Well, as I can see, it took me quite a long time to add my thoughts on implementing my differentiated instruction lesson plan. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t completely mine as I have implemented the lesson plan Ioanna and I have designed sometime in early summer.

My general impression from implementing the lesson plan was rather negative, even if the students enjoyed the process. From the very first task (experiencing the known) students stated that they don’t have idols because they do understand that a number of factors, such as marketing, media, etc may manipulate and distort one’s public image. The majority of my students admitted that they do like certain actors but these could be in no way considered as their idols because they mostly look up to family members (usually mother and father but some grandparents, too). I was rather stunned by my students’ answers as I wasn’t expecting this at such an early stage. This is the main reason why I believe that the whole lesson plan lost its dynamic- it was designed, you see, on a quite different basis.

Experiencing the new through the second task wasn’t quite successful either. Students enjoyed the videos, as they always do, but the second video wasn’t as effective as the first one since the students had a difficulty in recognising the athletes involved. Conceptualising by naming (task 3-chart filling) worked quite well. Students worked in groups, there was some fruitful noise but it was sth expected and manageable as there was a strict time limit. However, students couldn’t cope with task 4. The personalities chosen were so different and perhaps more than the students really needed, so that they couldn’t easily draw analogies or make generalisations. The tasks of analysing functionally & analysing critically were more or less the same so we skipped the first one and did the two tasks in analysing critically. Students really enjoyed the process of coming up with the best candidate to promote their campaign. Many different ideas were proposed as they started thinking in terms of what would sell best. At this point, I could detect a slight change in my students’ attitude towards idols and I’m not sure whether I was proud of that change. The final task was assigned as homework but only two groups have come up with a real plan.

Through the course of the lesson students showed both signs of engagement as well as boredom. They easily participated and completed the tasks that found meaningful while they disengaged themselves in those tasks that found less meaningful for them or irrelevant to the essential questions posed at the beginning.