One of the best lessons.

Based on my first lesson in the Social Studies classroom about United States regions, I felt that students did not grasp the concept of regions and have an understanding about the key concepts of regions, including population, climate, culture, food, and resources. I decided to create another lesson that focused on the Southeast region of the United States to give students more information about the diversity of regions within the country. I decided to integrate music for more student engagement and motivation as we continued our exploration of United States regions.
After writing the lesson, I was very excited to give students the opportunity to listen to music including country and rhythm and blues to apply to the power point presented about the Southeast region. I anticipated that students would love creating their own musical lyrics and share them with the class. My favorite part of the presentation was the opportunity to listen to music while in a classroom. Listening to music in class seems to make lessons exciting.
Upon arrival, I began to set up and test resources including the projector and computer. As I went through the PowerPoint to ensure that I did not experience technical difficulties with uploading my music video from YouTube, I learned that the school internet network did not allow access to YouTube. Since I was unaware of the restriction as I planned my lesson, I did not save the music video that was a significant part of my lesson onto my computer or email. I quickly tried to get an outside internet connection without success. So, I put a smile on my face and prepared to teach my lesson without music. Surprisingly, the students did not know that the most important part of my lesson was missing as I skipped by it on the PowerPoint. So, as I modeled the writing process for students through my own Southeast song lyrics, I was unsure of the success with the lesson since they were unable to hear the music example. Luckily, the students caught on to the activity, were very excited, and this became one of the best lessons that I have ever taught. The students were engaged through the pictures and the discussion questions that I asked during the anticipatory set and guided practice portions of the lesson. I was surprised with the number of hands that flew up every time that I posed a question. Finally, I was impressed by the Southeast regions songs that the class created. Many students shared their songs and some of them even sang them to the class. The songs ranged from humorous to more serious, with each showing an understanding about the key characteristics of the Southeast region of the United States. After a quick whisper of preparation to the, a student who frequently exhibited inappropriate behavior was the first to share his song with the class. He shared with the enthusiasm and the class was clearly impressed.
Upon reflection of the lesson, I considered the need for flexibility when teaching, since most things will not go as planned. In the future I will save a copy of the music or videos needed on my computer or flash drive to use if the internet connections fails. This lesson emphasized the importance of planning and creating meaningful activities for students. The last lesson about regions may have failed to create a level of relevance for the students that would have allowed them to be more engaged with the exercise. I am very excited about the outcome of the lesson and the student artifacts produced about the Southeast region. During the lesson the students began to get a rowdy, but I used a management strategy that grabbed their attention and got them back in line. I am so proud of myself and the students. Each time that I teach lessons I get better adapt to student needs and create meaningful exercises for students to understand the material presented. Wow! This reflection has almost brought tears to my eyes; this graduate school thing is paying off.