Illinois Professional Teaching Standards
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.
Throughout the course of the year, I have looked into a variety of resources to increase my knowledge of content and pedagogy. One of the topics that I did my research on was writing. I read many books by Ralph Fletcher. The study of the content of these books went well. However, it was more difficult when I tried to implement in the classroom what I learned in the books. I learned that while you may know some knowledge on a certain topic, it is how it is sold that conveys this knowledge more successfully. In addition to using those professional resources, I also researched the areas I was going to be teaching. I looked in books at school as well as on websites at home. Both ways increased my knowledge of the skill.
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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 the past year, I found times when it was necessary to work with students on social skills as well as academic knowledge. While working with first grade, I planned a lesson that focused on using manners. The lesson had the students listen to a song on manners, pick out the main points of the song, and draw pictures on how the song told them to use good manners. I found this lesson was developmentally appropriate for first grade because it used a variety of different learning modalities and motivating materials. The students worked on picking out the main details of the song. When I had them draw pictures, the skill the class was working on was developed.
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Diversity
The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
Interchanging the resources used during teaching is one effective way to engage students. Just as none of us like doing the same thing day in and day out, our students do not like learning the same way for every lesson. During my internship, I have used a variety of different instructional resources. I have also used technology to enhance student learning. One example of my use of technology was during a Science lesson on health. In the lesson we were discussing ways to stay active and get the proper amount of exercise. I used a PowerPoint presentation to show the students a couple different ways that people around the world used to say active. Within the PowerPoint, I also utilized internet resources by presenting a short video clip on the topic. As a part of my reflection during the lesson, I monitored the students’ engagement. I saw that PowerPoint was another effective resource to be used in the classroom.
In addition to technology, I also used a variety of other resources to increase student learning. During spelling I had an array of resources available to students, so that their learning style could be met with the resources available. Some students used yarn to make their spelling words while others chose to do traditional paper and pencil activities. Through the process of using all of these different resources I have found that with the proper balance each one can be effective in increasing student learning.
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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.
Teachers affect the lives of their students each and every day. Therefore, it is essential that the educator makes appropriate and logical decisions in all areas of teaching. This is true in the implementation of a lesson when the instructor needs to make a judgment call on the effectiveness of a given activity. It is also true when responding to classroom management problems. In either case, it is important that the decisions are grounded in sound and fair reasoning.
During a reading lesson, I realized that very few of the students were paying attention. I chose to abandon that point for the moment. I decided to change the lesson because I clearly saw that the students were ready for something else. I have learned that no matter what the situation is, sound decisions are important in areas of teaching.
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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.
Illinois Illustration PowerPoint
As the fourth grade class I was working with began to study Illinois, I decided to plan a lesson that motivated the students to be creative in interpreting the material. I played a song for them that was about Illinois. After we discussed the song, I had each of them draw a picture of a line in the song. Their pictures became a part of a PowerPoint presentation we watched the next day. The students were engaged because of the music and looking at the content in a different way. The students were also given the opportunity to discuss what they could draw to illustrate the song. This created a positive social environment for learning.
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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.
The Mountain States
By Austin & Jack
The climbers are hiking on Pikes Peak,
They surly do like the eagle’s eek.
Then we see the geyser spray
And we don’t even have to pay.
Next we look at the houses carved into the mountainside.
Someone said it was boring, but they lied.
We go look at the mine,
The copper in there really did shine.
I remember we did begin,
I wish we could go back again.
As a review of the study of the Mountain States, I had the fourth grade class come up with poems, songs, or skits that summarized the geography and culture of the region. This proved to be a motivating activity for the students to practice working with others in a group as well as reviewing the material we had covered. In this type of project, the students were required to do more than just spit back information. The students had to apply the information they had learned to create the performance I asked them to do.
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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.
While working in first grade, I have worked with parents in many ways. One way that I made a conscious effort to do this was in a letter I sent home to the mother of one of the students who was going to be out of school for a couple of days. She had asked that his homework be sent home. I took the extra moment to type up a note that went with his work explaining it and thanking the mother for her involvement in her son’s studies. On that note I also left room for her comments back to me. This invited her to take a more active role within her son’s classroom. I had learned to do this from another colleague in the building. I saw her send a note home like this during parent teacher conferences. Learning from other teachers has made me more productive in involving parents in the educational process.
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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.
Long Division Assessment Worksheet
While teaching fourth grade, I found that it was vital to know what the students knew. Therefore, while teaching long division, I made up a worksheet that had a variety of problems on it. I used this worksheet to assess the students’ knowledge of long division. I had them complete this worksheet during the time the students worked at their seats in guided reading. I found that this was an excellent time to have the students complete it because this time is normally used for them to complete worksheets in different subjects. The students were then relaxed and free to show what they knew. After the students completed the worksheet, I graded it and made a chart that showed the problems and the name of each student. I did this so that I could see which problems the students had the most trouble with on the worksheet.
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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.
I have included families and colleagues in the educational process by attending such events as the Young Authors Celebration put on by the district. I went there to show the parents the support I had for their sons and daughters. That direct involvement with parents supported my belief in the parents being involved as being one of the most important parts of teaching. Seeing all of the parents that came out to support their students proves that each of them feel that the other teachers and myself view them as an important part of the educational process. At this event, there were also other teachers and interns from the district. Together we worked to make sure the parents felt that they were valued in the educational process.
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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.
Throughout the course of the year, I reflected in a variety of different ways. Sometimes I used the formal reflections that the Professional Development School asked us to do. Other times I reflected by myself. I found that this was helpful when I notice little things that needed to be noted for later. I often wrote these on sticky notes and stuck them to my lesson plans. I did this so that I could look back at what I had done that needed improvement. Still other times, I reflected with my mentor. During those times, she pointed out things she noticed while I was teaching or we traded ideas on what could be done next time to make a lesson more effective.
Professional Conduct
The teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.
I have seen in many ways this past year that it is essential to work with other colleagues. Communicating with with other educational professionals is an excellent way to develop resources that other teachers have found to be useful. As resources are gathered, it is necessary to continue to grow through professional development. I attended a seminar presented by Harry Wong. Then, the other interns and I were asked to present the information we learned to the staff. This is one way that I that I worked to develop the student's learning environment.
