3. Planning for Differentiated Instruction 

This artifact shows a screenshot snippet that I took from my school computer in my classroom that I student taught in.  It highlights a week in review of lessons that I created and put links in for on a daily basis for different content areas that I planned activities for.  It also shows some of the various activities that are scattered throughout our class's weekly schedule that is adapted to fit the needs of the students that we serve.  

This artifact meets performance indicator 3N which states, "The competent teacher accesses and uses a wide range of information and instructional technologies to enhance a student's ongoing growth and achievement."  This shows how I utilize a variety of online educataional platforms for the activities that I do with my students within the lessons that I teach.  It also shows how I take advantage of the pre-created lesson materials that are at my disposal as resources within the school's Seesaw library.  Not only does this show the different platforms that I utilize and am proficient in, but it also shows how I am able to locate information to fit content area topics and know where to look for support when planning lesson activities for my students.  

As I have had more opportunities to become proficient in implementing different technology based educational platforms, I learned the importance of searching keywords for content when trying to find appropriate lesson activities for students to use within instructional delivery.  I also learned that if you try to search for a specific topic with too broad of a statement within the search engine, it is much more difficult to find what you are looking for.  I realized that there is a lot of trial and error involved in the lesson planning process and that the more you practice, the better you will get over the course of time.  I feel as though I was able to become stronger on pinpointing how to help my students achieve the overall curriculum goals that our school has set up for all of our students to meet, their individual IEP goals, and also set them up with skills that will equip them to be active members of their communities as well.  These are all components of this standard and also lend themselves to planning in such a way that promotes ongoing student growth and achievement simultaneously as well; which is also a critical aspect of this standard as a whole. 

Having the opportunity to be an active participant in a student IEP meeting allowed me to gain more critical insight into my students' families and their background and where they come from, along with other important information that will be beneficial for making informed decisions moving forward.  Being on an IEP team allows you to build connections with fellow colleagues and see things from the perspective of different professionals of other disciplines such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, or physicaly therapy.  You also have the opportunity to co-treat on goals for students togeher as well and see students grow and reach milestones along the way as well.  It is so rewarding to be on a team with other individuals who have the same common goal that they are working towards with students being at the forefront of all that is being done.  

This artifact meets knowledge indicator 3F which states, "The competent teacher understands how to co-plan with other classroom teachers, parents or guardians, paraprofessionals, school specialists, and community representatives to design learning experiences."  When you are working on goals with other professionals and teaching paraprofessionals how to properly collect data on student goals both academic and functional, you are collaborating constantly and are also co-planning with a number of individuals who you are working alonside in the process.  This especially comes into play when preparing for an IEP meeting for students.  You are inputting your own information that goes into the IEP documentation, but are bouncing ideas off of other team members when creating new goal ideas.  You also have the opportunity to collaborate with students' families and parents and/or guaridans as well, as a critical piece of IEP planning and the process as a whole, is to work with families and get their approval and consent to move forward with new goals that will be implemented with students for the next academic school year to be worked on, with the hopes of meeting those goals by the end of the next year.  This artifact also meets the performance indicator 3P which states, "Works well with others to adapt and modify instruction to meet individual student needs."  

As I began to take on more responsibilites with IEP preparation and documentation, I was able to build my skills within this indicator area of being able to learn how to better adapt and modify my teaching instruction to meet my students' unique needs.  Had I not been given the opportunity to fully lean in and be a full team member for the IEP's of some of my students during the time in which I completed my student teaching, I do not think I would have gained that greater sense of confidence moving forward as a special educator.  This is a learning experience that I do not take for granted and did not take lightly, as I know that it was a real and practical experience that I can draw from to apply to future situations for other students of mine that I will be working with.  Having had this experience earlier on rather than waiting until I am the teacher who is doing all of the various aspects of IEP planning and preparation, will serve me well as I move into my first year of teaching and will hopefully help me to be an even more effective teacher to the students that I will be serving!