Standard #8: Instructional Strategies
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
View all my artifacts aligned to InTASC 8
Reflections: Spring 2015
The teacher understands the thought processes associated with various types of learning and how these processes can be encouraged. These processes are then developed and put into use as appropriate strategies, for instructional use to achieve common goals. These processes require a wide variety of resources to engage in learning.
All through life, I have learned that communication is key. Communication is not just verbal; it can be facial expressions, signs, body language. Communication to me is what reinforces understanding. After spending so much time with children, I have noticed those little things like eye rolling, crossed arms, and nodding your head. When I see signs like that, I know my students are not engaging with me. In high school, each student was given their own personal iPad. Some teachers incorporated them in to class all of the time. I want to be one of those teachers. I have seen and been in the high-tech classrooms and I have realized that in the education you cannot run away from technology. I have always been a flexible person, if something does not work out, then I need to pull it back in adapt and retry. A teacher’s role and style is always changing and growing; I never stop bringing new trick into my bag to try.
As a teacher there will be so many periods of trial and error, it is all about experience. Each year some strategies will work and others will not; it is my job to discover the most appropriate strategies. This is a strength of mine, I love new opportunities. As a teacher I will treat each year as a new opportunity. A special education teacher must monitor progress of each student. In a case conference, I along with other teachers, and the student’s parents, will set benchmark goals. These goals will be how I instruct my classroom; I will continuously monitor my student’s progress of academics and how well they are adjusting to my instructions. Even though I am teacher, I believe that a student my possess the knowledge to teach a concept better. It will be my job to not only teach them, but to encourage and evaluate how my students take the opportunity to teach the class through presentations they will create and give.