The lesson that I implemented was a class debate about nuclear energy.  Prior to the debate, students had to read and reflect on an article that described the pros and cons of nuclear energy.  We discussed the science behind nuclear chemistry the week before this debate too.  During the debate, I used all the teacher resources I created over the summer as part of my externship.

            There were several positive aspects about my lesson.  The students REALLY got into the debate part of it!!  Kids who had been quiet all semester spoke up and defended their arguments.  And they were able to use the article to support their ideas too.  Some of the discussions took turns that I didn’t expect and it was really cool to hear what the students thought.  After they finished the discussion, several students commented to me that it was fun and we should do more debates like that this year.  I received so much positive feedback from the students that I decided to repeat the lesson again with my spring students.

            However, there were some kinks in the lesson that I will change for next time.  After we finished the debate, I had students participate in an online discussion, using padlet.  My first period did fine with it (although the discussion was unorganized and kind of crowded to read on the screen).  However, my second period had some issues.  After about 10 minutes, students started posting things from “Batman” that said “Call if you want to go out tonight” or random things like that.  They realized I couldn’t tell who was writing which comment, so they started to make things up to be funny.  In the future, I would find an online discussion site that will allow for more organization and teacher control.

            Other than that, I was extremely pleased with the outcome of my lesson.  It will be used for the NC Science Festival this spring.  So far they have 25 teachers from across the state who are going to implement the lesson into their teaching as well.