III. Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

Domain 1 Includes:

• Demonstrating knowledge of students

  • When planning, I consider my students' different learning styles. According to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, we must teach students in a way to support all types of intelligence. For example, some students might learn best through visuals, some through music and others through movement. So, when planning I first observe my students while they are working to see their different learning styles. Then I incorporate those learning styles in my lessons. I include pictures for visual learners, dance and plays for kinesthetic learners, group work for interpersonal learners and more. In my social studies unit plan I tried to incorporate many different types of activities so students with different learning styles will be engaged.

  • In addition to learning styles, I consider students' cultural backgrounds. In my classroom, the majority of the students are Arab. I also have two Mexican students. For March reading month, we have been discussing Japan and the difference between tradition and culture. When planning my lesson, I tried to incorporate different examples from the Arab and Mexican culture so students will have a good understanding about the difference between traditions and cultures. I read diverse books such as The Name Jar, All Are Welcome and The Brand New Kid. Through read alouds I teach my students about acceptance and being proud of who they are.

• Setting instructional outcomes

  • When planning, I write objectives that are measurable. I do not use words such as understand because it's difficult to measure that. Instead,I use Bloom's Taxonomy. I use measurable terms such students will be able to define, describe, solve, argue, etc. These are measurable terms because I will be able to see if students met the objective through observations and looking at their work. In my social studies unit plan, I wrote objectives that spread across cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains.

Demonstrating knowledge of resources

• • There are many resources available within my district. First, there are online resources such as Schoology, Clever, Mystery Science and a lot more. Through Schoology, I am able to access a lot of things. I am able to access Benchmark which is what Dearborn Public Schools use for ELA. The teacher's Benchmark book is online, the students' reading groups are also on Schoology. I can find comprehension questions and ways to scaffold students learning. Through Clever, I am able to access students' math assessments. For example, I gave my students an area quiz and instead of printing it students took it through Clever. My school district also provides professional development. Every Monday we meet after school and we learn about different ways to help students become successful in the classroom. In one of the professional development meetings, we discussed the ways to teach phonics and phonemic awareness. I use Mystery Science when planning lessons because there a so many engaging hands-on activities that students enjoy.

Designing coherent instruction

• • When designing instruction, I try to include hands-on activities, so students can be engaged. For example, my students have been learning about Japan and the different types of arts. I plan to have students paint blossom trees, make origami and do many different types of crafts. For science, I have students explore and conduct experiments. I provide clear directions for the experiments, so students will not be confused. I provide students with written and oral directions.

Designing student assessments

• • When designing student assessments, I make sure that the questions will allow me to see if students met the objectives and standards. I write a variety of questions such as multiple choice, written and matching. First, I give students pre-assessments. The pre-assessments allow me to see what students already know and what their strengths and weaknesses are. During the lesson, I use formative assessments. The formative assessments allow me to see if students are understanding the lesson and whether I need to reteach certain concepts. Examples of formative assessments include checklists, anecdotal notes, and conferences. Finally, I use summative assessments. The summative assessments are the same questions as the pre-assessment. The reason why I keep the same questions is because I get to compare the before and after scores and analyze the improvement.