3. 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.
Rationale
The artifact I created is a short science lesson plan for second grade students in an inclusive class composed of general education students and students who spend most of their day in a self-contained special education classroom. It is intended for students to meet the Illinois Learning Standards 2020-21 in Science, Standard 2-LS2-1, Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. "Students who demonstrate understanding can: Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow". The lesson plan contains the standard and a lesson plan to build upon the students knowledge of plants and their needs, including the parts of a plant and purpose. The lesson plan includes differentiated instruction for a special education "focus student" during science in a mainstream classroom. The student is an autistic boy with the ability to read and do math on level with his peers but struggles with social skills and appropriate behavior. The lesson plan reviews background knowledge with regard to the parts of a plant, introduces new concepts of needs of a plant and the purpose of the parts which meets Standard 2-LS2-1. The lesson has differentiated instruction, content and evaluation for the special education focus student. This artifact was produced during the last week of my Introduction to Exceptional Children class at Trinity Christian College. The purpose of the assignment was to create a special education lesson plan for a focus student in a classroom.
Illinois Professional Teaching Standard Connection
The importance of this artifact with regard to Illinois Professional Teaching Standards (2013) , Standard 3, Planning For Differentiated Instruction, specifically, specifically, is that this lesson is created with accommodations and modifications for the focus student in such a way that it can used to teach students in a general education classroom as a group while the focus student learns the concepts alongside the other students. While the focus student may struggle to pay attention to a teacher's lecture, be distracted by group discussion and may not possess the social skills to participate in group discussions, accomodations of a one-on-one aide and a chromebook with headphones helps to overcome these obstacles. The modifications made to this lesson such as an engaging video to teach plant parts and functions along with modified assessment and evaluation help the focus student learn in a way that is suitable for his needs. This intentionally modified lesson is intended to keep him engaged and learning while participating with his peers in developing a science experiment. I believe this meets Knowledge and Performance Indicators 3C, 3P, and 3Q. Knowledge Indicator 3C, "understands cultural, linguistic, cognitive, physical, and social and emotional differences, and considers the needs of each student when planning instruction" (IPTS 3C) is met by this lesson plan as the focus student's different needs are addressed so that he can learn and complete a project with his peers. Indicator 3P is met by the teacher co-planning with the paraprofessional one-on-one aide to create a lesson that will be engaging and on level for the focus student. By consulting the focus student's aide to find videos that he can understand and have some of his interests included and discussing evaluation tactics that will best express his knowledge, indicator 3P is met. Indicator 3Q, "develops or selects relevant instructional content, materials, resources, and strategies (e.g., project-based learning) for differentiating instruction" (ITPS 3Q) is met by the careful selection of differentiated material for the focus student to complete the project.
Self Evaluation
The act of completing this assignment to create a special education lesson plan made it obvious to me how time consuming it can be to teach each student in the best way possible for their individual needs. It made me realize that I need to work on my time management skills and always be willing to ask for help or input when needed from more experienced teachers, specialists and paraprofessionals. When creating differentiated instruction for special needs students I realize I will need to use all my resources to the best of my ability. Knowing myself, this means pre-planning and time management efforts will need to be made. The teaching and learning standards are very precise and this is for a reason. These standards were created by experienced professionals which is what I aspire to be. I am thankful for the guidelines they provide, but this lesson taught me how much more there is to learn and I am looking forward to the methods class so I can learn, improve and become more fluent in creating my own content for students. This was also my first special education class and my first lesson plan so I know I have much more to learn, and as I learn I will probably look back to this lesson plan and make some changes. If that is the case, I will be grateful as it will be a reminder of how much I have learned and how there is alway a vast expanse of knowledge and experience to continue on my path to educate.
Rationale
This artifact is a list of resources on the internet that I can use as needed throughout my teaching career. There are websites with state requirements for teaching and learning, information on a variety of learning disabilities, videos explaining laws and their intent along with videos with teaching resources. This was created as an assignment in my Introduction to Exceptional Children and although it did not require original content or thought, it is a very useful tool I can create for myself to reference or to refer students parents in need of information or resources themselves. The requirements were to find two web or video links for six topics related to special education and to write a brief summation of the information contained in the link for quick reference. Although this particular list is not extensive being as it is only with regard to special education, I know it will be useful for me to quickly reference when I have questions on a disability or requirement.
Illinois Professional Teaching Standard
The importance of this artifact with regard to Illinois Professional Teaching Standards (2013) , Standard 3, Planning For Differentiated Instruction, specifically is that it will be a resource for me to educate myself about specific disabilities whether it be for causes and characteristics, family resources, or teaching resources from experienced educators or specialists. This list of resources contains links that will be valuable in meeting Knowledge and Performance Indicators 3C, 3G, and 3O specifically. Knowledge indicator 3C states that teachers need to have understanding and knowledge of cognitive, physical or emotional differences in students. Many of these resources have information on disabilities that I will inevitably come across in my teaching career. Some may be high incidence disabilties that I am familiar with and others may be low incidence disabilities that I may need to research. This artifact will assist me in my understanding of my student's differences. Indicator 3G states that teachers should understand how research and data guide instructional planning, delivery and adaptation. Many of these websites and videos contain data and research, along with resources to help with planning and adaptation of lessons for children with disabilities. Performance indicator 3O is met by having links directly to websites containing information about Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 , individualized education programs (IEPs) or individual family service plans (IFSP) .
Self Evaluation
The list attached is not a comprehensive list of resources for a teacher. It is a work in progress. Additionally, it relates specifically to special education. I intend to continue this practice of saving links to web resources that help me do my job better as a teacher and I realize that I will need to decide on a way to organize it so that I will be able to use it easily. I think I will use a similar format, maybe not so technical. In five years, I expect the special education section of my list to look similar to the attached artifact, however the additions that I make in the future will probably have more bullet points and personal references. That being said, I am glad to have had this assignment as I believe it will be useful in the future and it is a practice that will serve me and my future students well.