Standard One

Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach. The elementary teacher is an expert in literacy and mathematics and is knowledgeable in all other content that he or she teachers (e.g., science, social studies, arts, physical education, or world languages). The secondary teacher has knowledge of literacy and mathematics and is an expert in his or her content endorsement area(s).

Element A: Teachers provide instruction that is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards, and their district’s organized plan of instruction.

Artifact: Lesson Plans from 2.8-2.12 | Grade K (Primary Placement)

Rationale: The preferred lesson plan template (and adaptation for the COVID-19 pandemic) from my mentor teacher has been to create our lesson plans in Google Sheets with each row denoting a Google Slide (and accompanying materials) to use in class. We use the Google Slides as visual/aural aides that enable students to both see and interact with the material in multiple modalities from a socially distanced seating arrangement. For the lesson plans 2.8-2.12, these were entrusted to me by my mentor teacher to be all of my own creation and implementation (of course with proper feedback and revision). This artifact showcases the scope and sequence of activities along with the requisite electronic resources required for each activity along with the skills/concepts associated with each activity. These are then translated into Google Slides as visual aides. Please reference Element B to see how these might be structured with a visual schedule and learning targets available for each activity within each slide.

Element B: Teachers develop and implement lessons that connect to a variety of content areas/disciplines and emphasize literacy and mathematical practices.

Artifact: Lessons Slides from Days 3 and 4 of Song-Writing Unit — Discussion and Venn Diagram on Major/Minor and Lyric Creation | Grades 4/5 (Primary Placement)

Rationale: Song-writing being an activity that intrinsically includes liturgical work, allowed me to help students understand and apply their previous knowledge in literary skill within music class. The artifact being presented here is the sequence and visual slides used within the lesson plan. On Day 3, we did a whole class discussion involving comparison/contrast of the same song simply in major vs. minor tonality. Students were prompted to discuss what they noticed with peers before offering their notes to the board. You will notice some of these notes still within the slide (these are not all of what was written as the SmartBoard was also used). Students had to use abstract thinking as well as critical reasoning to parsimoniously express what they heard, felt, and noticed of each aural example in a literary context (with prompt provided by me, of course). On Day 4, students were led through the process of writing lyrics. In this activity, we discussed rhyme scheme, syllable usage as it relates to meter, and metaphorical content in the process of writing music. We practiced this as a class via a Mad Libs example, and they then applied this to their own song-writing packets in small-groups or individually.

Element C: Teachers demonstrate knowledge of the content, central concepts, inquiry, appropriate evidence-based instructional practices, and specialized characteristics of the disciplines being taught.

Artifact: Secondary Lesson Plan (7th Grade - 6.2) | Secondary Placement

Rationale: This lesson plan demonstrates the utilization of multiple learning sequences amidst one class period. Using transfer theory as the basis for how these sequences were structured, my plan was to use learning tools to take them through exercises that they could then apply those concepts to challenging parts of the repertoire. In doing so, I display my ability to break concepts down into smaller pieces and reassemble them through the sequence. Additionally, my content knowledge is on full display as I transpose and create this material in real time (in 1st period, not 5th period which is where the observation video was taken).

Overall Reflection on This Standard

I feel strongly accomplished in my content area. While there is still much for me to learn, to master, and to gain experience with teaching at all (ex. piano, guitar, non-traditional music classes, etc.), I feel like I am a strong enough musician to be able to figure it out and be teachable… both to myself and to learn from others. Literacy is something I feel comfortable incorporating into music. I find that it is a natural thought extension from musical learning. Mathematics is still something in which I can improve upon incorporating. It is slightly less natural; however, I feel like the logical processes behind breaking something down and then reassembling can be related to how one might go about solving a complex math problem. This though, could be a little more naturally added to my teaching and is something I look towards attempting to figure out in the future.