Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development.
When I first began the EDUC 490 practicum, my lesson plans were vague. I had an idea of what I wanted to do that day, but no real structure for how I was going to get it done. The first few lessons I taught were still effective enough to get the message across, but I know they did not reach the ears of all my students. I had not done enough planning to be able to meet the needs of all my learners. I had a highly diverse group in each class I taught and learning how to reach all of them was something I had to learn quickly.
Working with my coaching teacher, I was able to get a much better handle on how to plan and assess where my students were at in terms of understanding. I began to really break down the teacher and student activities into smaller chunks so I wouldn’t skip over anything or miss an opportunity for students to ask clarifying questions. My lesson plans began to develop into something much more specific to the needs of the actual students I was teaching instead of an imaginary group of students that were all around the same skill level. I was able to create a more inclusive classroom environment and make my instruction more effective by implementing stronger planning and assessment strategies.
In the future, I will continue to consider the needs and abilities of all my students when I am planning my instruction and assessments. I want to continue to learn new teaching and assessment strategies to implement into my teaching practice. My goal is to continue to create a respectful learning environment while meeting the needs of all the diverse learners in my classes.
This is the lesson plan I created for one of the most successful days in my EDUC 490 practicum.