Iowa Teaching Standards

Standard 2: Demonstrates competence in content knowledge appropriate to the teaching

position
Criteria b: Uses knowledge of student development to make learning experiences in the content
area meaningful and accessible for every student
Artifact: Observation Notes
Reflection: These observation notes have information sharing how my C.T. meets criteria b in
her classroom. The teacher will build lessons off of each other so students are growing stronger
in their understanding and learning and so they can retain what they learn. If the teacher sees that
a group of students is still struggling with a lesson, she can go back and reteach it to help
students understand better. This helps future lessons to be accessible for all students because they
have the prior knowledge on a learning goal. The teacher will not teach a lesson if she feels like
any student in the class has not mastered important skills to master the next lesson or task. My
C.T. also makes lessons and activities based off students interests and what the students want to
do. She makes sure that each student is given the opportunity to do an activity or task that they
enjoy. If a student loves to draw, the teacher will provide opportunities in a lesson for them to
draw. If a student loves sports, the teacher will make connections or relate certain problems or
activities to sports. This helps makes learning experiences meaningful to students because they
are connected to the lesson and helps them to better understand what they are learning. I
definitely want to use these skills in my classroom. It will help create a better learning
environment for every student.