A4: Demonstrating an understanding of the connections between
the content that was learned previously, the current content, and the content that remains to be learned in the future
In almost every lesson, I draw on previously learned
material. Usually, I bring in previous material through the warm up activity. The warm up allows student to review
what they have already studied. On the right, I have included a formal lesson observation by my MCPS coach.
She observed my academic language classes where my students watched a video about ancient Sumerian culture.
Before the video, I elicited the students' prior knowledge and made a list on the board for the students to refer to again
after the video. The class was able to make connections between what they knew already and what they learned in the
video. My coach also commented (in the highlighted section at the bottom) that my differentiation between
two classes was appropriate for the different overall level of each class. The second highlighted section commends
my use of equity sticks to keep students actively participating.
A4: Creating or selecting teaching methods, learning activities, and instructional materials or other resources that
are appropriate to the students and that are aligned with the goals of the lesson
Each of my lessons is planned extensively, and my students have work to do from bell to bell. I write lesson plans
every day for each of my five classes. The first artifact on the right is an observation form written by my school's
Assistant School Administrator. She entered my classroom unannounced one day, and I provided her with a lesson plan.
She noted on her observation form that the lesson plan I handed her and the activities the class was participating in
were both in line with the mastery objectives that I had posted on the board at the front of the room. She also
noted that she observed evidence that I meet other MCPS standards. For Standard I, she observed that I checked for understanding
throughout the lesson. For Standard III, she wrote that I used positive reinforcement. For Standard IV, she observed
that I used a variety of formative assessment strategies. She also commented on my use of equity sticks to call on students.
C2: Making content comprehensible
to students
I often create activities to give students the opportunity to practice content before I ask them to produce work individually. On
the right is a picture of a group of students working together to post a timeline of Egyptian events on the
whiteboard. Each student was given an event from Egyptian history, and she had to place the event on the appropriate
area of the timeline. Some students' events were very close together, so they had to communicate with each other before
adding their events to the timeline. The next picture on the right is from later in the same lesson. This
student is working to create a timeline of Egyptian events on her own. The group activity provided valuable scaffolding
for the individual task.
MCPS: Uses technology appropriately
I use technology as appropriate in my lessons. I have been trained in using the Discovery Streaming website, and
I have shown numerous videos and used various resources to supplement my instruction (particularly in my social studies classes).
In order to show my proficiency in appropriately using technology, I have linked a video of my classroom to my
e-folio below. I was able to capture the video using a digital camera and upload the video to YouTube.com. Then,
I embedded the html code into this e-folio. The video begins in the hallway outside my classroom, which is decorated
with my students' work. It moves inside my classroom to show more work as posted on the walls, the student job
listings, the mastery objectives, my students' folder bins, and my 4-desk table groupings. Through the technology of
the internet, I am able to give visitors to my site a different perspective of my classroom that is not as clear through pictures
alone.
