III. Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

During my time as a student at UM-Dearborn and a student teacher at Liberty Middle School in Canton, MI, I have learned many ways to incorporate support for each student into pedagogy. I observed my cooperating teacher, Cherise Rose, make a conscious effort to represent diverse identities in the media she incorporated into her classroom, make time for movement and peer collaboration in each lesson, and give struggling students individual attention and accommodation. In designing and carrying out lessons our top priority was the accessibility of our lessons. We consistently pushed ourselves to incorporate accommodations based on the individual needs of our students such as comprehension scaffolds, assistive technology, and a safe and controlled work environment for students within which students can grow. These small demonstrations of support for different identities and learning styles are techniques I will carry with me into my own practice.

When developing a lesson plan my cooperating teacher taught me to simultaneously consider the Common Core State Standards, the Principles of Universal Design, and the district curriculum. In doing this I can ensure that I am not deviating from the schedule of my district colleagues and the expectations for learning while still making my lessons unique and accessible to every student. Most of my lessons incorporate at least one component that satisfies each of the Three Principles of Universal Design: engagement, representation, and action and expression. The district in which I did my student teaching had 1:1 Chromebook access and on each Chromebook the Google Read and Write tool came pre-installed. This tool allows students to have online materials read to them, enables students to talk to type, and promotes active engagement with text by the use of the highlight tool. The concept of choice is also often incorporated into my lessons. These are examples of the pedagogy I use to satisfy the Principles of Universal Design.

In writing objectives for lesson and unit plans, I use verbs that allow for measurable outcomes. I first examine the Common Core State Standards and decide which two or three standards the lesson will address. Then, I translate the jargon by looking to Bloom’s Taxonomy to incorporate more student-friendly vocabulary when developing the learning objectives to post on the board daily. Taking into account the UDL, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the CCSS, I develop assessments that measure communicated learning objectives and incorporate choice. As summative assessments in the English Language content area can get pretty subjective, I will use rubrics to mediate this subjectivity. Here is an example of a rubric for a summative assessment in which students were made aware of the goals and used to guide their own work toward a perfect score. Here is an example of a rubric checklist students used while drafting. Here is a student example of this project that received a perfect score.