I came into EDU6150 with some prior knowledge and experience
in regards to teaching my content knowledge as well as some basic familiarity
with common core learning standards. I have come away with, after being fully immersed
in this class, a far better understanding of how to be more prepared and loaded
with a vast array and arsenal of applicable pedagogy and resources that will be
highly beneficial in my pursuit of effective instruction inside of the
classroom.
This class gave me the opportunity to take a closer look at my
lesson design and how I can be more aware of how it can be structured in a manner
that is far more conducive and advantageous for both me as teacher as well all
of my students. I learned about how to utilize explicit instruction and how to facilitate
content so that it can be manipulated so that is more tangible for students as
well as creating alternative resources for my exceptional learners. I found out
about the importance educational equity and how it plays a vital role pertaining
to student involvement and the active engagement of student learning. I was gifted
another key component of teaching which is how to select from a plethora of instructional practices and then
incorporate these in a manner that not only deepens student knowledge and demonstrates
their
newly acquired skill but also it made me reassess how I come to understand
assessment.
(This is authentic evidence of a lesson plan that I reassessed and reformatted so that the assessment of lesson could be actualized and used to dictate the direction of my next step in the future of my instruction.)
I begin to realize, appreciate and comprehend more about the
nuts and bolts of backwards lesson design and why it is so vital to the lesson
planning structure. The rational for using this method while seems very
backwards in its thinking is actually a technique that can ensure that the
lesson is more sound it’s in ability to provide more accurate and sufficient data
for a lessons effectiveness, permanence and relative associativeness. The class
also allowed me to differentiate a lessons’ intent and purposefulness in a
perspective that I wasn’t aware existed or realized could be even be a possibility.
The opportunity to discern between assessments in these various ways opened up
a way for me to actively self-evaluate and diagnose student learning. I believe
by getting a better grasp of how to employ different methods of informally
checking in on whether or not student knowledge has been ascertained was another
skilled I learned to equip myself with to help me impact student learning in a more proactive approach.
