Content Reading and Study Strategies:

Artifact Description
The artifact I chose to include for this course was the handout I made
highlighting some essential components of the book Whats the Big Idea? by
Jim Burke. Burke has devoted his book to questioning strategies to use with
students, and supporting his work with research as well as his own daily
practice. Despite the fact that many examples in this book are geared more
toward high school level instruction, I was able to make many connections to
intermediate students as well. It was nice to read a book where I had to try
to adapt down a few grade levels instead of up from primary grades.

Professional Growth
I found this course to be stimulating and enjoyed the focus on upper
elementary, middle and high school teaching. Some of my own practices
were reinforced cooperative learning, the use of graphic organizers, and
vocabulary development but I also learned more about annotation and
interactive notes. The use of graphic organizers in writing is prevalent, but I
now know that they are effective with literature as well to help students
organize the ideas from a text to aid in organizing their own thinking. By
using such organizers, students can glean the important ideas from text.
Same goes for using essential questions. Fruitful discussions were had during
the class meetings, allowing for reflection on our own practice and the
integration of new ideas that other members of the class and the instructor
shared. I have learned that the essential question acts as a compass for
students so they can stay on track through the myriad of information they
may be exposed to while researching. As a result of this class, I have begun
to design lessons around content standards, determining the essential
question, then looking at literacy standards to ensure that my students are
mastering appropriate grade level content and beyond. I am better
equipped to scaffold learning for the diverse learners in my class, and have

moved away from a predominantly whole group model to even more

cooperative learning and inquiry circles.

Understanding and Application of Standards

INTASC #7 The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous
learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary
skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
WI # 7 Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons. The teacher organizes and plans
systematic instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, pupils, the community, and
curriculum goals.

By understanding the need for integration of content area skills instruction

and knowing my students, the standards above are exemplified in my daily
instruction and lesson planning. Being a responsive teacher and having a
toolkit of evidence-based instructional strategies allows my students to
achieve at higher levels. Collaborating with my colleagues, understanding
my students and their families, and knowing the academic standards my
students must master is also an important part of my lesson planning and
unit design.
INTASC # 8 The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to
encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections,
and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

In my classroom I try to use cooperative groups for much of our

introductory learning of new concepts. Students working together gain
more from one another and deepen their own understandings when having
to explain something to a peer. My students love to play teacher and vie
for a chance to facilitate group discussions. Our work is presented in a
variety of ways so that all learners can participate to the best of their
ability.

Impact on Student Learning

This course has helped me to add many new strategies to my instructional
toolkit and my students are definitely benefitting. We are using more

complex text in our classroom and students are beginning to choose the
graphic organizers that best help them organize new information. The
quality of work has improved as a result of more explicit teaching of study
skills and greater emphasis on interacting with content through discussions,
video, game creation, and other types of visual images. My struggling
students and limited English students seem to be benefitting the most and
are more gregarious in the classroom than they used to be. Students are
building their vocabulary through discussions, content-specific word walls,
and vocabulary games. In my own classroom, and as a coach, I have been
able to help teachers step back a bit to see that their students often can
figure things out independently, in small groups, and in pairs and how
this helps all students of all abilities take ownership of their learning.
Students are becoming more independent in using text features to help
them understand different text structures. They are becoming more
effective note takers and annotators, and are finally teaching one another
online search strategies. Allowing students ample practice with text and the
above mentioned skills is creating more critical thinkers and problem solvers
who see in themselves the ability to tackle challenges more independently