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Reflective Statement for PTS 1 Brittany Granquist

Artifact: Problem-solving lesson plan

PTS 1. Content Knowledge: The competent teacher understands central


concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates
learning experiences that make content meaningful to all students.

1. Write a paragraph explaining your knowledge and understanding of the


standard-put the

standard in your own words.

I think that this standard wants me to recognize that in order to create learning experiences that

best meet the diverse needs of all students and make learning meaningful, I will need to be

knowledgeable of the content I plan to teach to my students and also analytic of the various

approaches, principles and theories related to teaching specific disciplines. This standard states

that competent teachers not only evaluate teaching resources and curriculum material, but also

apply various viewpoints and theories so to provide students with learning experiences that

maximize opportunities for students to make connections, use technology, and practice inquiry

skills.

2. Explain how the artifact you chose demonstrates your understanding and
application of the

standard.

The artifact I chose to demonstrate my understanding and application of the standard is a

problem-based lesson plan I created for my Curriculum and Instruction 432 class – Investigative

Approach to Elementary Mathematics Instruction. The assignment was to design a mathematics

lesson, focused on a grade level of interest, which teaches through problem solving, meaning,
students learn mathematics concepts by solving problems. Creating this lesson plan required me

to make myself an expert on the concept at hand – identifying and locating numbers on a

hundred number chart – and the strategies used to do so. I was adapting the lesson from the

Saxon curriculum, so I was forced to modify the lesson so that students had to use problem

solving strategies to learn, which allowed me to apply the following aspect of the standard:

“Understands the processes of inquiry central to the discipline.” In addition, the outline of the

lesson plan included a table in which I had to fill out the teacher initiated questions, the expected

students responses to those questions, and the reactions to student reactions I planned to use. In

doing so, I anticipated and adjusted for “common misunderstandings of the disciplines that

impede learning.”

3. A If the artifact has been used in your practice, reflect on how your
teaching will change in

the future to further meet the standard.

B. If the artifact has not been used in your practice, i.e., a class
assignment, reflect upon how

your teaching will be impacted by the assignment.

My teaching will be impacted by the assignment, because the assignment has allowed me to

study and apply aspects of pre-planning that are often overlooked. In the future, I plan to

consider how students may misinterpret content, and the questions I can ask and activities I can

include that will help to correct these misinterpretations. In being prepared in this way, I can best

meet the needs of all my students and provide a “variety of explanations and multiple

representations of concepts that capture key ideas to help students develop conceptual thinking.”

In addition, I am now able to see the importance not only of being aware of various learning
theories, principles, and debates, but also the importance of applying them to instruction and

evaluating their worth. The theory I worked with was “teaching through problem solving.” In

applying it to my instruction I was able to make an educated evaluation of its value in the

classroom.

4. Conclude with a paragraph discussing how you are more prepared to


Teach and Learn in a

Diverse Society as a result of satisfactorily meeting the standard.

A major aspect of this assignment was to include explicit English Language Learner strategies

into instruction so to best meet the needs of all learners, including those with linguistic barriers. I

included language objectives for the English Language Learners, and also included several

strategies including: think-pair-share, flexible grouping, encouraging code switching, translating

key terms, providing explicit vocabulary instruction, etc. In addition, I wrote several paragraphs

explaining the strategies used and my reasoning for doing so. This is one of the only lesson plans

I have written keeping in mind ELL accommodations, because I have yet to teach in a classroom

with ELLs. From having written this lesson, I feel prepared to teach and learn in a diverse

society.

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