Practices a range of developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate instructional strategies to meet the needs of individuals and groups of learners.
Reading is a foundational skill. It is one of the most important skills that a child can learn to prepare them for their future lives. Reading opens the world and all of its ideas to each child. It is a great equalizer, and is an important skill that opens all learning to students. There is no better way to extend knowledge in meaningful ways than to read. In my experiences in teaching students to read, I have employed several instructional strategies. Students are assessed for their reading level using a combination of running records, sight word assessments, and the University of Utah's Reading Clinic assessments. I have included the summary of the different assessments I conducted with one of my students. With that information, instruction begins in individual and small group settings. Using books that fit student's interests, students learn reading skills and develop a love of this powerful form of communication. As they learn new words, they are encouraged to write them, leading to writing sentences and their own stories. Using teaching methods that are instructed by regular assessment, students flourish.
Provides multiple opportunities for students to develop higher order and meta-cognitive skills.
Supports and expands each learner’s communication skills through reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Once students are able to read for understanding, the world of words is open to them. These words are categorized into parts of speech; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on. Students begin to master using words, and to use them to communicate in creative and deeply personal ways. One of my favorite avenues for helping students learn to love words is the study of poetry. In many forms of poetry, the writer must be very selective in the words used. Some forms of poetry carry strict rules that encourage students to pick the very best words for their work. I have included two lessons I presented on Diamante poetry, the graphic organizers my students used, and my reflection on the lesson. This form of poetry begins with a theme. Verbs, adjectives, and nouns are used to describe the theme. I encouraged my students to find a theme, then make lists of verbs, nouns, and adjectives that related. The next step, was to pick their very favorite ones. This step opens the door to more discussion about language, synonyms, antonyms, alliteration and meter. Students learn to master these forms of communication and to love the world of words. Poetry allows students to develop their vocabularies as well as their communication skills. Students select their best words, closely examine words and their meanings, and seek to convey their feelings through words.
Uses a variety of available and appropriate technology and resources to support learning.
One of my favorite resources as a teacher is Youtube. I can access videos about the subjects we are studying, find fun songs and dances to keep my students engaged, and, my favorite, follow a Cosmic Kids Yoga Session for a great story and fun exercise. I have included a week of lesson outlines to demonstrate my use of technology within the classroom. For one of my students in particular, the use of an alternative communication device may make communication easier for him in the future. We have collaborated with his SLP in using an iPad app to support him in his communication. While we continue to teach him how to use this app as a tool, we also support verbal communication wherever possible.
Develops learners’ abilities to find and use information to solve real-world problems.
The learning trajectory project examines the development of the mathematical standards. My group followed the standards related to subtraction through several grade levels. We documented several ways to teach students the same concepts, in order to help them draw connections in the relationships of mathematical processes. Helping students to draw relationships between mathematical operations allows them to apply this understanding to real-world situations. We also created opportunities for students to apply their understanding to real-world situations using manipulatives and money.