Standards+of+Effective+Practice+Reflection

Back to Home Page ==** Reflection on how this assignment meets the Standards of Effective Practice: ** ==

**// Standard 3 Diverse Learners: //** ** A teacher must understand how students differ in their approaches to learning and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to students with diverse backgrounds and exceptionalities. **** The teacher must: ** >  I have demonstrated my understanding of/competency in Standard 3 by including pictures and/or videos in all of my lesson plans. By providing students with visuals, students will have multiple ways of learning the content. I have also provided my students with a class wiki which will give my students an opportunity to review the day’s lesson as many times as they want anywhere they have computer and internet access. ELL students can go over portions of the lesson with a parent, sibling, or anyone else who is available to help with translation. I also plan to also work to my ELL students’ strengths. When teaching social studies topics, I will be conscious of their background and try to incorporate their culture into our lesson. This way they may be able to relate to the content easier, therefore having an easier time understanding it.
 * ** 3C. Know about the process of second language acquisition and about strategies to support the learning of students whose first language is not English; **
 * ** 3K. Identify and design instruction appropriate to a student’s stages of development, learning styles, strengths, and needs; **

 I know there will be an array of learning abilities and students will be at different stages of development in my class. Because of this I have varied the instructional methods of my lessons in order to better suit the multiple learning abilities of my classroom. My assessments and student evaluations will closely monitor student progress, and will help me reach each student’s “zone of proximal development”. This is important in reaching the fullest learning potential of all my students (Arends, 2009).

**// Standard 4 Instructional Strategies: //** ** A teacher must understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. **** The teacher must: **
 * ** 4J. Vary the instructional process to address the content and purposes of instruction and the needs of students; **
 * ** 4C. Understand principles and techniques, along with advantages and limitations, associated with various instructional strategies; **
 * ** 4D. Enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and human and technological resources; **
 * ** 4E. Nurture the development of student critical thinking, independent problem solving, and performance capabilities; **
 * ** 4H. Use multiple teaching and learning strategies to engage students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance capabilities and that help students assume responsibility for identifying and using learning resources; **
 * ** 4K. Develop a variety of clear, accurate presentations and representations of concepts, using alternative explanations to assist students’ understanding and present varied perspectives to encourage critical thinking. Use educational technology to broaden student knowledge about technology to deliver instruction; and **
 * ** 4L. Use educational technology to broaden student knowledge about technology, to deliver instruction to students at different levels and paces, and to stimulate advanced levels of learning. **

I have demonstrated my understanding of/ competency in Standard I by incorporating a concept lesson plan, a presentation lesson plan, a cooperative lesson plan, and a discussion lesson plan throughout my unit. Using diverse instructional strategies will help ensure I meet the needs of the multiple learning styles within my classroom; my lesson plans include: pictures, videos, reading, individual work, group work, and discussion. In addition, I have incorporated Web 2.0 by providing my lessons on a wiki, using a “prezi” for my presentation, and having students perform web based research. This will allow them to broaden their knowledge about today’s technology. I have ensured the accuracy and clarity of my lessons, presentations, activities, and assessments by aligning them with the class text book and having other teachers and peers review them.

I have also implemented a “constructivist” teaching approach within my lessons by encouraging class discussion and promoting critical thinking. This constructivist approach will engage me, as the teacher, in the lesson by having them pose the questions and ensure that the entire class is participating in the social exercise. It is important to incorporate social interaction into the lesson, so students can create knowledge from their personal experiences (DeVries et al., 2002).

**// Standard 6, communication: //** ** A teacher must be able to use knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. The teacher must: **
 * ** 6I. support and expand learner expression in speaking, writing, and other media; **
 * ** 6J. know how to ask questions and stimulate discussion in different ways for particular purposes, including probing for learner understanding, helping students articulate their ideas and thinking processes, promoting productive risk-taking and problem-solving, facilitating factual recall, encouraging convergent and divergent thinking, stimulating curiosity, and helping students to question; and **
 * ** 6K. use a variety of media communication tools, including audiovisual aids and computers, including educational technology, to enrich learning opportunities. **

I have demonstrated my understanding of/competency in Standard 6 by completing a cooperative learning lesson, to work on communication; a problem based learning lesson, to encourage divergent thinking and problem solving; and a lesson comprised of classroom discussion questions to stimulate dialogue and debate among the students. I will attempt to keep our classroom discussions student led, however I will steer the conversation when needed and I will probe to check for student understanding. In many assignments, my students will be required to write answer a “critical thinking question” in paragraph form. This will not only improve their critical thinking skills, but will allow them to develop their writing ability. Classroom discussion, group work, and presentations will help students work on articulating their knowledge and improve their socialization skills.

I have included multiple forms of educational technology within my lesson plans. Students will be able to learn from videos, presentations, audio clips, pictures, websites, and virtual chat rooms/social networks dedicated to content discussion. The use of these technologies will enhance learning opportunities while also teaching them to how use such advanced technology for their own projects and research.

**// Standard 7, planning instruction: //**** A teacher must be able to plan and manage instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals. The teacher must: **
 * ** 7D. create short-range and long-range plans that are linked to student needs and performance; **
 * ** 7F. design lessons and activities that operate at multiple levels to meet the developmental and individual needs of students and to help all progress; **
 * ** 7G. implement learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals, relevant to learners, and based on principles of effective instruction including activating student prior knowledge, anticipating preconceptions, encouraging exploration and problem solving, and building new skills on those previously acquired; and **

I have demonstrated my understanding of/competency in Standard 7 by completing each lesson plan assignment. When building my lesson plans, I made certain to align my objectives according to the state standards. My lessons all include assessments and evaluations to monitor individual performance and to ensure each objective is being met. Each lesson plan also includes an “Established Set” which activates prior knowledge and helps the students recognize what is expected of them (Arends, 2009). By using my knowledge of how students learn, combined with my content knowledge, I have created a curriculum by choosing the most appropriate content for my specific group of students. In lesson planning, I also incorporated multiple resources in order to vary the difficulty of each lesson. This way I reach all students, including my exceptional learners.