The Penn State teacher plans instruction and assessments designed to foster student understanding and development.
The teacher demonstrates an understanding of subject matter and subject-specific pedagogy during planning.
I wrote this subject matter research paper before creating a science unit about solids and liquids and their changes. I researched the topics and any information that seemed pertinent to the content. The paper includes definitions of solids and liquids as well as chemical and physical changes. I also defined gases because I briefly touched on gases in my unit. I defined physical and chemical changes just in case they were somehow brought up in class discussions.
This paper shows that I did thorough research on my science topic before writing the lesson plans that went with my unit. I feel it is important for teachers to have a complete understanding of a subject before teaching it, and this is an example in which I accomplished this. In my paper, I included information that I was not expecting to teach in my unit. Children are smart, and I did not want to get caught off guard with a question I was not sure about. Some of my students know how to "google" and do it whenever they hear something they don't know. I want to be able to answer questions so they do not have to go home and google it because their teacher was not prepared.
Attached is the overview, rationale, and statement of importance to students that I included in my fall unit. These three sections state why I have developed this unit and why it is important to teach to my students. The overview gives quick summary of how my unit will be split up and when I will teach my lessons. The rationale states why I have developed the unit the way I have. Finally, the importance to students states why this unit is especially relevant to my group of students and why I think they need to learn about fall.
Before I wrote my unit plans or developed major activities, I identified the concepts I felt were important and outlined a general plan. By doing this, I also developed an idea of what understandings I wanted my students to learn. It is important to do this for both daily lesson plans and long-range units. Developing my long-term unit concepts and understandings helped me develop daily lesson objectives and standards throughout my fall unit.
The teacher uses principles of learning and development, and understanding of learners and learner diversity during planning of instruction and assessment.
Attached is a KWL (what we know, what we wonder, what we learned) chart I used during my fall unit. I used this chart to find out what my students knew before I taught any lessons on leaves. I used a transparency so we could refer back to it often. We also filled out the second section about what students wanted to learn during the leaf week. At the end of the week, we filled out the last section about what students did learn.
A KWL chart is an efficient and effective method to find out what students know about a subject. Prior knowledge is so important when planning, especially in a unit. Accessing this information allowed me to plan activities that would not be repetitive but would not be too challenging either. It also allowed me to find out what my students wanted to learn during the unit. This allowed me to adapt my lessons to fit their needs and wants. The KWL chart makes students feel like they have a say in what they learn. They liked the idea of brainstorming questions they had. I will continue to use KWL charts to both identify prior knowledge and adapt my lessons to fit students' needs.
Attached is a lesson in which I adapted assessments and objectives for my individual learner. My individual learner is a student I chose to work with over the course of a few weeks to try to improve one specific skill. I chose to work with a particular student to try to improve his fine motor skills, letter formation, spacing, and general handwriting. In this lesson, I used a different rubric when conferencing about his writing, and I have attached that rubric as well.
Learner diversity is something every single teacher will need to plan for. No two learners are ever alike, and it is the responsibility of the teacher to accommodate for the differences between students. I have taken these considerations into account and have planned accordingly. It would not be fair to my individual learner to hold him to the same standards as his classmate in an area that is not affected by intelligence but rather by motor skills. My individual learner's fine motor skills are lower than his classmate's so it would be unrealistic for me to expect the same quality of writing as someone whose letters are always formed perfectly. Instead of expecting perfection every time, I expect him to try his best and improve continuously.
The teacher uses relevant community, district, school, and classroom factors and characteristics in planning.
Attached is my school and community data report that I completed for Mifflin County and Armagh Elementary School. Included in this report are characteristics and information about Armagh and the surrounding community. To complete this report, I completed research and conducted interviews. I used the district's website, greatschools.net, and the chamber of commerce website for research. I also interviewed my mentor teacher for information and insight about the school, district, and community. I compiled all the acquired information into the organized report to give me a better understanding of the community and school in which I will be student teaching.
This report has been very beneficial for me as a preservice teacher. I am not from the Mifflin County area, so I knew very little about the community going into this experience. It is impossible to design lessons for students I know nothing about, so I tried to learn as much as possible before going into the classroom. This report has benefited me as a teacher in this community because I am now familiar with the area from which my students have come. I have used this information in my planning. I have begun to think about what my students may or may not know based on their geographical location and surrounding communities. I have had to adapt some lessons and content based on this information. Teachers should always be familiar with the community because it has a huge impact on students and their success in the classroom.
The week of October 5, 2009 was fire safety week. Throughout the week, my students began learning about ways to prevent fires and what to do if there ever is a fire. The week culminated with a visit from the Milroy Fire Company. Approximately ten firemen and Emergency Medical Technicians spoke to my students about fire safety and the roles they play in the community. One fireman dressed up in his full uniform to show students what a fireman looks like so they are not scared if one ever enters the house. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions about fire safety and about becoming a fireman.
This visit shows community involvement in the school. I used this visit as a conclusion to fire safety week. When opportunities like this arise, good teachers need to take advantage of them. Community involvement is so crucial in teaching. Not only are these men and women firemen or firewomen, but they are also neighbors in the community. My students learned to respect them for all they do in the town. This was a great way to end a week learning about fire safety. I am lucky as a teacher to be placed in a tight-knit community and need to take advantage of every opportunity for bringing it into my classroom.
The teacher develops and selects appropriate instructional goals and objectives.
Attached is a copy of my goals and objectives for a unit plan I developed during my student teaching practicum. The unit was planned for a 4 week period. The unit was based on the autumn season. As I was planning the unit, I developed objectives and goals I wanted to accomplish by the end of the month-long unit. These long-term goals and objectives helped me develop daily lesson plans. I was able to look at the general overview and see what I wanted to accomplish over the next month. I could then take those objectives and develop daily plans to fit those objectives.
Teachers are accustomed to writing daily goals and objectives, but long-term goals are just as important. Throughout my student teaching experience, I have learned that long-term goals are extremely helpful in developing mini-units and daily lessons. I found that these long-term goals make integration in other subjects more natural as well. This, in turn, sparks more interest in my students and more coherent lessons. This would not be possible if I had not learned to develop long-range goals and objectives.
Attached are 3 individual lesson plans I developed during my fall unit. The sections applicable to this domain are standards and objectives. I wrote these lesson plans after developing my fall unit and writing long-range objectives and standards. The objectives and standards written in these lessons are short-range goals that I developed from long-range plans.
After creating my fall unit, I learned the importance of long-range goals and objectives but also realized short-range goals are just as important. These two different types of goals should be very closely related because the daily lesson plans should directly connect to the unit plan. The long-range goals determine what I want to cover in the month I am teaching the unit, and these daily goals determine how I will meet those specific objectives. An effective teacher needs to develop and be aware of both long and short-range goals, standards, and objectives to create a cohesive, integrated curriculum.
The teacher designs coherent short range and long range opportunities for student learning and assessment.
The general overview of my unit plan is attached. This was the first section I wrote as I created my unit plan. This paragraph explains what I plan to teach in the four weeks of my unit. It is a quick reference that explains the outline of my unit plan. The other section in this attachment is the plan for assessment I developed as I created my unit. This section explains how I will know what my students learned throughout each week of the unit.
As I wrote the assessment section, I included long-range and short-range assessment opportunities. I created an assessment for the entire unit as well as for the end of each week of the unit. After I wrote the long-range assessments, I created shorter-range assessments. These included simple formative assessments to creating booklets and completing worksheets. I allowed for a variety of assessments as well. I used a variety of rubrics that students were made aware of so they could be made aware of their own progress. I think it is important to have a wide variety of assessments and to allow students to know how they are doing. If they are aware of their progress, it may motivate them to work harder. in a unit that takes four weeks to teach, it is imperative to have both long-range and short-range assessments. These assessments need to also match the overview of the unit to make sure they are meaningful.
Attached is my individual learner project. For this assignment, I chose a student with which to work closely over a five-week period. The student I chose had problems with handwriting. I got to know this student, observed him during class, and developed an intervention plan for him. Throughout the experience, I used rubrics. I made him aware of what I was looking for in his writing. I also provided him with a sticker chart that he was able to keep in his writing folder. Whenever he completed a Kid Writing entry that he did not have to rewrite, he earned a sticker. When he received 10 stickers, he earned ten minutes to play with the unifix cubes.
As I observed my individual learner, I had to think about what I wanted the long-term change to be. After I identified this long-range goal, I created short-range opportunities and interventions for him to improve and succeed. The whole time, my individual learner was aware of my expectations and goals. The assessments I used matched my goals. I wanted to improve his letter formation and spacing, and my rubrics focused on these aspects. I think it is extremely important that he was aware of his progress by keeping the sticker chart in his own folder. He had a concrete reminder of his progress, and he knew he was in charge of his own writing.
The teacher selects, adapts, and/or creates appropriate instructional resources and materials, including instructional technologies.
Attached is a Power Point I created during the pumpkin week of my fall unit. I used the Power Point as I taught the life cycle of a pumpkin. The presentation included pumpkin vocabulary, pictures of each step of the life cycle, and an overview of the life cycle. Because I do not have a Smart Board or projector always in my room, I took my students to the computer lab to watch the presentation on the screen.
The school in which I student taught is not very technologically advanced. Because of this, my students are not exposed to technology often. It was important that I tried to use as much technology as I possibly could and integrate it in several lessons. My students loved anything that they got to watch on the screen. This Power Point was extremely successful because students could see real-life pictures of each step I discussed. They really seemed to retain the information better when they had those pictures to match to the steps. As a teacher today, I have learned how useful technology is in teaching. Students now live in a technological world, so it is my responsibility to include as much technology as possible.
Throughout my student teaching experience, I used a lot of materials that my mentor teacher gave me or that I found in teacher resources. Sometimes, though, I taught a lesson for which I couldn't find pre-made worksheets or handouts. On these occasions, I developed my own instructional materials. Attached are a few examples of these materials. The first is a sequencing page that I customized to fit my fall unit. The second is a bird characteristic page that I used when I taught about turkeys. The third is a worksheet I used as I taught a lesson on doubles during spider week of my fall unit.
This semester I have learned how much time it takes to create instructional materials. At the beginning of the semester, I was creating most of my materials. As time went on, I learned to use teacher resources and my mentor for materials. If I looked hard enough there was almost always something to use for every lesson. Sometimes, however, I wanted to adapt a worksheet or handout to fit a certain theme. These three examples are ideas I saw in the teacher's manual or resource book but adapted to fit a theme. I think it is important to integrate a theme into even simple worksheets like these because it sparks interest in students. Yes, it may take more time and effort, but I have seen a positive outcome. A teacher needs to utilize resources but also be able to create instructional materials when needed.
The teacher plans for an inclusive, nurturing, stimulating, and academically challenging learning environment.
Two lesson plans are attached. These lessons were developed for enrichment opportunities. For thirty minutes everyday, students struggling with reading skills attend an intervention with the reading specialist. During this time, classroom teachers are not supposed to continue with normal lessons because those struggling students will get behind. Instead, teachers are to plan challenging activities and lessons that will serve as enrichment to the other students.
These attached lessons are more challenging than most of my other lessons. I chose activities for these lessons that I knew would be a challenge to the students that would be present. I chose material and activities that were different from normal lessons. The reading selections are slightly above many of my students' reading levels, but I found that my students consistently rose to the challenge. I often read much of the material to students as they followed along, but many times they raised their hands and asked to read. This was evidence that the material was challenging but not impossible. Enrichment is necessary for excelling students to rise even further and expand their knowledge.
These photo attachments were taken throughout the semester in my classroom. The photographs show a child-friendly environment. All the furniture is low to the ground for students to sit comfortably. Materials throughout the room are also easily accessed by students. Books are laid out on a table and can easily be read. The fall table is centered at the front of the room and brings the room together as it sets the theme for the autumn season.
The photographs show an inviting, safe room where students can effectively learn. I have seen my students become extremely comfortable in this room. They are free to move about the room and gather materials themselves. They come into the room smiling and excited. This shows that students want to spend time in the room and that they feel safe doing so. Creating a warm and safe learning environment is definitely the responsibility of the teacher. Students cannot learn until they feel comfortable and safe in their environment.
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