The building of a conceptual unit is one of the most involved processes of being a teacher. Not necessarily complex but a process that asks of it's creator a deep commitment and a near tireless contemplation of everything that is a part of a lesson. But this contemplation creates an environment, or setts "up the construction zone" that is alive, treating writing and reading as dialogues rather than knowledge passed down by a power hungry leader.
The power of the conceptual unit is in it's flexibility. While every teacher would like to write a lesson for 30 of the same kinds of students, obviously no classroom will be so homogenous. In our classrooms we will have students who learn visually, others who learn aurally and others that learn kinesethically. We will have students that have trouble reading, students who have trouble with group work. We will have students who hate Shakespeare and others who worship him. The conceptual unit frees the teacher to focus on an idea that can span the gap of several different texts and media. By focusing on a guiding question rather than a specific activity or text the teacher can include a variety of each that play to each of their students' strengths. For the student that has trouble decoding the teacher can include films. For the student that hates Shakespeare the teacher can include a text that mirrors the themes introduced in the play being read. So on and so forth.
Not only does the power of conceptual units begin with the planning of the unit but it extends to the implementation of it as well. If one focuses on a singular text and the students are unable to understand the text or are unable to relate to the text the unit is more than likely useless. In contrast by focusing on a guiding question/ main idea the teacher has the power to change activities or texts within the unit and still achieve the goal because the goals are tied to over arching themes. So if students or even the whole class struggles with or cannot relate to one aspect of the unit the teacher can alter the unit slightly to get their students to their goal detouring around the problem area. The conceptual unit is much more a mailable way to organize one's learning.
The power of the conceptual unit is in it's flexibility. While every teacher would like to write a lesson for 30 of the same kinds of students, obviously no classroom will be so homogenous. In our classrooms we will have students who learn visually, others who learn aurally and others that learn kinesethically. We will have students that have trouble reading, students who have trouble with group work. We will have students who hate Shakespeare and others who worship him. The conceptual unit frees the teacher to focus on an idea that can span the gap of several different texts and media. By focusing on a guiding question rather than a specific activity or text the teacher can include a variety of each that play to each of their students' strengths. For the student that has trouble decoding the teacher can include films. For the student that hates Shakespeare the teacher can include a text that mirrors the themes introduced in the play being read. So on and so forth.
Not only does the power of conceptual units begin with the planning of the unit but it extends to the implementation of it as well. If one focuses on a singular text and the students are unable to understand the text or are unable to relate to the text the unit is more than likely useless. In contrast by focusing on a guiding question/ main idea the teacher has the power to change activities or texts within the unit and still achieve the goal because the goals are tied to over arching themes. So if students or even the whole class struggles with or cannot relate to one aspect of the unit the teacher can alter the unit slightly to get their students to their goal detouring around the problem area. The conceptual unit is much more a mailable way to organize one's learning.
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