Dhagat 1

Sandeep Dhagat
Professor Suk
EDUC 230-01 Education Field Experience
Fall 2017
Rationale Statement-Standard #4

Standard Four: Content Knowledge

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or
she teaches, particularly as they relate to the Common Core Standards and the New Jersey Core
Curriculum Content Standards and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the
discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content (NJ Professional
Standards for Teachers, 2014, p. 5).

Artifact: Demo Lesson

Date of Completion: October 5th, 2017 (Fall 2017)
Course Completed in: EDUC-230 Education Field Experience

Rationale Statement:
In order to gain practical experience in implementing a lesson plan, this artifact involved demoing
an actual lesson in front of and with my peers. The demo was required to have a hook, content-driven
middle, wrap-up activity, and assessable objective. During and following the demo, my peers created a
stars and wishes sheet to provide feedback on my performance to help better inform me of the
strengths and weaknesses of my demonstration. The student-objective for this lesson was to have them
measure their ecological footprint using an online calculator and analyze their impact relative to national
and global figures.
The design and implementation of the lesson was meant to demonstrate my ability to use
supplementary resources and technologies effectively to ensure accessibility and relevance for all
learners (NJ Professional Standards for Teachers 4.i.7, 2014, p. 5). Recognizing that students respond
differently to different mediums of learning, prospective teachers need to be comfortable using a wide-
range of resources to effectively teach. The online ecological footprint calculator helped make the issue
of environmental sustainability local and personal to the individual students, to confront them with
potentially scary data, and to give them tools to understand potential solutions to implement within their
own lives. In addition, in my pre-planning phase for this lesson, the topic and simulation seemed to be a
good platform and starting point to discuss how social and economic issues are related to the
environment. In other words, this lesson could have been expanded within the curriculum of Ecosystems:
Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics to discuss issues related to environmental inequality and
environmental justice.
During the actual demo and after reading the constructive comments provided by my peers, two
important realizations struck me. One, balancing a rigorous lesson, a time constraint, and the differing
needs of students can be incredibly challenging. I managed to finish about half of my original lesson due
to underestimating student interest in the simulation portion and not properly accounting for transition
periods. Second, using a blend of technology and traditional lecture seems to enhance student
engagement, understanding, and total content discussed. I was glad that the format I chose allowed me
 Dhagat 2

to delve into a lot of key concepts and themes, while also keeping students interested in what they were
learning, which was reflected in many of the comments provided by my peers. Overall, this lesson demo
provided me informative reflections about how I should structure lessons in an actual classroom with
regards to using technology resources and managing time effectively.

Reference

Professional Development in New Jersey. (2014, August 4). Retrieved from New Jersey State Department
of Education:
http://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/teacherstandardscrosswalk.pdf