Standard 2: Instructional Design Clarity
Effective teachers preview classroom content, demonstrate clarity in how they organize and sequence instruction and effectively plan for learning and student engagement by:
- Content - Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of Utah Core Standards, communicating relevance of content, communicating clear pathways to student mastery and designing learning experiences aligned to clear learning intentions and success criteria.
- Learning Progression - Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of where students have been, where they are now and where they are going using strategically sequenced learning experiences aligned within and across grade levels.
- Instructional Planning - Planning high quality, personalized instructional activities that are informed by student progress data, provide multiple opportunities for students to reflect upon and assess their own growth and allow multiple opportunities and means for demonstration of competency.
- Engagement - Designing lessons and activities that actively engage students in their learning and use a variety of effective tools and strategies.
Reflection: I have always used the Utah Core Standards for Mathematics to guide my teaching. Ten years ago, when I began teaching, the common core standards were still new and fresh. The textbooks in the school were not aligned to the new standards, so the math department was still creating content and finding resources to use to align with the standards. I had great mentors who taught me how to read the standards and build lessons to teach the standards.
I have had the great fortune of teaching math at all levels from 6th grade through 10th grade Secondary Math 2, as well as an elective math course to high school seniors. I have done intervention groups for struggling 5th grade students and mentored 4th and 5th grade teachers. As a result, I have a thorough knowledge of the Utah Core Standards for 4th through 12th grade including the vertical alignment and progression of many topics in mathematics. This thorough knowledge has been invaluable to me when teaching many concepts to my students because I am better able to predict when students may struggle with certain topics and provide proper intervention and remediation as part of my instruction.
I teach four different classes including Math 7, Honors Math 7, Math 8, Honors Math 8 and keep my plans organized in a Google Calendar which I make available to students and families. This helps students know what topics are currently studied and how they relate to our future topics of study.
I try to work in as many hands on and engaging activities to motivate and inspire students to learn math concepts. When teaching probability to 7th grade students, I provide students with a variety of objects. They use the objects to create their own real-life tree diagrams and write their own probability problems for other students to solve. In 8th grade statistics, I do the Bungee Barbie activity in which students collect data by dropping Barbie dolls using different numbers of rubber bands to determine how many rubber bands will keep Barbie safe while giving her the thrill of a lifetime as she is dropped from the roof of the building.
I have had the great fortune of teaching math at all levels from 6th grade through 10th grade Secondary Math 2, as well as an elective math course to high school seniors. I have done intervention groups for struggling 5th grade students and mentored 4th and 5th grade teachers. As a result, I have a thorough knowledge of the Utah Core Standards for 4th through 12th grade including the vertical alignment and progression of many topics in mathematics. This thorough knowledge has been invaluable to me when teaching many concepts to my students because I am better able to predict when students may struggle with certain topics and provide proper intervention and remediation as part of my instruction.
I teach four different classes including Math 7, Honors Math 7, Math 8, Honors Math 8 and keep my plans organized in a Google Calendar which I make available to students and families. This helps students know what topics are currently studied and how they relate to our future topics of study.
I try to work in as many hands on and engaging activities to motivate and inspire students to learn math concepts. When teaching probability to 7th grade students, I provide students with a variety of objects. They use the objects to create their own real-life tree diagrams and write their own probability problems for other students to solve. In 8th grade statistics, I do the Bungee Barbie activity in which students collect data by dropping Barbie dolls using different numbers of rubber bands to determine how many rubber bands will keep Barbie safe while giving her the thrill of a lifetime as she is dropped from the roof of the building.
Below is a screenshot of my Google calendar used when planning for all classes.