Instructional Practice

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INTASC Standard: Assessment

The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher and learner's decision-making.

Digital Grade Book: During a two month substitute coverage in a first grade general education classroom, I tracked student progress through a grade book on Google Sheets. Student identifying information has been removed for privacy purposes. Through color coding, the grade book provided immediate visual feedback regarding whole class student achievement on each assessment as well as individual student performance across all formal assessments. This information was used to determine which math concepts and spelling patterns were most difficult for students and required remediation and review prior to moving on to more difficult concepts. Once stronger grasps on concepts were exhibited, the class would move on to newer topics. 

INTASC Standard: Planning for Instruction

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.

Narrative Writing Unit: Fourth graders were tasked with the assignment of writing a "small moment" personal narrative in Writer's Workshop. I began the unit by introducing mentor texts of personal narratives to familiarize students with the genre. Students then generated potential topics and honed in on "small moments" using a watermelon to seed graphic organizer. After selecting topics, we discussed sequence of events and practiced sequencing with a mentor text. Students completed their own storyboards to sequence the events in their small moment topics. Once these storyboards were completed, students learned about "hooks" that could be used to pull their readers in and went on a book hunt to identify and categorize hooks in their personal reading books. Students were given four color-coded cards to write the introduction, middle section, the climax, and the ending. Students wrote freely during Writer's Workshop blocks and took turns conferencing with me to work through issues. After each workshop, I gave written feedback on a post-it sharing what I loved, what needed work, and what a next step could look like. As issues arose during conferencing, additional lessons were included to address them including synonyms, sensory details, and character traits. The class discussed the different types of endings that could be utilized with specific examples. After students had completed a rough draft of their narratives, they learned about editing and revising using the acronyms CUPS and ARMS. Students utilized checklists to edit one another's work as well as their own before writing a final written draft. 

INTASC Standard: Instructional Strategies

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

Math Stations: After learning how to use area models to multiply one digit by multi-digit equations, fourth graders were given the opportunity to practice the skill as well as generalize their knowledge and achieve higher order thinking through math stations. Students were placed in homogeneous groups according to skill level in order to differentiate and scaffold stations by need. Student understanding was assessed through recording sheets and teacher circulation to provide immediate and post-activity corrective feedback. These stations allowed students to engage with the content with high interest and motivation.