1d. Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources

• Resources for classroom use
• Resources to extend content knowledge and pedagogy
• Resources for students

The teacher’s knowledge of resources for classroom use and for extending one’s professional skill is extensive, including those available through the school or district, in the community, through professional organizations and universities, and on the Internet.

While we do have textbooks at our disposal that offer several quality texts for instruction, I also like to think outside of the box and pull in texts from various other sources. In the past, I have pulled short stories from my personal college texts for high school students and have looked to NMSI (National Math and Science Initiative) databases for supplementary poems for the middle school novels. My current courses in my work toward a Master's degree in Special Education has also often provided me with outside resources that fit well with my current instruction. In Virginia, I have developed two different novel choice units that offered between 5-7 different novels for students to read in different groups, allowing for differentiation at their level and ownership of their learning.