Standard 4
Instructional Delivery and Management
Element 4.4: Recognize the changing dynamics of the environment and adjust instructional tasks based on student responses.
Artifact: Lesson Plan (Overhand Throw)
Date: Spring 2010
Reflection: I wrote this lesson plan focusing on the overhand throw for a sixth grade class in EDU 355 Physical Education Curriculum: Planning and Practice. This lesson plan was written with the intention of improving the students’ ability to perform the overhand throw. The progress students made was measured using a pre-assessment before the lesson, and a post-assessment after the lesson. This artifact satisfies Standard 4, Element 4.4 because it is a prime example of my ability as a teacher to recognize that the environment is constantly changing and that adjustment to instructional tasks based upon student responses is a necessary aspect of teaching. For each activity that I have planned out within the lesson plan, I also have laid out realistic applications to a more authentic type of activity. Since the ultimate goal is for students to be able to perform the skill in an authentic, game-like situation, the applications give me as the teacher the chance to move the students into that more authentic situation if they are achieving success in a drill. Additionally, for each activity, I have laid out how I will modify the activity for students if the activity is too easy or too hard for them. All students are at a different level, so having modifications to help them succeed at my disposal while I teach is very important. This artifact has been important to my development as a teacher because it is one of the first lesson plans I wrote where the importance of having many different instructional modifications at hand became clear to me. When I taught the lesson, being able to adjust the tasks based upon student responses allowed all students to benefit from the lesson.
Standard 4
Instructional Delivery and Management
Element 4.1: Demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills across a variety of instructional formats.
Artifact: Health and Skill Related Fitness Bulletin Board
Date: Winter 2010
Reflection: I created this bulletin board as a part of my EDU 256 Field Experience in Knickerbacker Middle School, Lansingburgh, NY. During my period of observation, assistance, and teaching in that school, the students were in a fitness unit. This artifact satisfies Standard 4, Element 4.1 because it is an example of non-verbal communication that students can see and read to help them understand the concepts being taught in a unit. An important aspect of teaching is being able to help your students understand various concepts, and some students don’t learn well just by hearing you tell them the concepts. Visual learners need to see the concept in front of them to fully understand what the teacher is trying to get across to them. The use of bulletin boards like this one, and many other visual aids such as powerpoint presentations, posters, and handouts can help students really understand the concepts you are trying to teach them. There are so many different forms of communication than just verbal, and being able to utilize as many of them as possible in my teaching has allowed me to get through to students that I may not have if I was just lecturing them on the concept. This artifact has been very important to my development as a teacher because it has given me experience creating and using alternate forms of communication. I have witnessed students have an “epiphany” simply because of the use of a visual aid to supplement instruction, and that has made me a better teacher in the long run because I will continue to use visual aids to supplement my teaching.
