• Content Knowledge
• Human Development and Learning
• Diversity
• Planning for Instruction
• Learning Environment
• Instructional Delivery
• Communication
• Assessment
• Collaborative Relationships
• Reflection and Professional Growth
• Professional Conduct
  

 

 

 

 

Content Knowledge
The teacher understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students.

  

Here are a few examples of the hands on activities implemented during my student teaching experience.  In the first picture, the students are cutting out adjectives for their own writing.  In the second picture, the students are demonstrating a solar and lunar eclipse.  These activities allowed the students to get their hands "dirty" in the curriculum.

Here are the I CAN DO IT sheets, which are the basis of lessons in language arts and mathematics in District 108.  These are sheets posted in the classroom and the students receive their own sheets.  The students are able to check off their own sheets to be responsible for their own learning.

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Human Development and Learning
The teacher understands how individuals grow, develop, and learn and provides learning opportunities that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students.

During my time at Washington Intermediate School, students allowed many opportunities to work together in small groups.  This was to reinforce curriculum, but also to develop social skills needed when working with others.  The picture on the left demonstrates an example of the students working together to determine if a small marble or a large marble would roll farther.  I believe it is also important to develop student's self-esteem in the classroom.  In the second picture, I displayed student's artwork they created for the Olympics.  The student's were excited to see their own work, as well as other students.

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Diversity
The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.

I feel that reading to my students is extremely important because not only does it model good reading strategies, but it can engage learners in a topic or new concept.  Here I am reading The Mitten by Jan Brett to introduce a lab on answering our question, "How does a mitten keep our hands warm?"

Allowing students to interact with groups allows for mastery of concepts for low and high students.  Low students benefit by working with higher students because the higher students can explain concepts in such a way that the lower students will understand.  Also, the higher students benefit by having to "teach" a concept.  Reading is also extremely important for all students, because it enhances fluency and allows all readers an opportunity to succeed at their own pace.

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Planning for Instruction
The teacher understands instructional planning and designs instruction based upon knowledge of the discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals.

In order to be a successful teacher, I had to know and understand my students' strengths and weaknesses.  By getting to know my students personally and their strengths and weaknesses, it allowed me to plan more effectively.  My lessons planned for every week had a very thorough format.  Below is an example of a how the lessons were set up.

Adjective Lesson

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Learning Environment
The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Here is an example of a bulletin board of my student's work.  To introduce a sound unit, the students thought of sounds you hear in the spring.  I, then, created six sound stations, one being to use the spring sounds they thought of.  Each petal on the flower has a sound each individual student hears in the springtime.

Here are pictures from my multicultural lesson.  The students were placed in a situation to experience segregation.  In social studies, we were studying the Civil Rights Movement.  The point of this lesson was to immerse my class in a situation that they might not understand otherwise.  Here is a copy of my multicultural lesson, Click here!

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Instructional Delivery
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

   Students need content presented in a variety of ways.  I love the idea of discovery learning because I truly believe that students take ownership in their learning when they feel they have found their answer on their own!  In science, we were studying sound and many stations were created in the classroom to experiment and answer questions.  The students had to determine the answers to these questions through the stations: the state of matter in which sounds travels the fastest, how can you make different pitches in sound, and how an eardrum works.  I truly feel that due to these stations, the students took control of their own learning and mastered these concepts.

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Communication
The teacher uses knowledge of effective written, verbal, nonverbal, and visual communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.

I believe that communication to parents/guardians is extremely important for students to succeed.  In my classroom, a newsletter was sent home every Monday. The newsletter explained what was happening in every subject area and any important dates to remember.  Also, during my experience, I made contact with parents via personal letters and phone calls.  I believe that contact with parents should occur early and often for postive and negative student actions.

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Assessment
The teacher understands various formal and informal assessment strategies and uses them to support the continuous development of all students.

As an educator, I believe that there should be a variety of ways to assess students' learning. I also believe that assessment should be set in place to monitor student progress.  Here is a picture of the planet brochures that my students created to show their knowledge on a particular planet.  The goal of this assessment was to show their knowledge in a creative way to become a "master" of a specific planet.

Students are self-assessing their own work.  I believe it is important for students to grade themselves, so they see the amount of work and effort they truly put into their project.

 

Here are examples of the informal assessments done in my class, to assess their knowledge on the novels read in class.

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Collaborative Relationships
The teacher understands the role of the community in education and develops and maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and the community to support student learning and well-being.

Throughout my entire student teaching experience, my mentor teacher and I collaborated and team taught many lessons.  Due to this experience, I have realized the importance of talking with other staff members.  While teaching at Washington Intermediate School, I have received advice from the support staff such as  the art teacher and the special education teacher.

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Reflection and Professional Growth
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.

Reflection plays such an important role in growing as a teacher.  At the end of everyday, I would reflect on the effectiveness of my lessons for that day.  During this reflecting time, I would make alterations to my lessons, so that the next lesson would flow with the previous lesson.  Also during this reflecting period, I would talk with my mentor.  Talking with my mentor was a great time to acquire the knowledge from an experienced teacher.  Her words of wisdom and encouragement helped build the confidence I have today.  Here is an exmaple of an assessment from my mentor.

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Professional Conduct
The teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.

Being a professional is so imperative in the teaching profession.  During my student teaching experience, I helped out with judging the Destination Imagination (DI) regional competition in Bloomington, Illinois.  I was asked by the librarian at Washington School and I agreed to help.  While I was there, I was able to see one of my own students perform.  Being there to support her in something she had worked so hard on brought a huge smile on her face.  Helping out at events, like DI, also build relationships with the parents.  Also, I was asked, along with several other interns, to speak to a group of prospective PDS interns on the benefits of this program. 

Here is a picture, when I helped out at the Young Author's recognition event.  I had one student at this event, and it was an honor to support her in her hard work.

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