InTasc #7
The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
Differentiated Review Day - Polygons
This was a differentiated review day before the unit test on polygons in Math 6. Student work was assessed for all students across three sections of Math 6 and each student was assigned to two stations to target specific skills and knowledge. The first station was on area of parallelograms, the second on area of triangles, and the third on perimeter of parallelograms and triangles. There was also a brief whole class review on congruency statements.
This review day demonstrates instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, pedagogy, and knowledge of learners. Knowledge of content areas and learners was used to determine the specific needs of each student based on their work throughout the unit, comparing what knowledge and skills students had displayed up to that point with what they were expected to do. Knowledge of learners’ needs and goals as described in IEPs and 504 plans was also used to determine which students would, for example, benefit from additional practice from physical manipulatives such as paper cutting. Knowledge of pedagogy informed the decision to design a differentiated review activity to better address each student's needs.
This was my first implemented review day as a student teacher and is a format I found was successful and used again. It also gives an opportunity to use different co-teaching methods when there are multiple adults in the room to assist with different stations. I enjoyed getting to work with the students in a smaller group setting and collaborating with my CT and co-teacher to facilitate each station.
TMfSJ 5E Lesson Plan
This is a 5E lesson plan to explore math concepts in the context of social justice. It is adapted from a lesson from Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice by Berry et al. That focuses on air quality and how it relates to median income in different zip codes. It addresses issues of inequity in air quality and household income. It also gives students an opportunity to apply the data cycle to understand these issues in their own communities.
This artifact shows how teachers can plan instruction that supports students in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon cross-disciplinary skills and the community context. The lesson plan crosses disciplines from math into sociology with the data collection of median household incomes by zip code and into environmental science and public health by addressing air quality and pollution. When students begin researching their own zip codes, they can learn about their own community as well as contribute their knowledge of their community when discussing what factors might contribute to the air quality or pollution in their area. All of this is done in a lesson that meets rigorous learning targets for use of the data cycle and graphing in the coordinate plane.
This lesson again makes the math very real to students and relevant to their lives. The cross-disciplinary nature of the content also helps to expose students to real disciplinary math work which frequently crosses over into other areas of study. The community aspect goes beyond math education into helping students understand their part in the world as active citizens rather than passive bystanders. They gain ownership over their community and the desire and tools to understand issues facing it and address them.
Advanced Math 6 - Chapter 6b Planning Document
This is a document used to begin planning Chapter 6b on quadrilaterals and dilations in Advanced Math 6. It begins with the standards being assessed followed by the learning targets to meet each standard. There is also a list of standards from prior and later courses that show vertical alignment across grade levels.
This artifact relates to planning instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon curriculum. It exhibits planning through the backwards design process, starting with standards and learning targets and filling in instruction to meet each one. The learning targets show rigorous goals that students are expected to meet by the time they take the unit assessment. All this draws on the curriculum which comes from the standards for Advanced Math 6 but also from standards for prior courses to inform requisite prior knowledge and later courses to inform long term goals. Being aware of what knowledge students are expected to know prior and after also helps to pinpoint learning gaps that need to be addressed to support every student.
The goal of the math teacher should always go beyond passing the common assessment unit tests and the end of year standardized test. It should include setting students up for success in the future in filling in gaps in prior knowledge. Attending to the vertical alignment helps to accomplish both goals by informing the learning targets and instruction. In the case of planning for a unit in Advanced Math 6 this is especially important because the students have essentially glossed over the Math 6 content which can lead to learning gaps and most will go on to advanced math courses in High school, making awareness of past and future standards even more important in planning.