Standard of Practice # 3: Professional Practice
Members apply professional knowledge and experience to promote student learning. They use appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation, resources and technology in planning for and responding to the needs of individual students and learning communities. Members refine their professional practice through ongoing inquiry, dialogue and reflection.
Belief Statement:
Teaching is practiced, it is a human endeavor, and it is good to know where you stand philosophically with that practice:
The junior learner learns best when new knowledge and understanding is built into their existing schemes of knowing. Where possible, these understandings are best acquired through a process of discovery which is reliant upon an active and supportive relationship with the teacher as a guide/facilitator. These constructivist notions of learning align nicely with the experiential learning idea that “self-initiated learning is the most lasting and pervasive” as they each place high value upon the level of engagement of the student. This involvement is further stimulated by the relevance of the learning to the student, for a junior learner who can connect the relationship of the new knowledge with an existing understanding or interest will be more completely immersed in the experience, and therefore develop a deeper understanding.
Reflecting on Appropriate Pedagogy: Four Steps Towards Becoming More Culturally Responsive in the Junior Classroom
One reason I entered the teaching profession was to be a part of working towards a more peaceful world. Appropriate pedagogy includes a responsiveness to the cultural understandings of the students and of developing an intercultural awareness and open mindedness of the cultures of others...
Understanding of cultural characteristics and contributions of different ethnic groups: each of my classes has a considerable number of Korean students, and I know very little about their approaches to learning and how their culture influences their educational experience. Particularly when it comes to vocal participation in classroom activities, a cultural understanding seems to be an essential step to engaging these students in debate and discussion.
Build effective cross-cultural communications: this may have to begin with an understanding of how my own culture encrypts its codes, before attempting to decipher the codes of others!
Demonstrate cultural caring to build a learning community: build more of the reciprocity between teacher and student while at the same time creating a culture of community where the individual is displaced by the group.
Deliver culturally responsive instruction: develop a more rich collection of multicultural instructional examples.
Responding to the Needs of Individual Students: 5 Principles of Universal Design for Learning
How do you balance the needs of the individual students and the needs of the learning community? Universal Design for Learning offers a powerful framework:
1. The classroom environment must effectively set the stage for learning for all.
Prepare a classroom that is sensitive to external stimuli (hearing, sight), physical space (mobility) and that considers general layout. (Bennett, p.4) This includes a clear line of sight for students, resources within comfortable reach, accommodate variations of hand grip size, minimal of “a plethora of other competing stimuli” (Education for All).
2. Simplicity – the instruction in an UDL classroom must be communicated clearly and appropriately.
Education for All captures this idea with one word: simplicity – communicate consistent expectations, scaffolding, provision effective feedback during and after tasks – again minimizing distractions. Whether using the four “common classroom strategies” (Learning for All) of cooperative learning, project-based approaches, problem-based approaches, or explicit construction – the parameters of these learning activities must be clearly expressed and understood by the students.
3. UDL presents challenging and achievable learning experiences suitable for each individual in the classroom.
It is up to the UDL teacher to provide clearly stated, “achievable challenges through a variety of flexible strategies or learning situations to meet the needs of the students in ways that are adapted to their skill level.” (Education for All). There is some connection here with the provision of “multiple means for engagement” in Learning for All and thereby allowing students to access the curriculum according to their interests and strengths.
4. The content and concepts of pedagogical materials must be accessible to all learning styles and approaches to learning.
Pedagogical materials, available to everyone, vary “in form”, “in level of difficulty”, and “in presentation” (Education for All). Learning for All uses these words: that UDL asks teachers to “provide for multiple means of representation” – this includes provision of variety in audio, visual information, multi media and technology use, and highlighting patterns and big ideas. This makes teaching and learning explicit, leaving no assumptions unexposed.
5. Students in an UDL classroom are presented with varied opportunities to communicate their knowing and understanding.
Education for All describes this as a “variety of student products.” Here, the teacher is expected to provide opportunity for students to express their learning in a format of their choice. This is part of differentiation in the classroom where consideration is given to respectful tasks, flexible grouping, and ongoing assessment and adjustment. Learning for All advises the UDL teacher to “provide for multiple means for action and expression” which would allow students to access varied ways to communicate their understanding.
How else do you balance the needs of the individual students and the needs of the learning community? Effective classroom management is essential:
1. Be Proactive: always be a role model, build close relationships with your students, develop and understanding of your students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds, use common sense and be alert, link to students’ past experiences, & check for understanding. (from pp.37-8 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom)
2. Be Prepared: if every second counts of your time together, then be prepared for lessons and eliminate as much as possible the fuzzy, grey zones of fiddling with cables and remotes, shuffling through papers, loading streaming video, etc… This involves too planning transitions from one activity to the next. (from p.38 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom)
3. Be respectful, fair, honest, consistent and clear. Develop rules and routines together with the members of your learning community. Include character education in your planning. Reflect on your program and invite students to reflect on your program. (from pp.38-9 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom) As the .pdf on classroom management states: “Always treat students with dignity”
4. Student engagement arises from a trusting relationship, a supportive culture, and relevant topics.
How can learning stations be a part of effective pedagogy and assessment?
Learning stations allow students to work together in small groups.
While this states the obvious, this reason alone is a powerful incentive to implement learning stations in the junior classroom. These young people are at a formative stage in their lives, open to learning from their peers, so long as their social and emotional development is taken into consideration. Through experimentation, exploration, questioning, discussion and reflection students are given opportunity to share in the experience of discovery. They witness models of behavior, gain exposure to a variety of learning strategies, test their own ideas against those of peers, and engage in early leadership experiences.
Learning stations are by definition highly flexible. They can appear out of no where and they are bound only by the rules and expectations the teacher creates. The only limit to the curricular integration that can occur at learning stations is the imagination of the teacher (and maybe in some cases resources!).
Learning stations allow for differentiated learning.
When students are presented with choices, with access to the activity irrespective of their starting point, and with open-ended tasks where multiple strategies can lead to the outcome, then differentiated learning is optimized through learning stations. Teachers find themselves free to circulate and to target instruction to the individual needs of the students.
Learning stations allow for rich formative assessment.
As the teacher circulates and connects with the student learning, they also find opportunity to make anecdotal notes. Peer-assessment becomes an ideal option to prompt student communication and reflection in learning stations more than any other classroom situation. Self-assessment through learning stations can access not only reflection on curricular knowledge, skill, and concept goals, but also on student areas of learning development including communication, interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness.
Learning stations don’t work just because they’re called learning stations.
A word of caution in the implementation of learning stations: they demand careful organization and management. To provide student choice, varied activities, differentiated experiences, and relevant curricular connections it is not simply enough to dream up a group activity. Learning stations must be purposeful and carefully integrated into classroom routines. Explicit teaching of the intentions, the expectations, and the instructions must be in place in order for the student to be aware of why, how, and in what ways they are learning.
Appropriate Assessment and Evaluation: Principles of Assessment
Junior level teachers are responsible to their students and their parents and community to carry out engaging and relevant assessment throughout the academic year:
Reflecting on the Seven Fundamental Principles of Assessment (Growing Success, page 6), here are three principles of assessment and evaluation clarified with practical ways of implementing them in the junior classroom:
“are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course”
-share assessment rubrics in print or electronic form at the start of the year
-share again to accompany summative (assessment of learning) assessment tasks
-post assessment rubrics (poster size) in class
-have students rewrite assessment criteria to be task specific
“are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning”
-create an academic year calendar that maps out assessment for learning timed according to units and indicating the nature of assessments being executed
-list the assessment strategies that are in your toolbox and make a note of each time they are used – why not post this in class and leave a few empty lines for the students to suggest new assessment options!
“provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement”
-if your school doesn't already have a policy for the timely sharing of assessment feedback, set your own (our school requires that we share results within the week)
-use an assessment journal where you write comments on student work and students reflect on the feedback – this acts as a record of the year’s learning.
Members apply professional knowledge and experience to promote student learning. They use appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation, resources and technology in planning for and responding to the needs of individual students and learning communities. Members refine their professional practice through ongoing inquiry, dialogue and reflection.
Belief Statement:
Teaching is practiced, it is a human endeavor, and it is good to know where you stand philosophically with that practice:The junior learner learns best when new knowledge and understanding is built into their existing schemes of knowing. Where possible, these understandings are best acquired through a process of discovery which is reliant upon an active and supportive relationship with the teacher as a guide/facilitator. These constructivist notions of learning align nicely with the experiential learning idea that “self-initiated learning is the most lasting and pervasive” as they each place high value upon the level of engagement of the student. This involvement is further stimulated by the relevance of the learning to the student, for a junior learner who can connect the relationship of the new knowledge with an existing understanding or interest will be more completely immersed in the experience, and therefore develop a deeper understanding.
Reflecting on Appropriate Pedagogy: Four Steps Towards Becoming More Culturally Responsive in the Junior Classroom
One reason I entered the teaching profession was to be a part of working towards a more peaceful world. Appropriate pedagogy includes a responsiveness to the cultural understandings of the students and of developing an intercultural awareness and open mindedness of the cultures of others...Responding to the Needs of Individual Students: 5 Principles of Universal Design for Learning
How do you balance the needs of the individual students and the needs of the learning community? Universal Design for Learning offers a powerful framework:1. The classroom environment must effectively set the stage for learning for all.
Prepare a classroom that is sensitive to external stimuli (hearing, sight), physical space (mobility) and that considers general layout. (Bennett, p.4) This includes a clear line of sight for students, resources within comfortable reach, accommodate variations of hand grip size, minimal of “a plethora of other competing stimuli” (Education for All).
2. Simplicity – the instruction in an UDL classroom must be communicated clearly and appropriately.
Education for All captures this idea with one word: simplicity – communicate consistent expectations, scaffolding, provision effective feedback during and after tasks – again minimizing distractions. Whether using the four “common classroom strategies” (Learning for All) of cooperative learning, project-based approaches, problem-based approaches, or explicit construction – the parameters of these learning activities must be clearly expressed and understood by the students.
3. UDL presents challenging and achievable learning experiences suitable for each individual in the classroom.
It is up to the UDL teacher to provide clearly stated, “achievable challenges through a variety of flexible strategies or learning situations to meet the needs of the students in ways that are adapted to their skill level.” (Education for All). There is some connection here with the provision of “multiple means for engagement” in Learning for All and thereby allowing students to access the curriculum according to their interests and strengths.
4. The content and concepts of pedagogical materials must be accessible to all learning styles and approaches to learning.
Pedagogical materials, available to everyone, vary “in form”, “in level of difficulty”, and “in presentation” (Education for All). Learning for All uses these words: that UDL asks teachers to “provide for multiple means of representation” – this includes provision of variety in audio, visual information, multi media and technology use, and highlighting patterns and big ideas. This makes teaching and learning explicit, leaving no assumptions unexposed.
5. Students in an UDL classroom are presented with varied opportunities to communicate their knowing and understanding.
Education for All describes this as a “variety of student products.” Here, the teacher is expected to provide opportunity for students to express their learning in a format of their choice. This is part of differentiation in the classroom where consideration is given to respectful tasks, flexible grouping, and ongoing assessment and adjustment. Learning for All advises the UDL teacher to “provide for multiple means for action and expression” which would allow students to access varied ways to communicate their understanding.
Appropriate Pedagogy: 5 Classroom Management Strategies
How else do you balance the needs of the individual students and the needs of the learning community? Effective classroom management is essential:1. Be Proactive: always be a role model, build close relationships with your students, develop and understanding of your students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds, use common sense and be alert, link to students’ past experiences, & check for understanding. (from pp.37-8 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom)
2. Be Prepared: if every second counts of your time together, then be prepared for lessons and eliminate as much as possible the fuzzy, grey zones of fiddling with cables and remotes, shuffling through papers, loading streaming video, etc… This involves too planning transitions from one activity to the next. (from p.38 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom)
3. Be respectful, fair, honest, consistent and clear. Develop rules and routines together with the members of your learning community. Include character education in your planning. Reflect on your program and invite students to reflect on your program. (from pp.38-9 of Creating the Dynamic Classroom) As the .pdf on classroom management states: “Always treat students with dignity”
4. Student engagement arises from a trusting relationship, a supportive culture, and relevant topics.
5. Responsibility is more important than obedience (Glasser says this too… and restitution…)
Appropriate Pedagogy: Learning Stations
How can learning stations be a part of effective pedagogy and assessment?Learning stations allow students to work together in small groups.
While this states the obvious, this reason alone is a powerful incentive to implement learning stations in the junior classroom. These young people are at a formative stage in their lives, open to learning from their peers, so long as their social and emotional development is taken into consideration. Through experimentation, exploration, questioning, discussion and reflection students are given opportunity to share in the experience of discovery. They witness models of behavior, gain exposure to a variety of learning strategies, test their own ideas against those of peers, and engage in early leadership experiences.
Learning stations facilitate curricular integration.
Learning stations are by definition highly flexible. They can appear out of no where and they are bound only by the rules and expectations the teacher creates. The only limit to the curricular integration that can occur at learning stations is the imagination of the teacher (and maybe in some cases resources!).
Learning stations allow for differentiated learning.
When students are presented with choices, with access to the activity irrespective of their starting point, and with open-ended tasks where multiple strategies can lead to the outcome, then differentiated learning is optimized through learning stations. Teachers find themselves free to circulate and to target instruction to the individual needs of the students.
Learning stations allow for rich formative assessment.
As the teacher circulates and connects with the student learning, they also find opportunity to make anecdotal notes. Peer-assessment becomes an ideal option to prompt student communication and reflection in learning stations more than any other classroom situation. Self-assessment through learning stations can access not only reflection on curricular knowledge, skill, and concept goals, but also on student areas of learning development including communication, interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness.
Learning stations don’t work just because they’re called learning stations.
A word of caution in the implementation of learning stations: they demand careful organization and management. To provide student choice, varied activities, differentiated experiences, and relevant curricular connections it is not simply enough to dream up a group activity. Learning stations must be purposeful and carefully integrated into classroom routines. Explicit teaching of the intentions, the expectations, and the instructions must be in place in order for the student to be aware of why, how, and in what ways they are learning.
Appropriate Assessment and Evaluation: Principles of Assessment
Junior level teachers are responsible to their students and their parents and community to carry out engaging and relevant assessment throughout the academic year:Reflecting on the Seven Fundamental Principles of Assessment (Growing Success, page 6), here are three principles of assessment and evaluation clarified with practical ways of implementing them in the junior classroom:
“are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course”
-share assessment rubrics in print or electronic form at the start of the year
-share again to accompany summative (assessment of learning) assessment tasks
-post assessment rubrics (poster size) in class
-have students rewrite assessment criteria to be task specific
“are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning”
-create an academic year calendar that maps out assessment for learning timed according to units and indicating the nature of assessments being executed
-list the assessment strategies that are in your toolbox and make a note of each time they are used – why not post this in class and leave a few empty lines for the students to suggest new assessment options!
“provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement”
-if your school doesn't already have a policy for the timely sharing of assessment feedback, set your own (our school requires that we share results within the week)
-use an assessment journal where you write comments on student work and students reflect on the feedback – this acts as a record of the year’s learning.