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.
Artifact AEDU 209 Technology in Education
TedEd Screencast - This screencast is a teaching method of how to use Ed.Ted.com to create lessons for students.
My Digital Story - Down Syndrome - A video of what Down Syndrome is, characteristics associated with the disability, traits, physical attributes, communication, learning and short personal story of how Down Syndrome has impacted my life.
Rationale, Standard Connection, Self-Evaluation
During the Spring semester of 2018, I completed AEDU 209, Technology in Education. A requirement of the course was to complete a screencast teaching how an educator can utilize the learning platform to create a lesson for students. In AEDU 209 we also created a digital story on a disability of our choosing; the goal of the digital story was to inform other colleagues about the characteristics, traits, communication and learning of students born with the specific disability we chose.
The TedEd screencast required me to research various ways to utilize the platform for student learning. During my screencast, I completed a demonstration on how to create a hygiene lesson for students. The Illinois Professional Teaching Standards performance indicator 2L states, the competent teacher "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". When creating this screencast I learned how this technology learning platform can benefit students instruction and learning. This platform is a great tool to use for in-person or remote learning.
My digital story includes my sister who was born with Down Syndrome. Being able to incorporate my sister into my digital story presentation was a blessing and I plan to cherish this project forever. The Illinois Professional Teaching Standards performance indicator 2N states, the competent teacher "facilitates learning experiences that make connections to other content areas and to life experiences". Completing my digital story on the disability Down Syndrome allowed me to research and learn more about Down Syndrome than I already knew.
During the creation of these artifacts, I have learned that technology will always be a growing item in education. I know it is important to keep up with the technology supports that benefit instruction for students. When creating my digital story, I realized there is always more information and more knowledge to gain on any topic. In my future, I will utilize various technology platforms similar to TedEd to plan instruction for my students and continue to grow my knowledge in all areas of education and teaching.
Artifact AEDU 315 Math Methods
Mathematics Activity Center: NCTM standards and reflection - This paper is an explanation of the math centers I created for my class to participate in and a relfection of the feedback I recieved from classmates.
Rationale, Standard Connection, Self-Evaluation
In the Spring of 2019, I completed the AEDU 315 Math Methods course. One requirement in this course was to research and produce a variety of math centers that show the views of the National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM). This paper shows the standard and the components for that standard along with various learning centers for students who are in third through fifth grade. This paper includes the implementation of my centers and my reflection. My reflection consists of feedback I received from peers who engaged in my math centers.
The mathematics center I created consisted of four activities that focuses on helping the students understand the concepts of geometry. When creating the math centers, I ensured that each student would be able to participate, understand the directions and utilize all of the manipulatives provided. The Illinois Professional Teaching Standards performance indicator 2P states, the competent teacher "adjusts practice to meet the needs of each student in the content areas". I provided manipulatives to the students which benefits the students who learn visually and kinesthetic. Creating four different activities provided geometry instruction to students through various learning methods.
While creating math centers, I learned that any activity can be developed to meet the needs of all students. My centers display board in class was decorated in typed writing and easy to read font which benefits students who may be English Language Learners. The use of manipulatives makes learning enjoyable and fun for students while providing effective instruction. Throughout this process of creating these math centers I have learned how important and beneficial manipulatives can be in a classroom.