Area 3: Instruction

Rationale for Inclusion

This artifact was the cumulative presentation from the Action Research class. In this artifact, I am communicating with the students through the use of a pre-test. This pre-test is designed to assess student understanding before the instruction to get a baseline for their skills. Also, I will need to communicate with the students to be able to do differentiated instruction. That was mentioned in my artifact. The rationale for doing differentiated instruction is that the research shows that it is highly effective and the sample classroom that I had was very diverse in nature. Differentiated instruction meets the students where they are instead of approaching their education in a cookie-cutter fashion. Another aspect of domain three that is evident in this artifact is the use of questioning and discussion techniques. These tie in with the aforementioned areas of the artifact. Additionally, students are discussing and communicating using various levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. It is important to hit as many areas of that as possible. It is also necessary to have the students use higher-order thinking skills in the process. Students will be engaged in learning by being able first by remembering the quadratic formula. They will go up Bloom’s to understand which coefficients to pick to use in that quadratic formula. Students will next apply what they have learned to solve problems using the quadratic method. They will next analyze the connections between the discriminant and the quadratic formula. Finally, they will evaluate if sample problems are done correctly using the quadratic formula. It is important to engage students in higher-order thinking and learning. This is backed by research in my artifact. The crux of where this artifact relates to this domain is in the following two areas, using assessment in instruction, and demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness. My artifact’s purpose is to evaluate my methods in that classroom setting to determine their effectiveness. That will be done through assessment. The post-test that is included in my artifact is to assess what the students have learned through the lesson. Action research at its heart is to analyze how much growth there has been between the pre and post-tests and what could be done to improve that growth. So essentially you are using the results of those assessments and self-reflection to determine how to improve your teaching. My artifact analyzes in part four, how assessing students can be turned into an analysis of the teaching. I included research backing up how this is beneficial in the classroom. The fifth part of my teacher work sample was to show the need for collaboration and action research in the classroom and back it with research. That research also ties into my differentiated instruction approach as well. With 31% of children reading below grade level and higher accountability for teachers, these methods are imperative to creating better instruction in the classroom. Unfortunately, I had to choose one artifact. This was a summary of five parts of my created teacher work sample. To demonstrate this work sample effectively I would have to create 5 separate artifacts. I did not feel this was practical or feasible.

Rationale for Inclusion

I present this artifact on a differentiated lesson in mathematics. I believe that differentiated instruction at its core is quintessentially tied with domain three of Danielson’s model. In this artifact, I address communicating with students. I am presenting an introduction to them. I also present a mini-lesson to them as well. I have them communicate with each other and myself to help them be able to construct the knowledge needed for this lesson on their own. I am also communicating with the students by having them fill out learning profiles so I can better get an understanding of their learning and their backgrounds. These also tie in with discussion techniques and the use of questioning. Additionally, with students breaking up into groups, there is that element of discussion techniques among the groups themselves. I will be assessing students formatively by questioning what they are thinking and noticing. I will see that students are learning by how they are piecing together their thoughts. I use four types of engagement in my lesson. I have the students being on task the whole session engaging them behaviorally. I have them engaged emotionally by having them use technology and apply real-world context involving the pizzas that they love. The students will be engaged socially by working in various groups throughout the lesson. Students will finally be engaged cognitively because they will be applying what they learned to real-world context as well as developing problem-solving techniques and logical reasoning in the process. The learning profiles themselves are going to be a very important aspect of having my students engaged during the session. Those learning profiles will help me to understand their learning styles and interests. This knowledge will be a cornerstone of knowing how to engage them throughout the lesson and beyond. I use assessment in instruction in three ways. I start with questions to determine if the students are indeed learning what I want them to learn. I throw in the assessment of reading body language throughout the lesson as well. I have developed the ability to assess understanding by reading body language through my many years of tutoring. I then have students be assessed by working with Khan Academy. If the students score proficient or higher I will let them continue. If they do not, I will pull them together for a group tutoring session to make sure that no one falls through the cracks. Ultimately the students will be assessed by the real-world contextual problem of figuring out which pizza deals are the best. Assessment is a very key element of differentiated instruction. This artifact demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness because I am using many different means of assessment and constantly adapting my teaching to make sure that the needs of my students are met. My small group tutoring session is the most important element of this flexibility and responsiveness. My years as a tutor have provided me great insight into being flexible and responsive during my sessions as well as with time in general. Flexibility and responsiveness are at the core of differentiated instruction.