Standard Four: Classroom Practice

Meeting Standard Four:

The Student Teacher exhibits confident control over a variety of approaches to classroom pedagogy. In direct presentations, s/he demonstrates sensitivity to pacing, timing, amount and sequencing of material, and form of presentations, as well as inviting student contributions and interactions. Questioning strategies are thoughtful, considering a range and arc of questions that develop logically from simple to complex. Group work is used effectively and students are carefully coached on the purpose and strategies for collaboration. Work required of students clearly reinforces basic skills (reading, writing, note-taking, oral presentation, listening) and builds toward more complex mastery (critical thinking, problem-solving, analysis, and synthesis). Technology skills are incorporated into lessons as frequently as possible, with the student teacher modeling the use of technology whenever possible.

Meeting and Exceeding Standard Four: Self-Reflection

    I believe that planning and classroom practice go hand-in-hand. Because I feel confidant and comfortable with my lesson plans, I start my class with high energy to work through the plan I have created. I feel very comfortable using a variety of approaches to classroom pedagogy. Because I have created a good classroom-culture, I can easily see if my classroom persona is working on a given day, or if it needs to be adjusted. I feel that one of my great strengths is my ability to circulate in a classroom and to check that students are on-task. I am very fast, (and students notice!) but I am also very effective. I am meticulous about scaffolding my lessons effectively so that each of the pieces of the lesson works together for my students to be successful. I break things down so that students feel comfortable and prepared to answer questions. I give a direct teacher presentation with a worksheet that forces students to listen. Students often say that I am very organized! I usually respond saying that I have to be so that we are all able to work the best we can as a team. I have included two activities as artifacts here—the first, a worksheet that requires students to read together, find quotations, discuss what type of suffering is being portrayed, and answer some interpretation questions; the second, a student’s paragraph that I used as a model for other students to understand the format of the paragraph I wanted them to write.

Artifacts:

• "Oedipus Suffers" Worksheet (See Below)
• Model Paragraph Worksheet (See Below)
• "Two-Way Accountability" Research (See "Personal Inquiry Project")  My research project on Two-Way Accountability speaks to my belief in "transparent" practice in the classroom.  I believe I lead a very student-centered classroom; my students know what I expect of them and I am very aware of what they expect from me.