SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
The teacher possesses content knowledge and uses such knowledge bases to create meaningful learning environments for students in inclusive settings.
I've been told repeatedly that there's nothing more frustrating to students than a teacher who doesn't know class material or understand what she's teaching. For this reason, competence in the content area is a necessity in order to provide students with a learning environment that both educates and engages them.
That being said, a key part of being a teacher is being flexible and adapting. To me, that looks like regularly brushing up on material to stay knowledgable regarding the subjects you're teaching and being proactive in learning more about the subject areas that you're less experienced or educated in. Without this solid foundation, you cannot teach students and can definitely not differentiate-- as you'll be working with material that's not fully understood, a sort of "blind leading the blind" in a new subject area, if you will.
In the photo above, one of my students is applying one of the discussed math techniques from our triangle lesson to her workbook activity as a mid-lesson form of assessment.
While teaching this past semester, there were several times I came across mathematics material that I was incredibly unfamiliar with, had never learned, or had not seen in years. Admitting this is the best thing any teacher can do! Once I was aware and honest that I didn't grasp the material fully, I got to work at learning it. Through online resources, student-aimed youtube videos and interactive multimedia, I was able to better comprehend. As a result, I was able to more effectively differentiate my lesson plan so that it was inclusive for a variety of different ability levels. Learning the new material in different ways gave me insight as to different approaches that may be beneficial for struggling students and even enrichment activities for those who understand it quickly.
The lesson plan below is an introduction to triangles lesson plan that I used with my 3rd grade, general education class.Though the plan was taught at a more basic level, my own intentional re-education allowed me to answer any questions that came up mid-lesson and helped me think on my feet when working one-on-one with students who weren't grasping the concept.
I've been told repeatedly that there's nothing more frustrating to students than a teacher who doesn't know class material or understand what she's teaching. For this reason, competence in the content area is a necessity in order to provide students with a learning environment that both educates and engages them.
That being said, a key part of being a teacher is being flexible and adapting. To me, that looks like regularly brushing up on material to stay knowledgable regarding the subjects you're teaching and being proactive in learning more about the subject areas that you're less experienced or educated in. Without this solid foundation, you cannot teach students and can definitely not differentiate-- as you'll be working with material that's not fully understood, a sort of "blind leading the blind" in a new subject area, if you will.
In the photo above, one of my students is applying one of the discussed math techniques from our triangle lesson to her workbook activity as a mid-lesson form of assessment.
While teaching this past semester, there were several times I came across mathematics material that I was incredibly unfamiliar with, had never learned, or had not seen in years. Admitting this is the best thing any teacher can do! Once I was aware and honest that I didn't grasp the material fully, I got to work at learning it. Through online resources, student-aimed youtube videos and interactive multimedia, I was able to better comprehend. As a result, I was able to more effectively differentiate my lesson plan so that it was inclusive for a variety of different ability levels. Learning the new material in different ways gave me insight as to different approaches that may be beneficial for struggling students and even enrichment activities for those who understand it quickly.
The lesson plan below is an introduction to triangles lesson plan that I used with my 3rd grade, general education class.Though the plan was taught at a more basic level, my own intentional re-education allowed me to answer any questions that came up mid-lesson and helped me think on my feet when working one-on-one with students who weren't grasping the concept.
TRYINGOUTTRIANGLESLESSONPLAN.odt | |
File Size: | 23 kb |
File Type: | odt |