InTASC Standard 1: Learner Development “The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.”
Reflection: This standard emphasizes the importance of teacher’s respecting each learner’s differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each learner’s development. This standard was met when I began the poetry unit. After asking the students to do an evaluation of The Odyssey unit, I assessed the type of learning environment each student needed. Many students expressed that they really enjoyed group work and class discussions while at the same time other students felt they needed more individualized practice activities. With this knowledge going into the poetry unit, I was able to assess how to differentiate my lessons to accommodate for the varying learning styles and differences. The evaluation helped me to focus on learner development in our next unit which was poetry. In order to demonstrate my advocacy for this standard, which engaged the entire spectrum of learners (cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical) in classroom instruction, I provided an artifact of my lesson that introduced students to poetry. The lesson was a two day activity and demonstrates how I have deliberately designed a lesson that aligns with this standard. The activity accommodated for many learners. To begin, the poem was first read out loud as a class. We read the poem out loud together for the students who needed that structure and guidance with reading a poem. This also serves to help students who learn linguistically. For the cognitive learners, the students were then asked to answer discussion questions individually. This allowed time for those who need to think and process on their own the time to succeed in mastering the poem. Next, the students were told that they could work with a partner to discuss what they wrote and offer other possible interpretations of the poem. This accommodated for the social aspect of learning. Lastly, the class was brought together and asked to share what they talked about with their partners. The first day of the lesson integrated multiple learning styles and areas of development. The second day accommodated for the emotional and physical areas of learning development. We had a classroom debate on the meaning of the poem. (Typically, students think that the poem is either about an abusive father or a loving father). The classroom space assumed the place of a courtroom. The students were divided in half and placed the meaning of the poem on “trial”. This engaged many physical and emotional learners because it allowed students to be up and moving and express their thoughts in a different way. This was a very effective lesson because it was executed in a way that encompassed a variety of different learning patterns. Many different types of students were enthusiastic interpreting the meaning of the poem because each
individual student was able to feel successful in at least one aspect of the lesson. Every student’s needs were accounted for and considered when designing this lesson. I learned a lot from the design and effectiveness of this lesson. For one, because it was successful, it demonstrated to me how important this first standard is. My classroom became alive and engaged when I accommodated for the learning development of all students. Every student felt confident and challenged to succeed. This inspired me to continue designing lessons that would be versatile to all patterns of learning.
Artifact: Day 1 1. Pass out “My Pap’s Waltz Poem” by Theodore Roethke 2. Read the poem twice out loud. (I will read it once and then call upon a student to read) (5 min) 3. Read and explain all the discussion questions that are on the bottom of the poem. (3 min) 4. Have the students individually work on answering the questions (12 min) 5. Have the students work with a partner to discuss what they wrote for each question. (10 min) 6. Come together and discuss what the students wrote for each question. (15 min) o By the end of class, have the students determine what they think the meaning of the poem is: abusive father or loving father 7. Tell the students to come prepared to further discuss what the meaning of the poem is tomorrow! Day 2 1. Verbally explain debate rules (10 min): a. If you believe this poem is about an abusive father, stand to the left of the classroom. If you believe this poem is about a loving father stand to the right. b. Now imagine yourselves as lawyers. Your side will be defending what the meaning of the poem is. c. To do so, you need to come up with five pieces of textual evidence to support your claim. d. I want to hear from five different lawyers. e. I will be the “judge” and will grant each person permission to talk and rebuttal. 2. Class will divide up based on what side they are on. 3. Take 10 minutes to work together to find 5 pieces of textual evidence in which you will use to support your claim. 4. Activity (35 min) 5. After the debate, have the students take a seat. Explain that the real meaning of the poem is in fact about a loving father. Explain that with poetry, it can be
interpreted many different ways. And that with this unit, there will not always be one answer. (Although in this case there was)
