The candidate 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, relevant, and rigorous learning experiences.
It is crucial for teacher to understand that not all students are the same or at the same point in development on concepts within the classroom. Teachers must be prepared and open to teach students of all cultures, ages, and situations. Every person grows and develops differently and at varying rates. No two people learn to speak or socialize at the same age and certainly no two people grow at the same physical rate. We must understand these differences and be able to adjust our teaching and lesson plans to create a as full of a learning environment for every student as possible.
Having an understand for this and an empathy for all students will be one of my biggest assets to my students in the classroom. I grew up with five siblings, four younger, and was able to watch the differences in our developments. I was able to watch my mom use several different techniques of parenting since I was the second kid out of six. Even though my mom implemented different strategies of teaching each of us, it did not make one kid more special or unique than the other. She loved all of us! As a teacher, we must understand that not all students are blanket solutions. This is a concept I have come to know well. I re-emphasized this knowledge when I started teaching private clarinet lessons. Some students learn much faster than other and need different strategies to learn. They all get there, but everyone's route is a little different.
One of the ways this concept of finding multiple ways to engage in content that can engage learners of all levels was when I worked on a piece called "Zombies Knocking at Your Door" by John Prescott with the 6th grade band I worked with. Not only was a novel piece like this engaging for the students, it gave me the chance to use a few different techniques of teaching to help students of all levels and learning styles engage in the content. Much of this piece utilizes the articulations exercise of staccato (short and separated) to aurally emphasize the idea of the zombies knocking.
To begin teaching the concepts of this piece, I used a method of relating the new concepts to materials they had already mastered (Reference the artifact #1, "Zombies Lesson 1/8/19" below). I found new ways of engaging in the materials of our piece through whiteboard exercises where I was able to assist visual learners and those students who work well with comparisons and contrasts made. The whiteboard exercises were also a way to challenge the compositional minded students in the class (Reference the artifact #2, "6th Grade Whiteboard Exercises). One of the exercises I used throughout this piece was a scale study called "Concentration Exercise" to work on articulations in regards to the piece (Reference artifact #1, "Zombies Lesson 1/8/19" and artifact #3, "Concentration Exercises").
From teaching this unit to the 6th grade class, I recognized the importance of having many ways to engage in material presented. Especially in 6th grade, students are at may variations of development and need several ways to interact with the material. Throughout the unit, I was able to get to know the students and figure out what they needed in order to learn and develop proficiency with the content at varying cognitive linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development. Thus, I was able to create several appropriate, relevant, and rigorous learning experiences.
Having an understand for this and an empathy for all students will be one of my biggest assets to my students in the classroom. I grew up with five siblings, four younger, and was able to watch the differences in our developments. I was able to watch my mom use several different techniques of parenting since I was the second kid out of six. Even though my mom implemented different strategies of teaching each of us, it did not make one kid more special or unique than the other. She loved all of us! As a teacher, we must understand that not all students are blanket solutions. This is a concept I have come to know well. I re-emphasized this knowledge when I started teaching private clarinet lessons. Some students learn much faster than other and need different strategies to learn. They all get there, but everyone's route is a little different.
One of the ways this concept of finding multiple ways to engage in content that can engage learners of all levels was when I worked on a piece called "Zombies Knocking at Your Door" by John Prescott with the 6th grade band I worked with. Not only was a novel piece like this engaging for the students, it gave me the chance to use a few different techniques of teaching to help students of all levels and learning styles engage in the content. Much of this piece utilizes the articulations exercise of staccato (short and separated) to aurally emphasize the idea of the zombies knocking.
To begin teaching the concepts of this piece, I used a method of relating the new concepts to materials they had already mastered (Reference the artifact #1, "Zombies Lesson 1/8/19" below). I found new ways of engaging in the materials of our piece through whiteboard exercises where I was able to assist visual learners and those students who work well with comparisons and contrasts made. The whiteboard exercises were also a way to challenge the compositional minded students in the class (Reference the artifact #2, "6th Grade Whiteboard Exercises). One of the exercises I used throughout this piece was a scale study called "Concentration Exercise" to work on articulations in regards to the piece (Reference artifact #1, "Zombies Lesson 1/8/19" and artifact #3, "Concentration Exercises").
From teaching this unit to the 6th grade class, I recognized the importance of having many ways to engage in material presented. Especially in 6th grade, students are at may variations of development and need several ways to interact with the material. Throughout the unit, I was able to get to know the students and figure out what they needed in order to learn and develop proficiency with the content at varying cognitive linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development. Thus, I was able to create several appropriate, relevant, and rigorous learning experiences.