Planning and Instruction/

Implementation

 

 

 

 

                                                                             Effective teachers are able to plan and implement effective, developmentally                                                                                   appropriate lessons and curricula based upon sound principles of content                                                                                             knowledge and skill development. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Although it is true that you cannot predict everything that might happen in the course of a lesson (teaching, after all, requires flexibility and momentary decisions), it is incumbent upon each educator to attempt to anticipate whatever may go right or wrong in his or her class. In preparation for this, I refer to the research in order to examine the issues about student prior conceptions. I seek out the expertise of those who are well versed in best practice regarding pedagogical techniques, flow of content, and the most effective means in addressing students’ prior learning (e.g., erroneous preconceptions). The research continually points to the need for engagement and motivation for successful student learning. Throughout my student teaching placements, I have actively referred to the AAAS assessment bank. This bank provides many biological conceptual questions that highlight student prior knowledge and possible misconceptions. It also provides the data representative of students in different age groups regarding how they typically answer the questions. This has been a helpful resource to identify where students at a particular age group need additional support.

 

Throughout my planning, I make certain that students are able to effect authentic connections between the content and its application to their lives. Science surrounds us daily; therefore, it is my greatest goal for my students to appreciate and engage in their environment as a means of understanding and appreciating the world around them.

 

Because student learning varies greatly from one youngster to another, it is a priority of mine to incorporate multiple modalities of learning into my classroom. Our students have grown up in an age of technology. They do not have memories of what life was like without Smartphones or the Internet at our fingertips. Consequently, it is our responsibility, as teachers, to meet our students in their world. Bringing science content into this generation requires an emphasis on technology, film, photographs and subsequent assessment of media literacy.

 

I aspire to bring authentic science into my classroom daily. All too often, students compartmentalize their learning; they believe that science does not relate to English or social studies. This could not be further from the truth, for science is a discipline that is rooted in creativity, active thinking, and reliance upon good questioners. Effective lessons are inquiry based, student-centered and driven by the questions generated by students themselves. During my first student teaching placement, I incorporated a project-based unit. Students had been investigating the effects of marine pollution in a variety of facets prior to the final assessment. They examined research-quality right whale photographs for whale identifications, tabulated components of albatross boluses, and reported their findings through small group data analysis. The unit culminated in my students creating an infograph that would alert the community regarding the detrimental effects of plastic pollution on marine life. Student projects were displayed throughout the school and the town library. They included their own research findings through the bolus dissection on the infograph. Students had the freedom to make infographs through websites, posters, skits and videos. The results were astonishing.

 

Most importantly, focusing on the needs of my students is my number one concern while planning thoughtful lessons. Establishing prior knowledge informs and guides my plans so that I may anticipate where students require additional scaffolding.  Impromptu adjustments are constantly made as a result. As previously mentioned, it is impossible to plan for everything that might happen in a classroom; however, understanding the needs of my students and evaluating their ability to engage, comprehend, and question, provides me with the necessary feedback to assess their learning and execute the next step.

 

In all of my lessons, I am also sure to incorporate a multitude of formative assessments—both whole class and individual (see artifact 3 below)—so that I am able to make the aforementioned impromptu decisions that teaching requires.