Professionalizing Teaching During
Student Teaching
So many education reforms have centered on a main goal of professionalizing teachers and making teachers better. I believe rather than focusing on teachers being good or bad, we need to focus on professionalizing the act of teaching. We should make sure everyone in the profession of teaching agrees that teaching consists of collaboration, coherence, and most importantly, centered around student learning. To some of us these characteristics of teaching seem obvious, but throughout grade school I was not taught this way and I have observed teachers today not teaching with these characteristics in mind.
With many learners, the traditional way of teaching is often not the best way. There are many tools to help students see where the class is headed for a unit or a lesson. For example, the unit organizer to the right, as well as the FRAME below, help to assist learners of differing strengths to continue to further their development in a way that encourages connections for the learners. The unit organizer allows students to see the big picture of the unit and help them to easily connect lessons within a unit. It also provides students with questions to monitor their learning as well as a list of key vocabulary that will be used throughout the unit, and some the entire year.
The FRAME below is useful on a smaller scale. Rather than showing a big picture, it is used in one or two lessons and allows students to easily compare and contrast concepts that would have otherwise been confusing or difficult to differentiate between. These two pieces of evidence show my ability to prepare in ways that are best for my students. This type of structure in lesson planning shows my ability to prepare for learning differences and show students a way that they can understand, even if the traditional strategies have failed them in the past. |
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INTASC Standards Addressed
Standard #1: Learning Development
Standard #2: Learning Differences
Standard #3: Learning Environments
Standard #4: Content Knowledge
Standard #5: Application of Content
Standard #8: instructional Strategies
Standard #1: Learning Development
Standard #2: Learning Differences
Standard #3: Learning Environments
Standard #4: Content Knowledge
Standard #5: Application of Content
Standard #8: instructional Strategies