Teachers know how students think and learn. Teachers understand the influences that affect individual student learning (development, culture, language proficiency, etc.) and differentiate their instruction accordingly. Teachers keep abreast of evolving research about student learning. They adapt resources to address the strengths and weaknesses of their students.
Teachers should: • Know how students think and learn; • Understand the influences on student learning and differentiate instruction; • Keep abreast of evolving research; and • Adapt resources to address the strengths and weaknesses of students.
2019-20 Professional Development
Some favorite texts I have read this year to keep abreast of evolving research and differentiation strategies and resources in order to improve student outcomes are included here. Carol Salva's book, Boosting Achievement, which explained the needs of SLIFE (students with interrupted formal education) students and The 7 Steps to a Language Rich Classroom, by Larry Ferlazzo have been the most influential texts to my classroom instruction this year. My favorite best strategies are the really have raised the confidence level in my classrooms are annotating objectives, the Language Experience Approach, and Roving Paragraph Frames. These strategies have raised the rigor for students while giving them much more exposure to academic language on a daily basis. Students get an opportunity to SWRL everyday in relevant and motivating ways. They are much more engaged and enjoy the active learning experience. I must say my students, especially my 6th graders, actually look forward to opportunities to read aloud now especially since we had the lesson about just how much exposure to academic language reading everyday allows them to gain. I shared the following infographic and article with them the beginning of the new year. It is a powerful piece of information that I share with parents as well to encourage them to promote independent reading at home.