Standard Seven Engagement with the Subject Matter Overview

I am confident that I have mastered the skills and knowledge central to my discipline and that I am proficient in meeting this Standard. Throughout the student teaching semester I continued to take graduate courses in my content area, adding an independent study with the Chair of the Africana Studies Department to the other courses I took during my academic semester. I consistently brought in both primary and secondary source material to augment textbook coverage and deepen student understanding. My mentor teacher and other colleagues frequently comment on the strength of my content background, and I am always seeking to learn more, particularly about American History.

Please click on the tab above entitled “Content Background” to view my reflections and artifacts demonstrating proficiency in meeting Standard Seven.

Benjamin Weber: Mid-Term Self Assessment on Striving to Meet the Brown University MAT Program’s Practice-Based Standards for Beginning Teachers

Standard Seven: Engagement with the Subject Matter

            I am confident that I am at least meeting this standard. It would only risk overstatement to say that enthusiasm for my discipline animates my every thought and action and I have sought to bring my strong background in history and politics to bear on mediating the tension between content and skills demands. I also have demonstrated my commitment to developing a democratic classroom in which critical inquiry and student voice are encouraged and affirmed. I have successfully planned and implemented meaningful lessons that are connected to larger units and to important themes that run throughout the study of American history.