Rationale
Proposition 2 states that an effective teacher knows his subject and knows how to teach that subject to his students. Effective teaching is demonstrated by actively searching for and criticizing new strategies on an ongoing basis. Knowing the content is not enough, effective teachers must also demonstrate the ability to leave their students with a firm understanding of how to use the content. The first artifact listed is a podcast I created as an easy-to-follow guide for implementing a groundwork concept for building vocabulary skills in middle grade students. The concept is founded in research and has been applied in my classroom effectively. It shows that I have a grasp of both the foundations of English Language Learning and effective strategies for teaching it. The second artifact is a writing portrait that gives a birds-eye view of my classroom as a balanced literacy environment. It shows a great deal of variable lessons which I use in my classroom to teach writing as it relates to reading.
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Artifacts
The "Is and Is Not" is a students made vocabulary enhancement sheet that allows students to gain and use new vocabulary in context rather than through rote memorization. This podcast is a how-to for implementation.
Balanced Literacy is a framework for teaching reading and writing as complimentary processes. This Portrait shows the effective process I have implemented in my classroom as it related to the creative writing process and writing about reading.
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Reflection
I am a firm believer that not all teachers have all the answers at all times. However, the greatest teachers can admit that fact to their students and embark on a journey together to find answers. The discovery of new words and new concepts can be a fun and exciting task, while at once challenging and daunting. It can also be made to be arduous, repetitive, and boring. I feel that I have found several interesting ways to teach vocabulary without forcing my students to sit and memorize words with no contextual framework.
In my classroom, I offer my knowledge on the subject of language, reading, listening, speaking, and writing in as many ways as possible. When something doesn't seem to be working, I change it. Which is why the balanced literacy approach is so effective. It is a fluid and amoebic form of teaching-the tasks are co-related to one another and can be changed according to student need. I am proud of my knowledge base and the theoretical framework from which it has arisen. |
Proposition 2
Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.