EDG4376 Reflection #18

I thought creating the Constructivist style unit plan was extremely interesting, to say the least. Up until this point, I have only used the Miami Dade College School of Education lesson plan format in LiveText, so not only was a unit plan foreign to me, but a Constructivist unit plan seemed completely alien! Furthermore, I had absolutely no concept of what or who the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria were. I only knew I would have to conduct a lot of in-depth research in order to create a unit plan that actually made sense. I thoroughly enjoyed reading O Se Sango by Professor Joe McNair, and I learned a lot about the Yoruba culture and traditions. I found it extremely interesting that many of the Yoruba rituals are highly secretive, although I have to admit, initially, I was beyond frustrated that my Google search attempts were pointless. However, once I realized that most of the information I needed to research came directly from O Se Sango, I had no problem creating my unit plan. I enjoyed my reading and research about the Yoruba naming ceremony, their bridal bath tradition, and their bridal poetry. Consequently, my lesson plans were about those topics. I just wish I had more time throughout the semester to take my time reading O Se Sango from front to back, but I’m sure I’ll be able to do that at some point. And now I have a pretty good idea of how to create a unit plan in the future when I am in charge of my classroom. I’m just happy Professor McNair went over each aspect of the unit plan in detail, because at first I don’t think anyone in the class had a clue as to what we were supposed to do. He was definitely helpful in assisting the class in this unfamiliar and somewhat frightening task. Moreover, I think it will be fun to construct my units with subsequent topics for my students. As long as I follow the Florida Sunshine State Standards, I am given more than enough flexibility to teach according to my educational philosophy. Additionally, I can have fun in the process and teach what I am passionate about, which will hopefully inspire and motivate my students to learn. In the end, I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to create a unit plan. I learned a lot from this project, and as a future professional educator, I will definitely have the chance to use what I’ve learned at some point.