3. Planning for Differentiated Instruction

The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement.

Artifact 1: Spanish Lesson Plan with Differentiation

Lesson Plan with Differentiation.pptx

Description of Artifact

This artifact is a lesson plan that I developed in the course Secondary Literacy in the Disciplines (AEDU311). The lesson is designed using the communicative approach to language teaching and supports the learning of every student classroom. It is part of a learning segment that focuses on students' mastering present tense forms in order to communicate effectively about their everyday lives in Spanish in meaningful, authentic contexts. The learning objective of this lesson is for students to learn how to talk, write and present information about their pastimes and hobbies in Spanish by using Gustar + verbs in the infinitive to communicate their preferences. The activity I designed uses research-based methods of instruction to engage students in the learning and practice of the targeted grammatical form. The goals of the activity are aligned to the goals of the learning segment and take into account the differentiation needed based on the students in the class.

Standards Connection

This assignment exemplifies the Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 3H which states that “The competent teacher establishes high expectation for each student’s learning and behavior.” The objectives of the lesson plan and learning segment, which are aligned to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Teaching Standards, set clear expectations for each student’s learning and benchmarks for proficient performance. The objectives also address student behavior and align with the Social and Emotional Learning Standards established by ISBE. This assignment also exemplifies standard 3K which states that “The competent teacher incorporates experiences into instructional practices that relate to a student’s current life experiences and to future life experiences.” The activity outlined in the PowerPoint below engages students in meaningful, authentic communication in the foreign language being studied. The activity asks students to evaluate preferences, make comparisons, draw conclusions, and support them with evidence which are tasks in critical thinking and communication that they will use not only in school and other classes, but in the workplace. They must work together with their classmates to reach this goal, which makes the activity a meaningful exercise in collaboration. I also included vocabulary in this activity which incorporates relevant information for the student’s culture. Finally, this assignment demonstrates standard 3Q which states that “The competent teacher “develops or selects relevant instructional content, materials, resources, and strategies (e.g., project-based learning) for differentiating instruction”. This lesson thoughtfully considers methods to make sure all students reach the objectives and goals of the lesson plan and learning segment.

Reflection

Through this assignment, I learned how to design activities, lesson plans and learning segments which align with the Illinois Learning Standards and overreaching curriculum goals. I also learned how to design lessons which use current research-based methods of instruction. As teachers, we must manipulate a lot of information when designing our lessons. Not only must we take into account the objectives of the lesson and learning segment, but expected student outcomes, effective methods of instruction for the particular material being studied, student’s prior knowledge, and methods of differentiation. This assignment allowed me to put into practice the task articulating that process to others so they could understand exactly how my activity and lesson takes into account the necessary criteria for effective teaching. This assignment also allowed me to design effective methods of assessment to measure student learning outcomes, which allow teachers to monitor student progress and adjust instruction as necessary. Finally, this assignment showed me the importance of differentiation and consider the unique needs of every student in our classrooms.

Artifact 2: Differentiated Project-based assessments

6th Grade: Weather Project

Differentiated Assessment

Two PRoject-Based Assessments for a Unit on "Weather and Seasons" with Differentiation

Description of Artifact

The following artifacts are two different assessments used to determine students speaking and writing proficiency in Spanish for a unit on weather and seasons for 6th grade novice level students. Both assessment are project-based; this means that they are an alternative to tests and allow students to engage with their learning in more concrete ways. Instead of merely studying theory, a hands-on project asks students to apply what they've learned to an in-depth exploration of a topic. Additionally, this assessment is differentiated for a set of students who are high-achievers and demonstrate a need for a greater challenge. In order to meet the needs of students' individual needs in my classroom, thereby enhancing their learning and boosting their ability to show what they have learned, I modified the assessment to meet the characteristics of this set of students. Both assessments are provided above.

Standards Connection

This artifact demonstrates the IPTS knowledge indicator 3C and 3D which state that "The competent teacher understands cultural, linguistic, cognitive, physical, social and emotional differences, as well as understands when and how to adjust plans based on outcome data, student needs, goals, and responses." By creating an assessment for the students in my class who are high-achievers, I meet their cognitive and linguistics needs. By providing them with a task that challenges them appropriately, I increase their engagement and motivation to participate and open the door for deeper learning in this subject area. This artifact also demonstrates the IPTS performance indicator 3Q which states that "The competent teacher develops or selects relevant instructional content, materials, resources, and strategies (e.g., project-based learning) for differentiating instruction". This assessment is an example of project-based learning in the foreign language classroom.

Reflection

Students are individuals who learn at different rates and in different ways. The nature of each student should be considered when planning differentiated assessment experiences and that is exactly what I did in the above assessment for a unit on weather and seasons. I modified the assessment for this unit by taking into account the different learning needs of the students in my classroom. The differentiated assessment is designed for students who have demonstrated a high-level of achievement and a need for a greater challenge. By differentiating assessments, teachers help diverse students to successfully demonstrate their competencies in particular ways that are fitting and effective for them and we are able to meet the students’ individual needs, thereby helping them to be successful in their learning.

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