Contexts of Development TIPR
Current Teacher Behavior
1. Describe how the teacher implements a consideration of the students' physical development and/or Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model into instruction, assessment, and/or procedures. What more could/should the teacher do in this regard? Provide specific examples.
To be honest, I haven't seen much consideration of this concept in any of the classes I've observed. Occasionally a teacher will acknowledge to students that they are part of a bigger unit as far as society and their communities? But I'm not sure if that's an example of this within the classroom or not really. This could also have to do with the fact that the school I've been at is quite homogeneous as far as its student body? So teachers can generalize a lot of their approach in this regard because most students come from similar cultural backgrounds as far as religion, race, ethnicity, family structure, etc. For physical development considerations, one of the teacher uses a Glade plug in to cover the typical body odor issues that can occur at this time of adolescence. One teacher was very lenient with students falling asleep in her class because she said teenagers are extra tired at this time of their lives. Beyond that, I haven't observed or heard mentioned anything else about special considerations.
edTPA Prep
What does the teacher do to learn more about students' personal, cultural, and community assets?
As mentioned before, the assumption that most students seem to come from the same background makes it seem like this aspect is very overlooked in my opinion. We know that is not true, and that even though most of the students appear "white", that means a variety of different things and their cultural backgrounds can still be quite diverse. The one part of student's lives I do hear teachers address has to do with their participation in extra-curricular activities, especially sports. They are frequently asked how their events went, and occasionally even allowed to present clips of their work to the class .This was the case for a student on the mountain biking team that brought a short clip of him riding over huge jumps. It was actually really nice to see the rest of that class celebrate his accomplishments.
How does the teacher incorporate those assets into instruction?
One example that comes to mind for this was in a history class I attended that had some free write time. One of the students that finishes quite quickly was allowed to play the guitar for the rest of the students as they finished their writing. The whole class really seemed to enjoy this background music, and I though it was very admirable of the teacher to not only have taken the time to find out about this talent, but also allow and even encourage its use within the class. Other examples I've seem in the past include student's sharing specific examples from living in another country, or having traveled there, with the class to complement instruction on the same topic.
How does the teacher use those assets to build relationships with students?
I think by highlighting and encouraging the sharing of these experiences and talents, the teacher is definitely able to bond with their students in deeper ways that just regular instruction and interaction. Not only does in fortify relationships between the teacher and highlighted student by making them feel acknowledged and appreciated, but it also allows the class as a whole to create a better classroom culture by valuing each other and what everyone has to offer. At the same time, it encourages other students to want to share their talents and accomplishments too because they know its a shared place where everyone celebrates each other.
How does the teacher demonstrate responsiveness to students with varied needs and backgrounds?
This is tough because it varies so much from teacher to teacher unfortunately. In some of the reading resource classes, the teacher is wonderful at responding to the many needs of the different IEP students. She is familiar with each of their individual situations, and ready with techniques to respond as needed to issues that might come up in class. For some students that are anxious about a drivers ed test, that might mean to allow them to opt out of the day's activity and do something else that's a little more relaxing. Some students just need to be able to move around more often, and the teacher seems to have worked out an understanding with the students to get this done in a minimally disruptive way. On the other hand, I've sat though classes where the teacher hasn't read though the IEPs to familiarize themselves with the needs of the students until a problem arises.
Student Needs
2. What are these students' needs with regard to the topics above? What more could or should be done?
In many ways this ties back into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for me. Students need to feel accepted and to belong, and teachers can do a lot to facilitate accomplishing that. Not only can they do that by how they treat individual students, and respecting and celebrating them as discussed previously, but by creating more awareness of how students fit into the bigger bio-ecological model of their lives. This awareness fosters feelings of belonging, but can also develop feeling of self-efficacy in respect to their roles within those spheres.
Plans for your Lesson
3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson to this class?
When teaching history, I think it can really help students to relate to the people and events from the past if I highlight the different systems that affected those people too, compared to the systems each of them belong too in their own lives.
1. Describe how the teacher implements a consideration of the students' physical development and/or Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model into instruction, assessment, and/or procedures. What more could/should the teacher do in this regard? Provide specific examples.
To be honest, I haven't seen much consideration of this concept in any of the classes I've observed. Occasionally a teacher will acknowledge to students that they are part of a bigger unit as far as society and their communities? But I'm not sure if that's an example of this within the classroom or not really. This could also have to do with the fact that the school I've been at is quite homogeneous as far as its student body? So teachers can generalize a lot of their approach in this regard because most students come from similar cultural backgrounds as far as religion, race, ethnicity, family structure, etc. For physical development considerations, one of the teacher uses a Glade plug in to cover the typical body odor issues that can occur at this time of adolescence. One teacher was very lenient with students falling asleep in her class because she said teenagers are extra tired at this time of their lives. Beyond that, I haven't observed or heard mentioned anything else about special considerations.
edTPA Prep
What does the teacher do to learn more about students' personal, cultural, and community assets?
As mentioned before, the assumption that most students seem to come from the same background makes it seem like this aspect is very overlooked in my opinion. We know that is not true, and that even though most of the students appear "white", that means a variety of different things and their cultural backgrounds can still be quite diverse. The one part of student's lives I do hear teachers address has to do with their participation in extra-curricular activities, especially sports. They are frequently asked how their events went, and occasionally even allowed to present clips of their work to the class .This was the case for a student on the mountain biking team that brought a short clip of him riding over huge jumps. It was actually really nice to see the rest of that class celebrate his accomplishments.
How does the teacher incorporate those assets into instruction?
One example that comes to mind for this was in a history class I attended that had some free write time. One of the students that finishes quite quickly was allowed to play the guitar for the rest of the students as they finished their writing. The whole class really seemed to enjoy this background music, and I though it was very admirable of the teacher to not only have taken the time to find out about this talent, but also allow and even encourage its use within the class. Other examples I've seem in the past include student's sharing specific examples from living in another country, or having traveled there, with the class to complement instruction on the same topic.
How does the teacher use those assets to build relationships with students?
I think by highlighting and encouraging the sharing of these experiences and talents, the teacher is definitely able to bond with their students in deeper ways that just regular instruction and interaction. Not only does in fortify relationships between the teacher and highlighted student by making them feel acknowledged and appreciated, but it also allows the class as a whole to create a better classroom culture by valuing each other and what everyone has to offer. At the same time, it encourages other students to want to share their talents and accomplishments too because they know its a shared place where everyone celebrates each other.
How does the teacher demonstrate responsiveness to students with varied needs and backgrounds?
This is tough because it varies so much from teacher to teacher unfortunately. In some of the reading resource classes, the teacher is wonderful at responding to the many needs of the different IEP students. She is familiar with each of their individual situations, and ready with techniques to respond as needed to issues that might come up in class. For some students that are anxious about a drivers ed test, that might mean to allow them to opt out of the day's activity and do something else that's a little more relaxing. Some students just need to be able to move around more often, and the teacher seems to have worked out an understanding with the students to get this done in a minimally disruptive way. On the other hand, I've sat though classes where the teacher hasn't read though the IEPs to familiarize themselves with the needs of the students until a problem arises.
Student Needs
2. What are these students' needs with regard to the topics above? What more could or should be done?
In many ways this ties back into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for me. Students need to feel accepted and to belong, and teachers can do a lot to facilitate accomplishing that. Not only can they do that by how they treat individual students, and respecting and celebrating them as discussed previously, but by creating more awareness of how students fit into the bigger bio-ecological model of their lives. This awareness fosters feelings of belonging, but can also develop feeling of self-efficacy in respect to their roles within those spheres.
Plans for your Lesson
3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson to this class?
When teaching history, I think it can really help students to relate to the people and events from the past if I highlight the different systems that affected those people too, compared to the systems each of them belong too in their own lives.
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