Element 2

I have taught an array of lessons that demonstrate my ability to get to know my students after working with them for only a short time. I have also demonstrated an ability to alter my teaching practices as I got to know students and their needs in order to learn the subject content. The piece of evidence that I have chosen to support this element is a lesson plan which I taught to a kindergarten class. It demonstrates my use of simple, explicit instructions, differentiation, grouping, classroom management and positive reinforcement. My teaching strategies in this lesson allowed students to stay focused on the task and produce good quality work. This lesson demonstrated my improvement in developing quality teaching strategies to kindergarten.

I will learn all students’ names on this year’s practicum, by talking to students on my pre-practicum visit. I will also learn one thing about each student on this day. I will continue to demonstrate these effective classroom practices and will develop specific strategies to use with all other age levels.

I need to ask questions to the classroom teacher to understand more about each students’ background, ability level, behaviour and other important information. I need to continue to engage with the quality teaching document in order to be able to improve my practice.

I believe that differentiation in teaching is extremely important, hence the reason that I am aware of such policies as the Aboriginal Education policy, Anti-discrimination Act and Gifted and Talented policy documents. By having this knowledge, I believe I am able to implement a variety of teaching methods enabling students to learn the content.