Proposition 4
The fourth principle states that “Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience” (NBPTS, 2019), which means that teachers must understand that what works for one student doesn’t necessarily work for another and that they must adapt their practices to best serve all the students in their classroom. It also means that teachers recognize that there are multiple ways in which one student can learn content, and must use a diverse array of methods and entry points in order to ensure that their students have the most complete understanding of the content as possible. Teachers also need to learn from their successes and mistakes, and act accordingly, and be open to modifying their practices to ensure their students are receiving the best learning experience.
The artifact that I've chosen to represent this principle is piece of curriculum I created for a student with Autism, who was absolutely obsessed with Pokémon:
Multiplication Project.docxRationale:
When creating curriculum for students, it's not only important to consider what you're teaching, but also how the information is delivered. The learning experience should be fun and motivating; If it isn't then the student's not going to care about what they're supposed to be learning, and won't take it seriously. By tapping into the student's interests, a frame of reference is established where students can pull from prior knowledge that is reinforced by the activity, and locks in the content that the teacher is trying to teach.
When creating curriculum like this too, it's important to consider supplementary skills that may benefit the student to learn, and also make the content more engaging. I could have simply given Pokémon-based word problems and have that be the end of it, but instead, I inserted a research element into assignment as well. As this student was close to graduation, one of their goals to develop independence, and be able to figure out things for themselves. The research element of this project offered the opportunity for the student to develop critical thinking problem solving skills, that would assist them in their goal to becoming more independent.
Reflection:
This assignment uses a systematic approach teaching a simple concept like multiplication. As opposed to simply putting up a list of multiplication problems, this assignment uses pre-existing interests to draw the student in, and then draws on additional skill sets, like research and problem solving, to string together a sequence of logic that will help the student better understands the concepts being taught, reinforcing them more so than simply presenting the student a worksheet. Not only has the student learned to see multiplication problems in another format, but has also learned to use resources independently to help them find the answer.