Describe how curriculum standards are implemented in the classroom.
Curriculum standards are a basic guide to what students should know by the end of their year in school, thus school is based almost entirely on meeting these standards. The standards act as a guide of what is developmentally appropriate for students at their age, however it is up to state, school or teacher discretion how they are taught. At the end of the day, these standards are things that students are taking mandated tests on, as well as knowledge they will continue with as they continue their schooling. Although these standards are a big part of what students learn, it is up to the teacher to differentiate their teaching and teach these standards to the best of their ability. They are responsible for using the techniques that we talked about in class to make sure that students are understanding these standards. So to sum up, these standards play a big role in the content taught in classrooms, as well as determining what is developmentally appropriate for the students.
Describe how instructional materials and resources can be used to enhance the lesson.
One great thing about where we are now in our school system is there are thousands of manipulatives and hands-on materials that have been created to explain lessons to students in the classroom. More often than not, a lesson, particularly with younger students, includes some sort of materials to better explain the lesson. I can tell you that I remember many more projects that included an interactive piece, rather than a lecture that simply involved notes, and the situation was the same for my internship. One lesson that I remember more than any other lessons that Miss Noltie taught during my internship was one that used an interactive app students pulled up on their iPads. The app let students type in their answers to any of the questions and showed the lesson on each of their iPads. But not only is there thousands of technological resources for education, there are countless others that are hands-on used all the time, especially in elementary school. As I have switched to my elementary school internship, I have noticed that they use some sort of instructional material or resource almost everyday, whether that is math blocks, counters or even just coloring utensils. All of these things are helping to illustrate what they are learning, and they are enhancing learning because they are better able to remember what was in the lesson by associating it with an object. Same goes with the app in Miss Noltie’s class. I think that if you have access to those tools, you should use them because you will be able to differentiate the lesson from others with that material, and the students will be able to recollect the information much faster and easier.
Describe how lessons can be planned to accommodate diverse learners. How can teachers differentiate instruction? Why is this important?
I think that before you even begin planning lessons, you must first take time to get to know your students and observe them to see how you could sort them when you do end up sorting them into your differentiable groups. Then, I think it is really important to look at the four strategies of differentiating the class when you are looking at planning your lesson, and think if any of these could be applicable to what your lesson will be like. I think if you can use one of these strategies you should because by breaking all of the students into smaller groups, you are giving them several advantages. First, they are getting social interaction with peers which is extremely important for social development at their time in age. They are also getting to work in smaller groups with people who are in the “same boat” as them, or are focusing on the same content and can thus be more detailed. As a teacher, this gives you the ability to check in on specific groups with harder content, or the groups that need more guidance with the subject. This could also give them a chance to be broken up by how they understand things, and so they could spend the most time looking at the content in the way that they understand best. As mentioned above, there are four strategies of differentiated instruction in the class; those being content, process, product and learning environment. Each of these has a specific way to sort the class so that teachers and students are better able to focus on a certain component of a standard. Some sort them by level on a subject (such as doing teacher table groups in my elementary internship) and other times they can be sorted by learning style in two different ways. I don’t think I have ever really seen this is a classroom but you can split the students up by how they learn things and have each group learn it in a different way. You could also do this with a project, by having their end product reflect their style of learning. You can even give them time to work how they wish, whether that be with a partner or by themselves. This was something that I also saw Miss Noltie do a lot. Normally, when they had a “boring” assignment such as a worksheet, she gave them the option of doing it alone, or picking someone in the class to work with and then having them complete the assignment together. Being able to break the class up into these groups can be so important in them learning the concepts. Each student has their own way of learning so why not give them the best shot they can in learning the material by differentiating the learning? It is a great tool for complete understanding.
Lesson Plan and Lesson Plan Reflection Artifacts:
Lesson Plan
Worksheet
*slideshow would not embed but is linked on the lesson plan*
Lesson Plan Reflection
Teaching Portfolio 