Nikki Spire's Classroom
- Introduction
- Résumé
- Statement of Philosophy of Education
- Personal Narrative
- 1. Content Knowledge
- 2. Human Development & Learning
- 3. Diversity
- 4. Planning for Instruction
- 5. Learning Environment
- 6. Instructional Delivery
- 7. Communication
- 8. Assessment
- 9. Collaborative Relationships
- 10. Reflection & Professional Growth
- 11. Professional Conduct
Standard 4: Planning for Instruction
Description of the Artifact
I created my thematic unit in Education 200. The point of this artifact is to take a theme and create many lessons for each subject around the theme. My theme was conflict/resolution. I also tried to create some of the materials to go along with the lesson.
The second artifact that I have chosen in my portfolio is my case study. I created this case study after looking at the original in my assessment class during my junior year of college. The assignment was to look at the case study and pull out the most important information to put in a new case study. Mrs. Espositio wanted us to create the case study to make sure that we would be direct with what really needed to be stated in the file.
Personal/Practical Knowledge Gained
I absolutely loved working on this artifact. It was a challenge, but a very fun challenge because I got to be creative and come up with some fantastic ideas that fit into my theme. I spent a lot of time and effort on this artifact. The project allowed me to see that no matter what subject you are aiming for with a particular theme you can almost always incorporate reading or writing. For example I have a science experiment on page 10. I also learned that no matter the topic it is important for the teacher to come up with creative and new ideas to help teach the students a concept. Today,school districts are looking for a teacher who will create new ideas to help the students better understand concepts.
From working on recreating this case study I had to choose what I felt was an important part of the original case study. What information was really relevant to this students learning and what is going to help the future teachers with this particular student.
Connection to Standard
I have included this artifact under Standard Four because it demonstrates my understanding of planning for instruction such as thinking about the theme, the grade level the students are in, and the subject area.
I have included the second artifact under the Standard Four because it demonstrates my understanding of the importance of planning for instruction. Case studies are usually passed on to the next school or teacher and it helps the special education teacher and other educators plan for the next school year. The case study can also help the teacher, student, and the parents create goals for the child to work on to improve the child's learning.
Future Planning
Hopefully, I will be able to use some of the plans that I have written in the unit. It will also be used as inspiration to keep finding creative methods to help the students understand a unit. I look forward to continuing to challenge myself to coming up with new ways to teach students new concepts.
My future plans for using this artifact is to use it as a reminder of the importance of a case study and what it can do to help create goals and to better know the student before the school year begins. It is also a very useful example of the way a case study is structured and how to keep the most relevant and important information in the case study.