Course Reflection: 4. Content Knowledge - The teacher uses content area knowledge, learning standards, appropriate pedagogy and resources to design and deliver curricula and instruction to impact student learning: 4.4 Designing Coherent Instruction in the area of Lesson and Unit Structure.

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.