Domain 1: Planning and Preparation
Domain 1 of Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Professional Practice is the Planning and Preparation Domain. In this domain, a teacher reflects on his or her organization and development of instruction. A teacher must be able to demonstrate knowledge of content and pedagogy, students, resources, coherent instruction, assessing student learning, and selecting instructional goals. Planning is a massive component of the teaching profession. Without careful planning, the trajectory of the lessons and student learning can be skewed.
Component 1a:
Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
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Without goals, it is difficult to find direction. The students must be given a goal to help guide their learning throughout the lesson and even throughout the school year.
Artifact Description: On the side of the whiteboard I have a section taped off where I write the lessons' learning objectives for the day. I have a section for ELA, math, and writing (the three subject areas I teach). I try to color code the whiteboard markers to match the color of the supplies for that subject.
Artifact Analysis and Link to Domain: My learning objectives are 5th grade language appropriate and can be assessed through the activities in the lesson. The learning objectives are clearly stated and are aligned to the standards.
Reflection: Most of the time, the learning objectives are posted everyday. I need to get better about holding the students accountable and reading the objectives both before and after the lesson. I know that if I acknowledged the learning objectives more, my students might get more out of the lesson.
Artifact Description: On the side of the whiteboard I have a section taped off where I write the lessons' learning objectives for the day. I have a section for ELA, math, and writing (the three subject areas I teach). I try to color code the whiteboard markers to match the color of the supplies for that subject.
Artifact Analysis and Link to Domain: My learning objectives are 5th grade language appropriate and can be assessed through the activities in the lesson. The learning objectives are clearly stated and are aligned to the standards.
Reflection: Most of the time, the learning objectives are posted everyday. I need to get better about holding the students accountable and reading the objectives both before and after the lesson. I know that if I acknowledged the learning objectives more, my students might get more out of the lesson.
Component 1d: Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources
Knowledge of resources is so important as a teacher. It is important to have resources for classroom use, to extend or enrich the content, for yourself as a teacher, and for your students.
I showed this video to my students when we read the story, Mahalia Jackson. October 28, 2014.
Artifact Description: This YouTube video shows Mahalia Jackson sining at Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. This helped make the story real for the students and helped illustrate that Mahalia Jackson was a real person from history and that she was connected to a real, historical event.
Artifact Analysis and Link to Domain: This artifact helped bring Mahalia Jackson's story to life. It was a great way to make the connection to history and another historical figure (Martin Luther King Jr.). YouTube and other video websites are a great way to connect the content in the classroom to the real-world. The videos are also very engaging for students. Besides YouTube, I also use websites like Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, ReadWriteThink, and LearnZillion to get additional resources for my lessons.
Reflection: Finding resources can at times be overwhelming. Sometimes the resources are available in abundance, and other times, it requires an extensive search to find even a couple of resources. I use my colleagues, teammates, and clinical coach for additional resources as well. Building a collection of resources is extremely important throughout a teacher's career. You never know when you might need something.
Artifact Description: This YouTube video shows Mahalia Jackson sining at Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. This helped make the story real for the students and helped illustrate that Mahalia Jackson was a real person from history and that she was connected to a real, historical event.
Artifact Analysis and Link to Domain: This artifact helped bring Mahalia Jackson's story to life. It was a great way to make the connection to history and another historical figure (Martin Luther King Jr.). YouTube and other video websites are a great way to connect the content in the classroom to the real-world. The videos are also very engaging for students. Besides YouTube, I also use websites like Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, ReadWriteThink, and LearnZillion to get additional resources for my lessons.
Reflection: Finding resources can at times be overwhelming. Sometimes the resources are available in abundance, and other times, it requires an extensive search to find even a couple of resources. I use my colleagues, teammates, and clinical coach for additional resources as well. Building a collection of resources is extremely important throughout a teacher's career. You never know when you might need something.
Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction
Designing coherent instruction means creating instruction that flows well and is sequenced in a manner that is meaningful and beneficial to students. Without coherent instruction, lessons and units are disjointed and do not allow for optimal student learning. It is also important to make instruction coherent in that students are working in instructional groups that are appropriate to their skill level and needs.
Reflection: Coherent instruction is something I am continuing to improve within my classroom. I am hoping to move into a guided math model during my math block to better meet the needs of my students and allow them to be more engaged and challenged. Allowing students to work both at the 5th grade level independently, as well as having opportunities to stretch them to the next level, while still supporting those who need further instruction would be fabulous. I am seeing how many of my students are not having their needs met by a traditional whole-group method of instruction. I am excited to build a guided math model into my classroom. Elsewhere in my classroom, I also see coherent instruction in my Words Their Way groups. Students work with others who are in the same spelling stage for word study and they work through various lists within their spelling stage.
Reflection: Coherent instruction is something I am continuing to improve within my classroom. I am hoping to move into a guided math model during my math block to better meet the needs of my students and allow them to be more engaged and challenged. Allowing students to work both at the 5th grade level independently, as well as having opportunities to stretch them to the next level, while still supporting those who need further instruction would be fabulous. I am seeing how many of my students are not having their needs met by a traditional whole-group method of instruction. I am excited to build a guided math model into my classroom. Elsewhere in my classroom, I also see coherent instruction in my Words Their Way groups. Students work with others who are in the same spelling stage for word study and they work through various lists within their spelling stage.
Component 1f: Designing Student Assessment:
Student assessment is a necessary piece of teaching. Without assessment, it is virtually impossible to know where and how to proceed in your instruction and whether or not the students are understanding the material.
Reflection: Assessment is something I am continuing to improve and perfect. It is difficult to have so many things to assess and so little time to check them. I started spot checking homework assignments as the students complete their bell ringer activity in the morning. I record their score on my clipboard. I also use quick checks in math as the students solve problems using their whiteboards. The students show me their whiteboards, and I make note of which students are struggling and will often pull them to work as a small group during work time. In reading, I have conference notes for each student and the eIRLA to record student data to award points and assign power goals.
Reflection: Assessment is something I am continuing to improve and perfect. It is difficult to have so many things to assess and so little time to check them. I started spot checking homework assignments as the students complete their bell ringer activity in the morning. I record their score on my clipboard. I also use quick checks in math as the students solve problems using their whiteboards. The students show me their whiteboards, and I make note of which students are struggling and will often pull them to work as a small group during work time. In reading, I have conference notes for each student and the eIRLA to record student data to award points and assign power goals.
Goals and Alternatives:
1.) Continue to develop assessment strategies and techniques for both summative and formative assessments.
- Work with my clinical coach to develop more practical and efficient strategies.
- Work to obtain assessment everyday to have a better working knowledge of student understanding.
- Implement a guided math model during my math block, where students can work on some enrichment activities as well as the at-grade-level lesson content, and some students can have additional small group time with me.
- Observe guided math in action and work with colleagues and clinical coach to further develop this model and how it will look in my classroom.