V. Domain 3: Instruction

Domain 3 includes:

• Communicates with students.

  • I communicate clear expectations to students before every lesson. I provide the expectations to students both verbally and in written form. This way if students did not hear an exception they can go back and read what is required of them. I put directions to assignments and activities on the board and I go over them multiple times, so students will understand them. I monitor students' oral and written language communication with students through observations, using checking lists and writing anecdotal notes.

• Uses question and discussion techniques.

  • I use questions before, during and after lessons to check my students' understanding. Before the lesson, I ask questions that will push students to make predictions and also help me determine students' background knowledge. For example, I ask questions such as "Based on the illustrations, what do you think the story will be about?" or "What do you know about how clouds are formed?" It's important to check students' background knowledge because students come to the classroom with broad pre-existing knowledge. I use questioning during the lessons. I use questions to guide students to answer rather than me giving them to students. I always ask students to use the five W's (who, what, why, where, when). By asking these questions, they are able to determine all the information they need. Finally, I ask questions after lessons, to check what students have learned.

  • Discussion in the classroom is very important. I use the think, pair, and share strategy. This strategy allows students to confirm their answers with their peers which makes them feel comfortable to share. I use AB partners. I partner advanced and struggling students, so one could help the other. In addition to that, I have my students sit in clusters which allow them to discuss information in groups.

Engages students in learning.

• • I engage students in learning by using a variety of activities that are hands-on, allow students to work in groups, and allow them to explore. For example, we learned about clouds, so I used clear cups and hot water to allow students to observe how clouds are formed. We are learning about Japan. We are reading different stories and short texts on Japan, but I also have students make Japanese crafts and food. We will be making sushi as one of the lessons. I always allow students to work in groups or pairs. I have AB partners in my classroom. I pair a struggling student with an advanced student and they help each other. It's very important that students are engaged in lessons or they will not learn.

• Uses assessment in instruction.

  • I use assessment before, during and after teaching my lessons. I use pre-assessments or pretests to test students' background knowledge. Based on this information, I plan my lessons. During my lessons, I use formative assessments such as mini quizzes, checklists, anecdotal notes, conferences to allow me to determine whether my students are understanding the lesson and whether I need to reteach certain concepts. I also ask questions to check students' understanding. For example, when reading a book, I ask "Who are the characters?," "What is the problem?," and "How did the character solve the problem?" To engage students, I use Kahoot, Japerody, Quizzes, and Quizlet to assesses my students' knowledge. Students love when competition such as Kahoot is incorporated in the lesson. In addition to formative assessments, I use summative assessments, such as end of module tests and state standardized tests. For example, based on the WIDA scores I can determine my students' strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Overall, data guides instruction. I always assess my students to check their understanding.

• Demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness.

  • • Through the use of questioning and formative assessments, I am able to determine whether I need to make mid-lesson adjustments to respond to students' needs. I taught an area math lesson which required students to use the distributive property. Since, the students were not familiar with this property, I stopped teaching area and taught the students about the multiplication properties because they must know them to succeed in finding the area of different shapes. When I teach lessons, I look to see whether the lessons are too hard or too easy. If their too hard, I adjust them to be more appropriate at students' levels. If they are too easy, I try to make them a little more challenging, but not to the point where students are frustrated.