T.O.C. by National Board
Certification Standards
Mini Lessons
Context:
These Mini Lessons were created for RE 5130, Teaching the Language Arts. They were designed to be a short precise lesson that taught a specific skill as part of a writing lesson. After discussion in class and having an enthusiastic professor, this concept was sent to a magazine publisher for consideration.
Impact:
Creating these lessons opened my eyes to a somewhat different approach to teaching English skills. Students liked this way better and remembered the intended skills better than the traditional way I was teaching. These models have been widely used since creating them and more have been added.
National Board Standards:
1.Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
Accomplished teachers are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all students. They act on the belief that all students can learn. They treat students equitably, recognizing the individual differences that distinguish one student from another and taking account of these differences in their practice. They adjust their practice based on observation and knowledge of their students' interests, abilities, skills, knowledge, family circumstances and peer relationships.
Accomplished teachers understand how students develop and learn. They
incorporate the prevailing theories of cognition and intelligence in their
practice. They are aware of the influence of context and culture on behavior.
They develop students' cognitive capacity and their respect for learning.
Equally important, they foster students' self-esteem, motivation, character,
civic responsibility and their respect for individual, cultural, religious
and racial differences.
2.Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
Accomplished teachers have a rich understanding of the subject(s) they teach and appreciate how knowledge in their subject is created, organized, linked to other disciplines and applied to real-world settings. While faithfully representing the collective wisdom of our culture and upholding the value of disciplinary knowledge, they also develop the critical and analytical capacities of their students.
Accomplished teachers command specialized knowledge of how to convey
and reveal subject matter to students. They are aware of the preconceptions
and background knowledge that students typically bring to each subject
and of strategies and instructional materials that can be of assistance.
They understand where difficulties are likely to arise and modify their
practice accordingly. Their instructional repertoire allows them to create
multiple paths to the subjects they teach, and they are adept at teaching
students how to pose and solve their own problems.
3.Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
Accomplished teachers create, enrich, maintain and alter instructional settings to capture and sustain the interest of their students and to make the most effective use of time. They also are adept at engaging students and adults to assist their teaching and at enlisting their colleagues' knowledge and expertise to complement their own. Accomplished teachers command a range of generic instructional techniques, know when each is appropriate and can implement them as needed. They are as aware of ineffectual or damaging practice as they are devoted to elegant practice.
They know how to engage groups of students to ensure a disciplined learning environment, and how to organize instruction to allow the schools' goals for students to be met. They are adept at setting norms for social interaction among students and between students and teachers. They understand how to motivate students to learn and how to maintain their interest even in the face of temporary failure.
Accomplished teachers can assess the progress of individual students
as well as that of the class as a whole. They employ multiple methods for
measuring student growth and understanding and can clearly explain student
performance to parents.
4.Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
Accomplished teachers are models of educated persons, exemplifying the virtues they seek to inspire in students -- curiosity, tolerance, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity and appreciation of cultural differences -- and the capacities that are prerequisites for intellectual growth: the ability to reason and take multiple perspectives to be creative and take risks, and to adopt an experimental and problem-solving orientation.
Accomplished teachers draw on their knowledge of human development, subject matter and instruction, and their understanding of their students to make principled judgments about sound practice. Their decisions are not only grounded in the literature, but also in their experience. They engage in lifelong learning which they seek to encourage in their students.
Striving to strengthen their teaching, accomplished teachers critically examine their practice, seek to expand their repertoire, deepen their knowledge, sharpen their judgment and adapt their teaching to new findings, ideas and theories.