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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 base
Animal Research/Report
Description:This artifact is a student-led animal research project our class worked on for over a week. The students took notes on an animal of their choice and collected facts about the animals appearance, habitat and diet. They also added fun/interesting facts and a question they still wondered about their animal. They used Pebble Go, a research engine that the district has access too, to conduct their research. After collecting the information, they made flip-book reports and created an information text on their selected animal.
Connection: This activity is a great example of Standard 2-2N which states that teachers “facilitate learning experiences that make connections to other content areas and to life experiences;” This project connected with our current informational writing unit and our recently ended habitat science unit. This even connected to their own experiences as they were told to choose an animal they have seen at the zoo or will want to see at the zoo. We had a zoo field trip coming up and on our trip to the zoo, the students were excitedly making connections to their research projects as we explored the zoo.
What I learned: I learned that connecting learning to life experiences engages students. When launching the activity, I told them we would be researching animals and that we would then see them at the zoo. Their eyes opened with excitement finding out they would actually be seeing their animals at the zoo. They worked very hard on this project, even those who do not normally stay engaged.
Critical Thinking Math problem
Description: This artifact is a problem pulled from their math book. The students struggled to answer #3 during whole instruction which prompted me to stop and focus on the problem a little longer. They were asked to pair up and discuss the question. After their pair-share, we discussed the problem as a whole.
Connection: This artifact connects to Standard 2-2C which mentions ensuring attention to cognitive processes so that students can master content standards. This question required students to use critical thinking. This question helped students understand the importance of knowing that units matter and must match in order to add or subtract them.
What I learned: I learned that students need to have adequate time to process these critical thinking questions to fully understand and master the standards.
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