Standard Two
Teachers know the subjects they teach & how to teach those subjects to students
Rationale for Standard Two:
In the last two years my school district, the Ashland Public Schools in Massachusetts, has focused on two important area as a district wide learning goals: (1) integrating technology is teaching within the content area; and (2) using project-based learning as part of differentiating instruction. This initiative, combined with my courses at the University of New England, has brought new vision to my teaching. I have had a mastery over my content area for many years, but I did not have such a broad repertoire of teaching and assessment strategies as I now possess.
This is the second year that I have utilized a class wiki to help my students to learn French. This year I have added other technologies that I find are very valuable to my teaching, including my edmodo.com class pages. Between these two sites I am able to teach lessons, support material students are learning, and offer engaging lessons. I am able to immediately assess student understanding so that I can target gaps for classes and for individuals, and plan to fill those immediately with subsequent activities and teaching strategies. Artifact I is a link to my wiki website, where you will find comprehensive lessons for 8th grade French, 7th grade French, and 6th grade World Language.
ARTIFACT I:
One of the tools I use most with my students is an online class website. Please peruse my 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade website at Mme-Dill.wikispaces.com.
The other is my edmodo.com site. I am attempting to link that here, but I believe you must join as a member teacher in order to connect with me to see my class pages. edmodo.com
Reflection
When I first began teaching I had been exposed to very few teaching styles. Since I had returned to teaching after 13 years in another career, I had not used technology as a student or as a student teacher in college – I typed my college thesis on a typewriter with the requirement of no typing errors/corrections! When I first used computers in the classroom I saw them as a tool for typing reports and essays. The only projector I used was an overhead projector with laminate sheets, and DVDs were my video choice – not YouTube!
When the idea of a class website was introduced, and wikispaces was demonstrated at a curriculum development meeting in the fall of 2010, I was fascinated by the possibilities. I began a wiki, and began using it to supplement my teaching and to use in the computer lab for activities and project-based learning. Soon I was the “expert” in my district, and I did workshops regarding how to set up and use a wiki at a district-wide training day.
This year I developed a wiki that has part of every lesson I teach online. This way when students are assigned lessons to learn at home, we complete activities in class with students offering explanations to each other for what answers make sense and why. I am able to find time for more in-depth writing and reading activities, and to differentiate my instruction. Recently I watched a video I took in class of three 6th grade students who had finished one project and watched the YouTube video of a French song that is a native song rather like the “hokey pokey” in English. They were singing and dancing and holding up body parts to the song. When I played it back I was surprised to see the differentiation going on in my own classroom – it was like watching a well-oiled machine. I had not realized how efficient the students had become at moving at their own pace alongside others who were moving at their own pace. Students help each other out; they grow; they learn; they are engaged; and they are surpassing the student learning I have ever seen previously. It is with great joy, and hope for improvement at each turn, that I invite you to view the many lessons of my wiki, to connect with my class on edmodo.com where data is returned immediately to me and to students on their own performance. I also will include that video with the three girls singing and dancing – they are “fantastique!”
- NBCTs have mastery over the subject(s) they teach. They have a deep understanding of the history, structure and real-world applications of the subject.
- They have skill and experience in teaching it, and they are very familiar with the skills gaps and preconceptions students may bring to the subject.
- They are able to use diverse instructional strategies to teach for understanding.
Rationale for Standard Two:
In the last two years my school district, the Ashland Public Schools in Massachusetts, has focused on two important area as a district wide learning goals: (1) integrating technology is teaching within the content area; and (2) using project-based learning as part of differentiating instruction. This initiative, combined with my courses at the University of New England, has brought new vision to my teaching. I have had a mastery over my content area for many years, but I did not have such a broad repertoire of teaching and assessment strategies as I now possess.
This is the second year that I have utilized a class wiki to help my students to learn French. This year I have added other technologies that I find are very valuable to my teaching, including my edmodo.com class pages. Between these two sites I am able to teach lessons, support material students are learning, and offer engaging lessons. I am able to immediately assess student understanding so that I can target gaps for classes and for individuals, and plan to fill those immediately with subsequent activities and teaching strategies. Artifact I is a link to my wiki website, where you will find comprehensive lessons for 8th grade French, 7th grade French, and 6th grade World Language.
ARTIFACT I:
One of the tools I use most with my students is an online class website. Please peruse my 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade website at Mme-Dill.wikispaces.com.
The other is my edmodo.com site. I am attempting to link that here, but I believe you must join as a member teacher in order to connect with me to see my class pages. edmodo.com
Reflection
When I first began teaching I had been exposed to very few teaching styles. Since I had returned to teaching after 13 years in another career, I had not used technology as a student or as a student teacher in college – I typed my college thesis on a typewriter with the requirement of no typing errors/corrections! When I first used computers in the classroom I saw them as a tool for typing reports and essays. The only projector I used was an overhead projector with laminate sheets, and DVDs were my video choice – not YouTube!
When the idea of a class website was introduced, and wikispaces was demonstrated at a curriculum development meeting in the fall of 2010, I was fascinated by the possibilities. I began a wiki, and began using it to supplement my teaching and to use in the computer lab for activities and project-based learning. Soon I was the “expert” in my district, and I did workshops regarding how to set up and use a wiki at a district-wide training day.
This year I developed a wiki that has part of every lesson I teach online. This way when students are assigned lessons to learn at home, we complete activities in class with students offering explanations to each other for what answers make sense and why. I am able to find time for more in-depth writing and reading activities, and to differentiate my instruction. Recently I watched a video I took in class of three 6th grade students who had finished one project and watched the YouTube video of a French song that is a native song rather like the “hokey pokey” in English. They were singing and dancing and holding up body parts to the song. When I played it back I was surprised to see the differentiation going on in my own classroom – it was like watching a well-oiled machine. I had not realized how efficient the students had become at moving at their own pace alongside others who were moving at their own pace. Students help each other out; they grow; they learn; they are engaged; and they are surpassing the student learning I have ever seen previously. It is with great joy, and hope for improvement at each turn, that I invite you to view the many lessons of my wiki, to connect with my class on edmodo.com where data is returned immediately to me and to students on their own performance. I also will include that video with the three girls singing and dancing – they are “fantastique!”