Knowledge of teaching
Teacher candidates positively impact student learning that is:
1. Informed by standards-based assessment. All students benefit from learning that is systematically analyzed using multiple formative, summative, and self-assessment strategies.
2. Intentionally planned. All students benefit from standards-based planning that is personalized.
3. Influenced by multiple instructional strategies. All students benefit from personalized instruction that addresses their ability levels and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
4. Informed by technology. All students benefit from instruction that utilizes effective technologies and is designed to create technologically proficient learners.
My Understanding of Standard T
Standard T directs the way I plan and teach my subject to positively impact student learning. By planning lessons using results of multiple formative, summative, and self-assessments, I increase my chances of addressing the crucial areas for my students. By planning and delivering lessons with multiple teaching strategies, I increase my chances of reaching all students, regardless of background. By planning and delivering lesson integrating technology, I increase my chances of preparing my students technologically.
meta reflection
1. Informed by standards-based assessment. I am data-driven, and knowing where my students are in their understanding determines what and how I teach them. I’ve learned through my certification education that this idea is called formative assessment, and I can’t see how to teach without it. I look for indicators of understanding in student comments and questions and exit tasks. I try to get some formative assessment from each student daily, and use the data as input as I plan my warm ups and lessons.
In this scan of an exit task, I asked students to self-assess their understanding of the week’s concepts and opened the door to any communication they wanted to share. The scan has a sample of 3 students’ exit tasks. When reading self-assessments, I compare the student’s perceptions to my own assessment of their understanding, and this may result in a conference with the student or a note to the student.
This spring, I used a formative assessment to have the students to set their own goals for improvement. This was done through the Standard V Project in which students reflected on their initial assessment, set goals, increased their understanding and skills, then took a second assessment.
Weekly quizzes serve both a formative and summative function, and I systematically analyze results by tallying how many students got, or missed, a problem. By identifying just the students that have a specific need, and pulling them out to work on a concept more closely, I can keep the class moving forward while still addressing gaps in student understanding. Here are examples of an informal tally and a more formal tally I’ve used to decide which concepts to revisit.
2. Intentionally planned. All students benefit from standards-based planning that is personalized.
In this Powerpoint I planned a lesson that kept the class moving forward, while still addressing the needs of two subgroups. These subgroups were identified by their quiz performance because they couldn’t demonstrate understanding.
3. Influenced by multiple instructional strategies. All students benefit from personalized instruction that addresses their ability levels and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
In this lesson plan and reflection, I taught the lesson, gave the class independent work time, and in parallel, brought together a sub-group of students that had all missed the same concept on the weekly quiz. I used the results of the formative assessment to identify the sub-group. This sub-group received a mini-lesson, held a discussion that clarified misunderstandings, and practiced examples together, addressing their ability levels.
I noticed that my students were not truly grasping the use of formulas for volume and surface area, so I created this multi-day project that required team work, problem solving, constructing actual size nets, writing and presentations.
4. Informed by technology. All students benefit from instruction that utilizes effective technologies and is designed to create technologically proficient learners.
I am technologically proficient. I regularly using Powerpoint visuals to enhance learning. I’ve created a screencast, developed a wiki site, and taught lessons in the computer lab. Graphing calculators are used almost daily in my Algebra 1 class.
