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Lesson 26

Learning Skills Review

What Have I Learned In This Class?

Overview: The Learning Skills review focuses on what a learner has

learned during Learning Skills. More importantly this lesson gives the teacher a critical look at what knowledge and understanding the learners have gained. It also helps to see if they value what theyve learned enough to use it in their everyday lives. The lesson focuses on key concepts, changes in the learners perception of themselves and lessons that have been introduced and discussed throughout the course. After the review, learners are asked to write about what they have learned that week. There are no wrong answers. The writing exercise is a helpful tool to gain feedback from learners. It also allows learners to use the EFF Standard of Reflect and Evaluate. There is not a Learner Note Taker; instead, learners write whatever they feel is an important learning to them.
Educational Goal: The goal of this lesson is for learners to (1) compre-

Time: 1 hour Teacher Materials: List of lessons and key concepts taught that week Reflect and Evaluate Standard sheet EFF Standards/Skill Wheel (Poster) Learner Materials Paper and pencil or pen Reflect and Evaluate Standard handout Learner Materials:

hend what they have learned in the Learning Skills course and (2) respond positively to what they have learned and how it applies to their everyday life and goals.
Objectives:

Writing paper

Cognitive:

Affective:

What they have learned Identify any changes that they see in themselves Tell what it means to them How the learner can apply what they have learned to their everyday lives. Describe why what they have learned is important

Skills Standards Connection: This lesson has a connection to the Ten-

nessee KSA Evaluate Information and the EFF Standard Reflect and Evaluate.
Teaching Strategy: Key concept visuals that can be used for this lesson

are the staircase, communication process, and the STAR. Reflecting and Evaluating is an important skill/standard that all adults need to do in order to improve their goals and life. The Learning Skills review and writL E A R N I N G S K I L L S

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MESSAGE

Sender

Receiver

FEEDBACK

ing activity helps learners to retain the knowledge that they have received and to see how it affects their education and everyday lives. Even in the first week, learners began to describe what they learned and more importantly what changes they saw in their motivation and confidence. The previous review lessons also lead into a preview of things to come for the next week. Depending upon what weekly review it was, learners learned several different key concepts and lessons. The first component of the EFF Standard of Reflect and Evaluate directly connects to the Wherever you are Learning Skills motto. The lesson also requires learners to see the value in what theyve learned and asks them to predict how they will use it in their lives. The teacher should begin this last review lesson by focusing the learners on key elements that they remember from the class. The goal is not to get learners to look through their notes but to see what they can remember. Whatever they remember learning is the most valid and clearest picture of where they are as learners. The communication loop could be used in this portion of the lesson as a visual. The teacher should begin the lesson by explaining the educational goal, objectives, and the overall purpose of the writing activity. It should be explained as a valid way of gaining feedback from them. The teacher should also ask learners to put all of their work aside in order to discuss what they remember learning. The lesson begins with the EFF Standard of Reflect and Evaluate. Discuss the Standard with the class, what it means, and why its important. Learners should know that they are applying the skill of reflect and evaluate throughout this lesson. Next, introduce a brainstorming session that stimulates the mind and gets learners to critically think about what has been learned throughout the course. Allow learners enough time to think out key concepts as a team while recording their thoughts on the board. Also refer to the EFF Standard Skills Wheel so that learners can see all of the things that they have been able to learn and do.

The STAR Method

Stop

Think

Review

Act

STA N DA RD

Reflect and Evaluate

Take stock of where one is: assess what one knows already and the relevance of that knowledge. Make inferences, predictions, or judgments based on ones reflections.
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Family

Worker

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Citizen

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What Have I Learned in This Class?

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Lesson Plan
Introduction
Attention: Now that we have completed the Learning Skills course, lets

take some time to reflect and evaluate about the class and what weve learned. Question: Why do you think it would be important for us to stop and think about what happened and what we learned in class?
Motivation: Being able to stop, think, and reflect about all of the things

you have heard is very important. Reviewing and reflecting helps us to retain what we have learned and to increase our awareness of what happened. There is always room for improvement. As a group, we also need to think about what kinds of things we could improve. Maybe I could have taught something better or maybe you could have studied more on a particular subject. These kinds of reflections lead to evaluating what went well and what needs improvement. You will be given a survey at the end of the day. This survey will also help us to make improvements.
Overview: We are going to reflect on what weve learned and evaluate

how well it went. At the end of this lesson we want you to be able to: Explain through discussion and writing what you have learned in Learning Skills and any changes that you see in yourself. Explain through discussion and writing why what you have learned is important. Predict how you will use it.

Body of Lesson
Main Point 1: What Is Reflect and Evaluate?
A. Lets take a minute to review the components of the Reflect and Evaluate Standard. The first component says that we need to take stock of where we are, assess what we know already, and see the relevance of that knowledge. Question: What do you think the first component is saying?

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In order to know how it went, we need to be able to assess where we are, what we have learned, and whether what we have learned is important. B. Predict The next component of the standard says(Allow a volunteer learner to read the component) that we should make inferences, predictions, or judgments based on ones reflections. Those are some pretty big words. What is a prediction? Who can give a definition for prediction? Maybe we should look it up. (Allow time for learners to look up the word in the dictionary.) Question: Give me an example of predicting what might happen next week? Predictions are things that someone can assume might happen. Question: Why would it be important for us to predict what might happen next week? Asking the same questions that we ask during the Thought for the Day will help you to comprehend the importance and value of predicting. Whenever we ask the questions, What does it mean, why is it important, and how can you use it, we are allowing you to make a prediction or a judgment based on your own reflections. We use what we have learned in life when the learning is important to us.

Teaching Tip Many words on the pages of the Standard may be difficult to read for learners. It is important to allow the learners to translate what each component is saying. It is just as important for the instructor to guide them through every Standard. It should never be assumed that a component is understood.

Main Point 2. What Have We Learned?

Now lets look back on all of the things that we discussed and learned. Without looking through your notes, what are some things that you remember discussing and/or learning? (Begin recording responses on board.) It sounds like you have learned a lot of important things. Question: Was everything always easy and fun to learn? A. Not everything that you learn is going to be easy and fun. We try to make it as fun as possible but sometimes learning can be challenging. Learning may not be occurring if something is too easy. Learning something new is challenging, but if we can make it interesting it will not only make more sense but it will also affect us as a person.

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B. Many times when a person is learning, she will begin to see changes in herself. Maybe her confidence goes up because she begins to realize that she can do it or she may want more challenges. Learning does affect how a person feels. Question: What other kinds of changes have you seen? C. One of the main things that we wanted you to get out of Learning Skills is the connection between life and education. We want you to not just know something but to actually be able to use what you learn as workers, parents, and citizens. It is important that you let us know when you have used what you have learned. Telling us what knowledge you have applied gives us the feedback that we need as teachers. Feedback will help us to know what went well and what we need to do better.

Teaching Tip Usually the key concepts are always mentioned because they are so intensely discussed every day of every week. Examples of class responses: We learned the STAR method, I learned how to spell better, or I have more confidence.

Main Point 3. Why Is What We Learned Important? How Can We Use It?
We have discussed a lot of things that we learned. Now I would like you to Reflect and Evaluate independently. I want you to write about what you have personally learned. I also want you to write more about some changes that you might be seeing in yourself. Finally, I want you also to include how you have used or will use what you have learned in your everyday life and goals. Remember to use the logic tree to help you outline your main points. Are there any questions? You will have 30 minutes to write. There are no wrong answers. We are not concerned with your spelling or punctuation right now. We are only focusing on your thoughts about this week, this class, and how it is affecting you. Now that we have all finished writing, lets share what we have written.
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Life Education

The Writing Process

Lesson 11

Teaching Tip

Main Point 4: Preview of Next Class

Now that we have reviewed Learning Skills, its time for us to preview next week. You will begin your new class next week. Remember to take what you have learned with you. All of the things that we have discussed are important and should be valued enough for you to use them.
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Ask learners to give examples of something they have learned in class that they used at home or on the job.

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Teaching Tip Ask all class participants to share what they have written. It is important for all learners to feel comfortable enough to read what they have written. Some may become easily embarrassed or defensive if you ask them to read aloud. If this is this case assist them or allow them to simply share some of the key words that they wrote about.

Summary: Now that we have all shared what we learned in Learning Skills, lets think about what we learned while doing this lesson and how we have used or can use it. Just in this last hour of class you learned some new things. We have used the Equipped for the Future Standard of Reflect and Evaluate, we discussed its components and what they meant. We also used the Standard to reflect and evaluate our experiences in class as a group and personally. We used the read, write, and discuss model throughout the lesson. You were asked to write about what youve learned and share it with all of us.

Through the read, write, and discuss model you proved that you can explain what youve learned, why its important, and how you can use it.
Re-Motivation: Preview of next week.

Now that we have reviewed this week, its time for us to think about your next steps.
Teaching Tip Its important to help learners to understand that even though they are beginning a new class next week, they should understand how to use the Learning Skills key concepts and tools. Next class preview will be somewhat different depending on the group that you have. The preview should be a brief introduction to some of the themes and important things that will be taught. Remember to keep it simple. Always link it up to how they will use what they are going to learn in their lives. This will help to motivate them for next week.

Its going to be an exciting week! Youre going to the next level. So be prepared!
Close: The next step is for you to continue learning more and valuing what you learn enough to see its purpose in your life and goals. Homework Assignment: Presentation Practice

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ACTIVITY: Makeup Hour

Objective: The objective of this activity is for each learner to (1) finish incomplete work,

(2) organize all work for his or her personal notebook, and (3) collect work for learner files.

Procedure: This activity allows learners to take responsibility for their learning by catching

up on any incomplete work that they need to finish in order to graduate from Learning Skills. Incomplete work includes any activity or lesson that a learner missed or didnt finish. Some incomplete work is more important than others. Learners need to have their research papers completed. Maybe they still need to work on their test review or add sample work to their file. Whatever is considered priority is done in this time. 1. Explain what the hour is about. This hour is about completing everything you need to in order to graduate. I will help you to prioritize what should be accomplished by the end of this hour. 2. Give learners most of the hour to work. 3. Gain their feedback on what theyve accomplished.

Summary: Wrap up this activity by explaining that it is important to finish all the lessons and

activities in order to fulfill all requirements of Learning Skills. In many ways learners should begin to understand that there are certain things that have to be done in order to graduate. It is their own responsibility to finish them.

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PREP TIME FOR GRADUATION

Homework Review: Presentation Practice Thought for the Day

Excellence is going far and beyond the call of duty, and doing more than others expect. It comes from striving, maintaining the highest standards and looking after the smallest detail. Excellence means doing your very best. In everything. In every way. Anonymous Do the work it takes in order to succeed. Dont just try, try your best. Push yourself to become excellent.

Teaching Tip Begin each day with a review of the previous days homework. Give 15-20 minutes to review the homework. Then begin the Thought for the Day. Give students time to answer the four questions. Then discuss the Thought for the Day.

ACTIVITY: Prep Time for Graduation

Goal: The goal of this activity is for learners to (1) complete all last minute details for gradu-

ation/presentation and (2) motivate themselves and others to do a good job during the presentation of their papers. The learners have completed all requirements of the Learning Skills course and are about to give their presentations to the class. There may be several small things that the learners need to prepare or finish before they give their presentations. This activity focuses on some of the steps learners need to take in order to be better prepared.
Procedure: The day of graduation can be a busy and exciting day. Learners are getting anxious and may have many little last-minute things to do. The morning hours give learners time to bond, encourage, and motivate their team members.

1. Provide 30 minutes in the morning for learners to work on last-minute details. Some may need to turn in sample work to be put into their files. Others may need to work on incomplete assignments. Many learners will be reading over their presentations or practicing them. Though their work may be individualized, the team is communicating and supporting one another. This time is special. Teamwork and intense focus from the learners is the reward of this day. 2. The last 30-60 minutes is dedicated to the graduation lesson, which gives motivation and a sense of accomplishment to the class. The teacher should encourage the entire class to talk, answer any questions, and inspire everyone to do their best. This day is graduates day. Easing learner concerns by motivating them is the objective.

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