V. Domain 3: Instruction

In establishing a supportive environment in which there are high but achievable expectations for every student, it is my top priority to communicate these expectations in a way that is accessible for my students. In my practice, I have objectives written and updated daily on the board for students to view as they enter the classroom. Viewing these objectives, or learning targets, is a routine in my classroom and gets students in the habit of setting goals for their learning so they move from passive learners to active learners. At the beginning of a new unit, the expectations for learning and the end assessment will be written on the board so students have time to interact with the goal they will be working towards. As daily lessons work to deliver new concepts, I will routinely change and call attention to the learning targets. When new goals are written on the board I will read them aloud to the class and invite students to interact with them in a number of ways. Sometimes I will open a whole class discussion and ask students to share any predictions they have for the coming lesson(s) or what skills they think they will be developing. I might also ask students to discuss the learning targets with the table groups and share a prediction, question, or concern for the lesson and write this on a whiteboard they have at their tables. We would do a class share-out in which each group would share what they have written. This helps me, as an educator, in two ways. First, I can see what my students are working with in terms of prior knowledge. Second, this allows me to make any last-minute adjustments to the lesson if most students have questions or concerns about the lesson. I use this method while I administer directions to an assignment as well. I will post the directions visually and read them orally to appease the different styles of learning my students may have, but I also make sure to wrap up instruction with a summary of tasks delivered in a student's voice. Making learning targets and goals accessible and achievable is necessary before units and lessons begin, but also as one wraps them up. It is routine in my practice to take the lead from my students instead of leading them. Formative assessments throughout the unit, like journal prompts or small group critical-thinking, activities are extremely helpful when approaching a summative assessment. When approaching summative assessments, when possible, I like to give students choice. Student choice for summative assessments in my classroom sometimes looks like the choice of topic or choice of assessment type (paper, project, PowerPoint, video, etc.).

As a teacher, it would be unreasonable to expect to follow all units and lessons as writ. Students, especially at the secondary level, are extremely intuitive of their environments and might be having an off day because of peer relationships, school events, or global events. It is crucial that teachers are adaptable and willing to toss the lessons they spent hours perfecting. As I write this, I am amidst the COVID-19 outbreak of spring 2020. When things started to look bleak, my cooperating teacher and I spent our time before school hours adapting what we had planned for the day to address the anxieties and questions our students would certainly have when they entered the classroom. My cooperating teacher an I adapted to this situation we were presented with and created a lesson based around a journal free-write about the situation in Google Docs. In this session, students still had measurable CCSS targets to achieve (write a narrative, use relevant descriptive details, use technology to produce writing), but also a safe space to work through difficult emotions. This was also a way for my cooperating teacher and me to assess the accessibility of Google Classroom, Google Docs, and the overall function of our students' district-provided Chromebooks in the (eventual) event that remote-learning would become a reality later in the semester. Addressing student concerns that are not necessarily related to content can be extremely beneficial to halt the spread of misinformation and can be used as a classroom management strategy. Here is an example of a journal entry from that lesson. In the case of extraordinary events, students are going to be distracted and chatty regardless; one might as well turn it into a learning opportunity.