Standard4

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**Standard 4** ** Teachers know how to teach. **  The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage children's development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

Evidence 1: Rationale 1: I developed this lesson in EDT 674 for my 9th grade World Geography class. The task of the lesson was to analyze the differences in 7 geographic regions of the United States. The students worked in a group and they were assigned a specific geographic region of the country. They researched the unique characteristics of their assigned region with respect to climate, culture, sights of interest, economic activities, history, and other topics. The students took the role of a person that was trying to persuade other people to live or visit their region. Their goal was primarily to promote their region from the standpoint of a quality of life standard. The final piece of production was given to the class in a variety of choices. Some students used Movie Maker to produce their final project, most used power point, some produced a paper brochure, and a few used Google.

One of the guidelines was to be creative. I was really pleased as to what some groups did with that guideline. Some students made regional recipes like crawfish gumbo and sourdough bread. Some groups highlighted their presentations with music, clips from movies/TV shows, and personal photos from students who visited sites in their regions. After the presentations, students ranked the regions as to the region they most wanted to visit/live. They did not rank their own and the region’s producers who received the highest rating received extra credit. Students were given a final grade based on their presentation from me and were given an individual grade based on their effort from their group peers. These were submitted confidentially to me.


 * 4.K.3 The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and technological resources (e.g. computers, audio-visual technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts, reference books, literature, and other print resources).**

Students were given a variety of websites that were comprehensive and appropriate. Final projects varied from student produced movies to Boston Cream pie. Students analyzed the book Huck Finn as a parallel to the development and history of their region.


 * 4.S.3 The teacher constantly monitoring and adjusting strategies in response to learner feedback.**

At the end of each research session, students are given a sheet to fill out and hand in. They are asked to summarize their progress for the day, identify any problems they encountered, and write down any questions they have for me.


 * 4.D.1 The teacher values the development of students’ critical thinking, independent problem solving, and performance capabilities.**

Most of the planning for the project is planned by the students themselves. They choose the direction of the project, divide up labor themselves, and decide on the medium of their final presentation. Each student has certain strengths that can’t be predicted by the teacher at the beginning of the assignment. Only the group of students can maximize the potential value of their peers’ strengths and interests.