3. Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught to:
a. Deliver engaging and challenging lessons;
Challenging Lessons
I have been able to facilitate small groups that focus on differentiating assignments based on student needs. In my Level II and Level III placement, creating lessons for kindergarten students was a challenge for me because I wanted to ensure that the students were engaged as well as learning. When creating differentiated assignments, I made it a priority to make it engaging and creative for the students.
b. Deepen and enrich students’ understanding through content area literacy strategies, verbalization of thought, and application of the subject matter;
Think Aloud
Using think aloud while teaching to students helps gain students attention and comprehension. I modeled a think aloud during a read aloud to the class when i came across a vocabulary word we worked on. As I read the vocabulary word, I said "hmm... moral. I'm not sure what moral means but I remember it was a vocabulary word. So, I'm going to look up at the board for the definition because it is there to help me during my reading. Moral means a lesson learned from a story. Now, I can reread that sentence since I know what moral means".
c. Identify gaps in students’ subject matter knowledge;
Pre-assessment
I gave a pre-assessment to students to determine their number recognition. When the students were unable to recognize certain numbers, I created lessons based on the number which focused on how to write it to help with recognition.
d. Modify instruction to respond to preconceptions or misconceptions;
Modeling Instruction
When conducting a lesson, I noticed a math worksheet could be difficult for students due to the picture support. To avoid this, I modeled the worksheet in depth for the students to ensure they would understand. In the picture, there are two ladybugs and the students have to draw the number of spots according to the given number. This could be a misconception for students if they look at the ladybug and believe it is asking them to solve 2+2.
e. Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences;
Math, Science, and Reading
During an observation where I facilitated a reading lesson, I introduced the vocabulary word "height" by aligning it to math and/or science. This allowed me to connect the students prior knowledge with what they have been taught in math/science to now in reading.
f. Employ higher-order questioning techniques;
Phonics
During a phonics instruction for an observation, students have showed mastery of their work cards for the long o and u vowels. Once I saw students understanding the concept, I asked students to think of other words outside of our word sort that would fall between the two categories. This allows students to apply their knowledge of the long o and u.
g. Apply varied instructional strategies and resources, including appropriate technology, to provide comprehensible instruction, and to teach for student understanding;
Using technology
In my level II internship, I facilitated a lesson where I introduced technology to the students and allowed them to become familiar with it. This was used by facilitating a game through PowerPoint.
In my final internship, I facilitated a lesson where students participated in four corners. I created a slide show with a word per slide where students had to find a corner to represent their answer.
h. Differentiate instruction based on an assessment of student learning needs and recognition of individual differences in students;
Differentiate instruction based on an assessment of student learning needs
For my Collaborative Teacher observation and Supervisor Observation, I collected data on number recognition to determine which students would be pulled for small group. Gathering this data helped me focus on my students who needed extra support due to their lower level.
Modifications
During a lesson in my final internship, I read a loud a story to the students while having a Vietnamese student who does not understand much of the English language. Due to this barrier, I translated the reading into Vietnamese for the student to follow.
i. Support, encourage, and provide immediate and specific feedback to students to promote student achievement;
Student feedback
During a phonics game of four corners, students had to choose the appropriate corner for the word on the scree, For example, tree would be categorized in long e. Students who may have chosen the incorrect corner were given the opportunity to explain their reasoning to the class followed by the students in the correct corner. Once students explained their reasoning for being in the incorrect corner, I provided feedback and had students repeat the sounds of the phonic category. For example long e makes the sound ee.
j. Utilize student feedback to monitor instructional needs and to adjust instruction:
Utilize Student Feedback
After an engaging collaborative activity, students showed great teamwork and engagement throughout the lesson. After the activity was facilitated, I used a thumbs-up thumbs-down technique for students to share whether or not they would like to continue working in pairs for future lessons. Once students shared their input, I concluded that almost half the students did enjoy working in pairs (7) while the rest of the class did not (4). This allowed me to determine what students want more out of lessons and how to encourage their engagement.
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