sparking student’s interest - tapping into student prior knowledge - connecting it to their life experiences/interests - allow students more discussion - facilitate discussion  - transitions  from whole group to small group discussion  
	- student led discussion - challenging each other’s ideas - questioning others - learning from one another - answering “why” to help in their explanation
	-Using responders (clickers) to get all students involved
-Teacher helps to facilitate discussion by asking questions	
Small Group and Whole Group

Allowing students to become familiar with working in various situations that allow them to smoothly transition from small groups to whole groups and vice versa	-Activities to promote more than one type of student participation (Ex. small group and individual conference simultaneously)
-Cooperative learning (groups students heterogeneously or by ability)
-Choose relevant and engaging materials
-Making yourself available so students can ask questions when needed
-Creating extensions to lessons
-Incorporating reading and writing
-Transitions between small and whole group	-Engaged in discussion
-On task
-Active participation
-Work on extensions if work is finished
-asking questions
-individual work
-conferencing with the teacher	-Starting with an Essential Question to get students thinking about the material: What are the factors that make West Virginia an attractive tourist destination.
-The teacher was always moving about the room making himself available to students 
-Start as whole group with discussion then break into small groups to work on projects, smooth transition	
Assessment/Reflection  Using formal and informal, summative and formative assessments to evaluate students understanding and learning of a content area. Using their thinking to show that learning has taken place to make adjustments to become responsible citizens. 
	- create formal and informal assessments to meet learner’s needs (multiple intelligences) - anecdotal notes - teacher observations of student progress - communication with other teacher’s to find more information - reflection of lesson   
	- application of learning - reflection in a journal or exit slips - create their own test questions - peer editing - portfolio 
	-Rubric given by teacher so students know what is expected of them, to make sure they cover everything that needs to be covered
-Students fill out critique forms after student presentations: What needs to be added, what they liked and what needs to be changed