Standard #7

InTASC Standard: Standard #7: Planning for Instruction

The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context (InTASC, 2013).

Brief Description of Evidence: During the spring semester of 2019 as part of my EDUC 224 - Introduction to Scientific Inquiry, I received the opportunity to create a cross-disciplinary lesson plan that allowed me to teach science and social studies. For this lesson plan, we were given a “Flexible Learning Path” template to ensure we covered all the aspects of lesson planning. Our class was also given a chance to implement this lesson plan with the second grade class of Inspire Academy.

Analysis of What I Learned: Throughout the process of creating a lesson plan, I realized how much effort is required to produce a quality lesson. My group and I spent hours on the preparation of the planned instruction. We filled out an eleven-page “Flexible Learning Path,” created a Jurassic Park, and put together activities for active learning. I learned how important it is to provide specific learning goals for the students as well. I also learned how vital it is to include Bloom’s verbs in the goals you set for the learners. In order to provide these learning goals, we looked at the learners’ prior knowledge of the content, the curriculum they were using, pedagogy, and cross-disciplinary skills.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence of the InTASC Standard:

I have demonstrated my competence in Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction by creating a flexible lesson plan that included Bloom's Taxonomy Planning Verbs. In order to create this lesson, I had to draw upon my current knowledge of fossilization and then further my knowledge. I did this by watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts. We also had to draw upon learner knowledge. In order to do so, we asked the teachers at Inspire Academy what the students had previously learned. This allowed us to create a lesson and set goals that challenged the learners. This lesson plan demonstrates my competence because it supported and set goals for every student by using a variety of instructional strategies. I worked with my fellow classmates to bring forth a quality lesson plan to ensure learner growth. During this lesson, I used strategies such as discussions, call and response, question asking, and active learning. In order to produce a quality experience for the learners, my group members and I used the resources Ivy Tech provided for us to create a Jurassic Park to help the learners stay engaged. After the end of each lesson, we had the students write down what they like, learned, and wished about the lessons we taught. After looking at their feedback, we adjusted our lesson plan to make it even better for the next go around!

*Permission was granted for use of these photographs.