This Learning Experience provided the conclusion to a large, five-week unit on The Crucible. I thought it appropriate to conclude the unit with a discussion on McCarthyism not only because Arthur Miller lived and was “blacklisted” during McCarthyism, and that McCarthyism was the inspiration for Miller to compose The Crucible, but also because McCarthyism is evidence that history repeats itself. I hoped that my students, by studying and understanding McCarthyism, could connect The Crucible to contemporary society and, more importantly, to their own lives. The Crucible addresses several important issues one of which is the abuse of power, another of which is the gullibility of people in general. I wanted my students to understand that questioning authority is not just ok; it is necessary to prevent such atrocities as the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism. And, in order to be equipped to question authority, one has to be a “thinker,” someone who is not gullible, someone who thinks for him/herself and looks for evidence before being convinced.
I felt that this literature unit gave students an opportunity to apply what they were learning to their own lives; thus making the ideas presented to them more concrete and memorable. I feel that students need to be motivated in what they learn by presenting the opportunity for them to draw real life connections between their schoolwork and their own lives.
This Learning Experience is centered on the students’ understanding of The Crucible and their new knowledge of McCarthyism, which they gained as a result of the research assignment. In order for the students to be able to take part in discussion, fill out the comparison charts, and complete the reflection essay, they had to have completed sufficient research on McCarthyism, and they had to understand The Crucible.
Each one of my objectives was met over the course of this Learning Experience. After completing their research assignment, students were able to explain both orally and compositionally an understanding of McCarthyism. Also as a result of their research on McCarthyism, students were able to explain orally a basic understanding of the purpose for Miller’s writing of The Crucible. The comparison chart activity displayed students’ ability to express orally and compositionally a solid understanding of how McCarthyism of the 1950s relates to The Crucible, set during the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s. They were able to complete those charts because of their understanding of The Crucible from the whole unit and their knowledge of McCarthyism from their research. Lastly, when it became the time to administer the post-assessment, the students were equipped to compose a short reflective essay, displaying what he/she has learned from both The Crucible and McCarthyism; thus showing personal reflection.
From this Learning Experience, my students now understand, and some appreciate, that The Crucible is more than a story about the Salem witch trials. It is also a story about America in the era of McCarthyism, as well as a story about any group of people who are easily persuaded and get caught up in mass hysteria. Therefore, my students also understand the necessity of being a “thinker” instead of a person who is easily convinced and drawn into the crowd. They also understand the importance of drawing personal connections between their own lives and literature that they are introduced to.
Although some students met the objectives with a lack of effort, each student was able to succeed in meeting the objectives. Compared to the pre-test scores, the scores on the final assessment show complete success. (See pre/post comparison graph.) In looking back at the student scores on the research assignment, I was puzzled that some students received proficient, developing, and even unsuccessful grades when they all performed well on the final assessment. When I looked back over the research assignments, I realized that the students who scored lower than distinguished did not follow directions or use the rubric as a check list. If they would have given more time and/or effort they could have all received a score in the distinguished range.
As I read through the post-assessments, a few statements made by students stood out to me. One boy said, “While you were teaching, I definitely did not show you what kind of student I really am. I think that despite all the things [assignments] I’ve failed, this quarter I’ve learned more about a book than ever before.” Another student said, “…you made me look at things in a different way, not just the same way every time.” One last student said, “I enjoyed English class more than usual.” These statements showed me that my students not only appreciated the Learning Experience but also that they applied the ideas to their own lives.
I received feedback on this Learning Experience from my peer review group, Secondary, on March 24, 2009 at Daemen College. I presented my Learning Experience to my group and asked for any feedback that would help me to improve my Learning Experience; specifically, I asked for help with my assessment piece. My peer review group gave me many warm and cool comments, which allowed me to made many changes to my Learning Experience for the better. From the cool comments, I knew exactly what needed to be fixed, adjusted, or clarified. (See a complete copy of the peer review comments with my response.) One of my peers said, “I will use these lessons in my own classroom,” which was an exciting thing to hear from another teacher. After the peer review, I felt confident moving forward with my Learning Experience.
This Learning Experience is relevant to students’ lives because they learned research skills, which they will need throughout the rest of their high school experience and even through college. Also, this Learning Experience has taught my students how to make connections in literature. For this Learning Experience, my students had to connect The Crucible to their research on McCarthyism as well as to contemporary society and their personal lives. From the connections they made with The Crucible, the students learned the importance of education. I explained to them during the post-assessment that the ultimate goal of education is to make a person a “thinker,” someone who thinks through things and is wise.
By introducing and modeling to students the strategies for research and for making connections with literature, they will become self-sufficient and will have a stronger grasp on doing similar tasks on their own. This Learning Experience gives students the opportunity to use their prior knowledge. The comparison chart as well as the reflection essay allow students to connect their prior knowledge with new knowledge. This Learning Experience highly emphasizes student’s ability to connect happenings in literature to their own lives, thus enhancing their ability to draw solid connections with the literature they read.
Posting this Learning Experience online has been a educational and worthwhile experience for me. First of all, during the semester I spent a lot of time creating this Learning Experience, and it is nice to be able to continue revising and working with it after the semester is over. In addition, in order to post this LE online, I had to learn how to use Dreamweaver. The skills I learned from using dreamweaver are skills that I will take with me and hopefully frequently use throughout my teaching career.
I am very excited to make my this Learning Experience public! I look forward to even more feedback and comments, and I will continue to revise it.
Thank you for taking the time to read through it! I hope it may be of use to you!
