DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

Domain B: Assessing Student Learning Lara Landry National University

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

Abstract The following paper discusses the expectation of TPE Domain C: Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning. I discuss my competencies in this TPE Domain area and provide artifact to support my competencies. I include a literature review as my third artifact on the article Professional Development: Why Developmentally Appropriate Practice is Still Important. The review is posted as a hyperlink in the TPE Domain C page on my PDQP BLOG.

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

TPE Domain C: Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning includes TPE 4: Making Content Accessible, TPE 5: Student Engagement, TPE 6: Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices, and TPE 7: Teaching English Learners. I believe I meet the expectations of TPE 4: Making Content Accessible. I prioritize and sequence skills and strategies in a logical, coherent manner and I make content relative to students current level of achievement. I explain content clearly and reinforce content in multiple ways, such as the use of written and oral presentation, manipulatives, physical models, visual and performing arts, diagrams, non-verbal communication, and computer technology. I provide opportunities and adequate time for students to practice and apply what they have learned. I distinguish between conversational and academic language, and develop student skills in using and understanding academic language. I teach students strategies to read and comprehend a variety of texts and a variety of information sources. I model active listening in the classroom and encourage student creativity and imagination. I motivate students and encourage effort. When students do not understand content, I take the additional steps to foster access and comprehension for all learners. I also feel capable with keeping students engaged in the classroom, TPE 5: Student Engagement. I make sure my students understand objectives and academic goals. If students are struggling, I use strategies to re-engage them. I encourage my students to share their points of view and I try to make all content relevant. I like to have students engage in discussion by asking stimulating questions and challenging student ideas. TPE 6: Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices describes professional practices that are most commonly used and needed for students in each major phase of

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

schooling, grades K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. Because I am obtaining a multi-subject credential, only TPE 6A and 6B apply to me. TPE 6A covers developmentally appropriate practices in grades K-3, and TPE covers grades 4-8. Although I feel most confident with the older primary and middle school students, I feel confident I am capable of teaching K-3 grades as well. I realize with younger students academic activities must be designed to suit the attention span of young learners. I understand that instructional activities must connect with the childrens immediate world, draw on key content from more than one subject area, and include hands- on experiences and manipulatives that help students learn. I also understand the importance of modeling norms of social interactions like consideration, cooperation, responsibility, and empathy. I understand that some children hold nave understandings of the world around them and it is my job to provide educational experiences that help students develop more realistic expectations and understandings of their environment. Additionally, I know how to make special plans for students who require extra help in exercising self-control among their peers or who have exceptional needs or abilities. In regards to the older primary and middle school students, I realize my role to build on students' command of basic skills and understandings while providing intensive support for students who lack basic skills. I understand how to design learning activities to extend students concrete thinking and foster abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills. I love to help students develop learning strategies to cope with increasingly challenging academic curriculum and to assist students, as needed, in developing and practicing strategies for managing time and completing assignments. I develop students collaborative skills and build on peer relationships to maximize learning and support students in trying new roles and

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING responsibilities in the classroom. I support students taking of intellectual risks such as sharing ideas that may include errors. I am careful to distinguish between misbehavior and over-enthusiasm, and I can respond appropriately to students who are testing limits and students who alternatively assume and reject responsibility.

Teacher candidates are expected to show competency in TPE 7: Teaching English Learners as well. I feel that I am familiar with the philosophy, design, goals and characteristics of programs for English language development. I am able to implement an instructional program that facilitates English language development, including reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. I understand how and when to collaborate with specialists and para-educators to support English language development, and I know to select instructional materials and strategies based on appropriate assessment information to develop students' abilities to comprehend and produce in English. I understand the importance of using English that extends students' current level of development, yet is still comprehensible, and I understand how to analyze student errors in oral and written language in order to understand how to plan differentiated instruction. I understand how cognitive, pedagogical and individual factors affect students language acquisition, and I know to take these factors into account in planning lessons for English language development and for academic content. To demonstrate my competency in TPE Domain C, I have decided to include a webquest I created on The Effects of the Transcontinental Railroad. I am particularly proud of this assignment and feel it demonstrates my competency in making content accessible (TPE 4), engaging students (TPE 5), and developing appropriate teaching practices for 4th grade (TPE 6B). Simply by its format it is more engaging to students

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

than a traditional lesson. Students' creativity and imagination is encouraged by having them decide which effects of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad are the most significant and should therefore get the new exhibit at the Railroad Museum. Being faced with a real-life problem and having to come up with a solution to the problem is a very effective way of getting students engaged in a lesson or activity. It makes the lesson relevant by engaging in real world critical and creative thinking and problem solving. The webquest develops students collaborative skills and builds on peer relationships to maximize learning. Another artifact I decided to include for TPE Domain C is a differentiated lesson plan I created for sixth grade Earth science on Topographic and Geologic Maps. I feel this demonstrates my competency in TPE Domain C because of the multiple engaging activities within the lesson. The lesson meets the expectations of TPE 7 in that English Language Learners are accommodated. I draw upon information about students backgrounds by having students review topographic and contour maps of the regions their families are from. I chose this lesson too because it meets the needs of a diverse group of learners; avoidant, participative, competitive, collaborative, dependent, and independent. It engages student of all intelligences too. The variety of activities the students engage in allow for simple modifications to accommodate students at any level. I am also very proud of this lesson. For the literature review, I decided to include a review of an article called Professional Development: Why Developmentally Appropriate Practice is Still Important by T. Berry Brazelton, MD and Stanley I. Greenspan, MD. The article discusses how students master developmental tasks at very different paces and hurrying a child through

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

any stage can actually slow him or her down. The full review is posted on the TPE Domain C page on my PDQP BLOG.

DOMAIN B: ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

References Appendix a: The california teaching performance expectations (TPEs) (2008). Cal TPA: California Teaching Performance Assessment Candidate Handbook. Sacramento, CA: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Retrieved from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/tpa-files/candidatehandbookappendixa-tpes.pdf Brazelton, T. Berry MD, and Greenspan, Stanley I. MD. Professional Development: Why Developmentally Appropriate Practice is Still Important (2013). Scholastic: Early childhood today. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/professional-development-whydevelopmentally-appropriate-practice-still-important