Link to Artifact:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ayhsonq-ZqbUcjjRW1Qs6euvZ7gkXV8CYHlPaD1yJ8E/edit?usp=sharing
Standard 2:
The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that allow each learner to reach their full potential.
Connection to Standard:
The artifact that I chose is most applicable to this reflection and goes hand-in-hand most similarly with standard two. This artifact is working with my fourth grade ELL student named Mousa. I chose this for my artifact because it accurately demonstrates the aspects that standard two consists of. For this artifact I am tasked with meeting with Mousa and helping him gain better writing skills. The way that I complete this task effectively is enhancing his learning through specified instruction and assisting him successfully and effectively while meeting standard two’s requirements, which is exactly what standard 2 is.
The topics we covered are aimed toward improving Mousa’s area of struggle, writing. Throughout our lessons we performed several tasks. Our first mini lesson entailed me instructing Mousa to write a short story about superheroes. I chose this as a topic for the assignment to start off with because Mousa likes superheroes which makes it easier for him to be interested and engaged in our lesson. The methodology and choosing of this topic as a first assignment applies to several of standard two’s aspects. This follows the guidelines standard two requires because it is designed to build skills while working off of Mousa’s prior knowledge. Which also allows Mousa to demonstrate a basis of his skills so I know what adjustments to make in my lesson plan. Specifically, this lesson applies to parts 2a, 2c, 2g, and 2h in standard two. Later in this lesson after we had a good amount of information about superheroes, I walked Mousa through his writing and focused our attention on areas that more detail can be written. This is very beneficial for Mousa because it is an effective way of introducing him to incorporate more details such as specific details about who the superhero is rather than simply what his name is. For example, if Mousa said, “I like Superman”, I would walk him through how to explain why or what Mousa likes about Superman leading to why he likes him; such as, “I like how Superman has super strength and has the ability to fly”. Following this, for the next lesson I worked with Mousa by going through what he had written and worked on capitalization. For this I used an example he had written containing examples of proper capitalization and compared it to an example he wrote that had improper capitalization. This is where part 2b in standard two occurs. Throughout the mini lessons I had with Mousa, I proceeded slowly with an open mind and clear goals that I would like for us to accomplish. My end goal of course is to have Mousa gain more writing skills that make his writing more accurate and more detailed. I made sure to get Mousa thinking and working with a topic he enjoys to allow him to connect to his work and make it easier to understand and process. Choosing this topic for Mousa to focus on does exactly what standard two targets to achieve, which is using individual differences to ensure inclusive learning environments allowing for the individual to reach his full potential.
What I Learned:
Working with Mousa was a great experience for me and allowed for me to focus on developing a lesson plan for one student instead of a classroom of students. This makes it much easier for me to focus all of my attention on one specific area of instruction for only one student. Moreover, given that Mousa is an ELL student, he requires more specified instruction in certain skills he struggles with. This is a very exciting experience and requires me to work with him and make adjustments in the lessons according to Mousa and his needs. My overall goal is to make the most progress with Mousa and improve his skills in his areas of struggle. I successfully accomplished this by following standard two and using his strengths to enhance his weaknesses. I learned a great deal of information from this. I learned first hand a brief introduction to what helping a student struggling in a specific area is like, while also testing my skills and knowledge in a one-on-one setting. This also taught me that I enjoy this teaching situation and am even more looking forward to beginning my career. In addition to this I also had the opportunity to apply my knowledge of standard two to a real life situation which allowed me to gain more of an understanding of how to go about incorporating this standard into my teachings.
