Standard 5: Application of Content
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
http://www.htsb.org/standards/teacher/
Indicator 5C: The teacher facilitates learners' use of current tools and resources to maximize content learning in varied contexts.
These photos show a few of the students' resources and tools available in the classroom. These resources range from textbooks, computers, notebooks, workbooks, manipulatives, etc. I have helped my Cooperating Teacher facilitate and maximize these tools (especially the computers). I have incorporated many different programs on the computer that offer more resources and exploration for the classroom and have properly shown my class how to navigate them by practicing, demonstrating, and explaining. Each resource offers differentiation to lessons and a different output of content that reach out to each learner. These resources help students maximize content learning in varied contexts because they give them information and tools necessary for different content and help them to reach the standard.
Indicator 5E: The teacher develops learners' communication skills in disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts by creating meaningful opportunities to employ a variety of forms of communication that address varied audiences and purposes.
This is an example of two students' work in an activity that was done in the classroom that helped each student contribute and communicate in their own way. This book is a class book that was incorporated during the beginning of the school year that created a meaningful opportunity by helping the class create their own classroom rules. This also helped the students feel valued and take ownership of their thoughts and opinions. This increased their communication skills and helped develop disciplinary and interdisciplinary context through their own thoughts.
Indicator 5L: The teacher understands how to use digital and interactive technologies for efficiently and effectively achieving specific learning goals.
This is an example of a program, Google Classroom, that I am very familiar with and used very often in the classroom. I introduced this program to my classroom and to Cooperating Teacher. On this program I can assign each student an assignment, and it allows them to turn it in digitally as well. This allows for more differentiation for assignments and for immediate feedback on student work as I am able to make comments on each assignment and the student can see it right away. This specific example is a graphic organizer that was assigned to students. Students completed the graphic organizer for their individual animal. Using this technology helped them to reach their learning goal as students could research, write, and cite their findings all on the computer. This also helped them to achieve writing goals as they wrote complete sentences and included a topic sentence, supporting details, and examples in their graphic organizer.
Indicator 5O: The teacher understands creative thinking processes and how to engage learners in producing original work.
This art project was done at the end of a science unit. Students had been researching an animal of their choice (the same animal throughout the unit) and their habitats, adaptations, instincts, and learned behaviors. To finish the unit, I had students create their animals through art, but were only allowed to rip paper - they could not cut! Students were able to be creative in their art pieces and produce original work on their animal and its habitat. Students then found ownership in their work as it was hung on a bulletin board and shared with the class, along with the research done on their animal.