InTASC Standard: The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context (InTASC, 2013).

 

Brief Description of Evidence:  

During my spring semester of 2021 in my EDUC 230 The Exceptional Child class I completed a lesson plan. This lesson plan is for a mathematics activity that has the objective of students learning to use a straightedge effectively as well as gaining the ability to identify and describe different shapes. I included accommodations for a student that has an exceptional need; the exceptional need I chose to accommodate was dysgraphia. The accommodation that was made for this student was allowing them to use a tablet and type or voice record for the written portion of the assignment, since handwriting is what they struggle with. Along with the accommodations the lesson plan also includes a full list of materials, the standards it relates to, and a list of procedures so anyone would be able to teach this. 

 

Analysis of What I Learned: 

From completing this assignment I learned that a lot more than just deciding what activity to do goes into lesson planning. In order for a lesson to be successful a teacher must look at what the students’ current capabilities are, and what the overall goal for them is. From that information the lesson can be formed and the teacher will know what new material needs to be presented. I learned that lesson plans are often cross-curricular without trying, as well. In this case, the lesson plan was for math but it crosses into art with the use of different shapes, and English as the students learn the new vocabulary. Another important factor in lesson planning is looking at the needs of the students, and ensuring that the activity is going to be equitable for those students. This may mean having to accommodate certain needs, like I did in my lesson. It’s helpful to look at all resources available when planning, too. This doesn’t necessarily mean about the content of the lesson, but can also include resources on how to handle different types of accommodations. Overall, my main takeaway was that no matter what, lesson plans always need to be flexible. Every group of students is going to be different and lesson plans are not just boxes that can be checked off, they are instead an outline to go off of and adapt to those groups each time you teach the lesson. Throughout this assignment I found connections to Bruner’s constructivist theory, in which a student is able to build upon their knowledge when material is presented in an organized manner (Mcleod, 2019). In this case, students were able to use what knowledge they already had about creating pictures and using shapes and turn it into a lesson on how to create that using a straightedge. They would next be able to then turn that into a hunt to find those shapes in everyday life, building upon their knowledge of the various shape names.

 

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the InTASC Standard: ​

This artifact demonstrates my competence in this standard by showing that I can create lesson plans that can be differentiated to the needs of my students. This specific lesson draws upon different subjects to be cross-curricular, and allows for opportunities for the students to work together if they choose. Making myself available to any help they may need demonstrates that while I am confident in their abilities, I know there will be students who will require more help than others, and I can give them the freedom to come to me with any questions rather than hover over their work. Allowing the students more freedom in their work will allow them to bring in each other’s perspectives so they aren’t all creating the same exact project. Instead, they are able to be individuals and share their work as they feel fit. There is also an opportunity for the students to practice their technology skills, which some may not have the opportunity to do at home. 

 

Citation:

Mcleod, S. (2019). Bruner-Learning Theory in Education. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html

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Council of Chief State School Officers. (2013, April). Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0: A Resource for Ongoing Teacher Development. Washington, DC: Author.