Standard 1: Learner Development
The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
Learner Development is about recognizing where a student is at in terms of their development and then giving them the tools necessary to master familiar skills and practice new skills. Through assessments, both formal and informal, a child's development in cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas are examined and then activities are planned that address the skill level the student is at in a manner that they will be successful.
When I work with my students I try to recognize that each one of them is at a different point in their development. Even students who may appear to be fairly similar in reading level or math performance, have unique areas of need and therefore the supports that I offer to that student will differ as well. This carries over to how I support a student day to day as well. For some of my students I have learned that in order to promote growth in a variety of areas, there are situations in which the support I may have offered the student in a previous situation is no longer what that student needs. Therefore, I am continually analyzing and reflecting upon the patterns of development my students are in and considering what that student needs to continue to grow and develop.
In the Early ACCESS, the clearest way for me to understand learner development was to look at what "typical" development patterns were for children, examine it in comparison to where the student was at, and utilize that information to help me assess what the next natural step in development was for that student. This is reflected in my first two artifacts. The first artifact is a developmental chart. This is a chart that I used not so much as a reference to determine where a child should be at, but to look at what skills were typically developing around the same time and what skills preceded others in the developmental pattern. This allowed me to more carefully consider my goals for my student and to plan for the next step in the intervention. These observations can be seen in my IFSP log for one of my students which is my second artifact.
Moving into the elementary setting I take a very similar approach to how I examine learning patterns. I carefully consider where each of my students is at. This means looking beyond text levels or math performance level, and really uncovering what skills each student has and what skills they need to develop next. Then, when I work in large group I target the skills the majority of my students will need to develop, and then use my small group times to really target the skills students need on an individual level. This can be clearly seen in my small group plan of my math lessons. This is my third artifact. The lesson plan highlights that my lower level groups who need more support with new concepts have the information introduced once and then explored in a small group setting. Therefore, they are allowed to explore concepts which is consistent with the Cognitively Guided Inquiry (CGI) math instruction method, but are given scaffolding to build confidence and reinforce the essential math skills they haven't mastered yet. Then, for my upper level groups, they have the content introduced at a general level in large group instruction and then are allowed to fully explore it on an individual basis or with a partner before we check it as a small group. This allows for me to present more extension materials to my more advanced students and to promote more independence with the topic based on where they are at in the developmental learning process.
These artifacts demonstrate my ability to recognize developmental patterns in my style and to apply them to my lesson planing. Through my student teaching I have expanded my ability to utilize strategies to promote growth across the developmental areas.
When I work with my students I try to recognize that each one of them is at a different point in their development. Even students who may appear to be fairly similar in reading level or math performance, have unique areas of need and therefore the supports that I offer to that student will differ as well. This carries over to how I support a student day to day as well. For some of my students I have learned that in order to promote growth in a variety of areas, there are situations in which the support I may have offered the student in a previous situation is no longer what that student needs. Therefore, I am continually analyzing and reflecting upon the patterns of development my students are in and considering what that student needs to continue to grow and develop.
In the Early ACCESS, the clearest way for me to understand learner development was to look at what "typical" development patterns were for children, examine it in comparison to where the student was at, and utilize that information to help me assess what the next natural step in development was for that student. This is reflected in my first two artifacts. The first artifact is a developmental chart. This is a chart that I used not so much as a reference to determine where a child should be at, but to look at what skills were typically developing around the same time and what skills preceded others in the developmental pattern. This allowed me to more carefully consider my goals for my student and to plan for the next step in the intervention. These observations can be seen in my IFSP log for one of my students which is my second artifact.
Moving into the elementary setting I take a very similar approach to how I examine learning patterns. I carefully consider where each of my students is at. This means looking beyond text levels or math performance level, and really uncovering what skills each student has and what skills they need to develop next. Then, when I work in large group I target the skills the majority of my students will need to develop, and then use my small group times to really target the skills students need on an individual level. This can be clearly seen in my small group plan of my math lessons. This is my third artifact. The lesson plan highlights that my lower level groups who need more support with new concepts have the information introduced once and then explored in a small group setting. Therefore, they are allowed to explore concepts which is consistent with the Cognitively Guided Inquiry (CGI) math instruction method, but are given scaffolding to build confidence and reinforce the essential math skills they haven't mastered yet. Then, for my upper level groups, they have the content introduced at a general level in large group instruction and then are allowed to fully explore it on an individual basis or with a partner before we check it as a small group. This allows for me to present more extension materials to my more advanced students and to promote more independence with the topic based on where they are at in the developmental learning process.
These artifacts demonstrate my ability to recognize developmental patterns in my style and to apply them to my lesson planing. Through my student teaching I have expanded my ability to utilize strategies to promote growth across the developmental areas.