Ruth Lopez-Castro

Competency 4.G Reflection

The purpose of this competency is to ensure candidates can apply a variety of strategies

to support all levels of language proficiency and engage students in higher level thinking skills. I

have achieved this competency by learning to differentiate instruction and individualized

instruction. There are two assignments that demonstrate my knowledge of this competency

and those are an assessment portfolio and a writing lesson plan.

I created a lesson unit and planned a variety of assessments to support all students

through different strategies and activities. I have included a screenshot of a chart I created to

understand each level of knowledge students need to achieve the goals of the unit. In this chart

I explain the goals and standard within the different Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels 1 – 4

(created by Norman Webb). The first level is described as Recall & Reproduction, the second

level is Skills & Concepts, the third level is Strategic Thinking & Reasoning, and the last level is

Extended Thinking. Understanding these different levels allows me to create and differentiate

strategies to support students at all levels while challenging them to higher level thinking skills.

This evidence proves my ability to create an engaging and rich environment where students are

learning at higher levels. For example, I have chosen one standard and created goals based on

the DOK levels to continue increasing the difficulty. The DOK framework is very important

because as I follow this, I am giving my students the opportunity to challenge themselves while

gradually increasing the difficulty.

In the future as I create lessons, assignments, and assessments, I will include a chart

stating how I will specifically challenge ELLs and prepare for the different levels they may be at.
In this chart I would include goals based on their language proficiency that are attainable to

them. I will also include goals and activities that will push them academically. I want to

incorporate this because I know that there will be at least one ELL in my classroom, and I want

to be prepared to help them feel capable of performing at higher levels.

A writing lesson plan I created included various of activities. As I created the lesson, I

thought to myself in order to have an engaging lesson, I need to give students multiple forms of

assessments. I have learned that students learn from their peers and typically work best when

they are not working independently all day, because of this it was important for me to allow for

group work and independent work. Including this allows students to engage in a higher level of

thinking because they may use certain strategies while working independently but these

strategies may not always be beneficial during group work and therefore will have to challenge

themselves to think deeper. For this assignment I also included a worksheet for early finishers.

Doing this shows that I have thought how to challenge my students to challenge themselves to

think deeper. Doing this also helps keep students engaged as they are not sitting around just

waiting for more directions. If I were to present this lesson, I would like to find out each

student’s background and level so I can better determine and produce strategies that will

challenge each student but depending on their level.

I believe it is important to always give students the option of completing another

assignment/worksheet if they finish early. If this is only offered to some students, those who it

was not offered to may feel discouraged because the educator does not think they will finish

quickly. It is also important to remember that students need to be challenged at an appropriate

level in order to not hinder their learning. As an educator it is crucial and my job to remember
this to best support my students in higher level thinking. I will not set up a student for failure,

but I will challenge them to grow by thinking deeper.