(1b) Demonstrating Knowledge of Students
Throughout this year, I have tested out multiple seating charts. I have paired my students in groups of 2, 3, 4, and 5. I have had some of my students on their own "islands" until we agree that they are ready to be a part of a group again.
Traditional rows are not my style because I love the idea of my students having group members to discuss ideas with. Seating charts are a great tool that, when organized correctly, helps keep everything running smoothly inside a classroom. In order to make the right choices about where students sit and who to sit by, I have to put in quite a bit of work.
Getting to know my students is something I work on daily. Building and maintaining relationships is tough. It is a job that is never done and I enjoy getting to learn all about my students. I change seating charts based on who I think will learn best next to each other. Sometimes, it takes some getting used to for certain students, but after they learn to be respectful and collaborate, our classroom community becomes even stronger.
Traditional rows are not my style because I love the idea of my students having group members to discuss ideas with. Seating charts are a great tool that, when organized correctly, helps keep everything running smoothly inside a classroom. In order to make the right choices about where students sit and who to sit by, I have to put in quite a bit of work.
Getting to know my students is something I work on daily. Building and maintaining relationships is tough. It is a job that is never done and I enjoy getting to learn all about my students. I change seating charts based on who I think will learn best next to each other. Sometimes, it takes some getting used to for certain students, but after they learn to be respectful and collaborate, our classroom community becomes even stronger.
(1c) Setting Instructional Outcomes
I write daily objectives to focus on for reading and math. We go over Content Objectives (What?), Language Objectives (How?), and Assessment (Why?). My students remind me when we complete an objective, that we need to check it off. I really like having the objectives visible to my students so that they understand what will be accomplished each day. I believe posting the objectives in this way and referring back to them throughout the lesson, helps provide clear communication for my students. This instructional strategy also teaches my students to self-assess their progress throughout a lesson.
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(1e) Designing Coherent Instruction
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File Type: | docx |
As a second grade teaching team, we collaborate every day and plan out lessons together for each week. We all follow the same schedule so it makes it easy for us to maintain the same routine for planning our lessons. I follow our lesson plans each week by using the learning intentions and success criteria to guide my math and reading objectives. Each of us second grade teachers displays our objectives differently, but we all still use our lesson plans to guide our instruction. We use kid friendly words on our lesson plans as well as our rubrics in order to make students feel comfortable, but also challenged by some of the vocabulary. The lessons that we create, do not always show planning for differentiation. However, we do discuss as a team what would best fit our students needs and how to scaffold the learning process for individuals. Our lessons are all tied into Common Core State Standards and match our curriculum. We follow our district pacing guides as well to help us stay on track towards our end of the year goals.