Standard 2: Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge

Standard 2 - Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge – The competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice.

Rationale:

In the Spring of 2020, I started my student teaching. I began to take over small lessons in the ELA (Language Arts) 5th grade class. I started with "Everyday Edit" and then moved to bigger lessons like the one for my EdTPA, Greek & Latin Roots. The District Curriculum Director wanted us to create a lesson that would help students in their upcoming state testing. I created a word sort game, a Kahoot review, and an assessment. I love teaching ELA and I loved teaching this lesson too! I truly have a passion for ELA!

Standard Connections:

The below standards are the one I feel I best represented with my artifacts at the bottom of this page:

2A) understands theories and philosophies of learning and human development as they relate to the range of students in the classroom;

2B) understands major concepts, assumptions, debates, and principles; processes of inquiry; and theories that are central to the disciplines;

2C) understands the cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning (e.g., critical and creative thinking, problem-structuring and problem-solving, invention, memorization, and recall) 2 and ensures attention to these learning processes so that students can master content standards;

2D) understands the relationship of knowledge within the disciplines to other content areas and to life applications;

2E) understands how diverse student characteristics and abilities affect processes of inquiry and influence patterns of learning;

2L) demonstrates fluency in technology systems, uses technology to support instruction and enhance student learning, and designs learning experiences to develop student skills in the application of technology appropriate to the disciplines;

2M) uses a variety of explanations and multiple representations of concepts that capture key ideas to help each student develop conceptual understanding and address common misunderstandings;

2N) facilitates learning experiences that make connections to other content areas and to life experiences;

2Q) applies and adapts an array of content area literacy strategies to make all subject matter accessible to each student.

Self-Evaluation:

I believe that this experience truly made me love English Language Arts even more! My co-teacher is an amazing mentor and thanks to her I was able to guide my students in their writing journey with confidence! I look forward to my future classroom and teaching some great writing tips to any grade!