INTASC+Principle+5


 * __Portfolio Reflection Artifact #5: Lesson Strategy II __**




 * Description of Artifact: ** This artifact is a lesson plan that emphasizes inferring and visualizing (APPENDIX C). The theme of this lesson plan is Facebook and its role in the uprising in Egypt. This lesson plan aims to expand students’ knowledge of civic and global issues through teaching strategies that integrate technology in connection to the global economy. Students are asked to locate, evaluate, and effectively use information to increase their information literacy skills. It also promotes collaboration other educators and connects students’ activities with real-world situations, with the purpose of socially engaging students.


 * ITASC Principle #1: ** Making content meaningful. The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.


 * ITASC Principle #3: ** Learning styles/diversity. The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.


 * ITASC Principle #4: ** Instructional strategies/problem solving. The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.


 * ITASC Principle #5: **Application of Content. The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.


 * ITASC Principle #6: **Communication/knowledge. The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.


 * ITASC Principle #10: **Interpersonal relationships. The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and wellbeing.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Explanation of How Artifact Demonstrates Achievement of Principles: **

<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students are asked to select articles, journals, videos and other sources and analyze the content and give explanation of what that information means in terms of inferring and visual context. Students are then asked to critically think about bias and translate what they see, hear, or read into their own words. This approach increases students’ information literacy skills by including activities that requires critical thinking skills through identifying data, locating that data, and using the data for proper use.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The current events in Egypt allow students to engage in learning that has an immediate impact on their lives. This is more likely to motivate students to participate in learning with increased interest. Technologies in this lesson includes: students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and learning abilities. It allows for differentiated instruction that gives all students equal ability to benefit from the social and instructional learning objectives.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Description of how the completion of this artifact has affected your understanding of teaching and learning, and/or how it may contribute to your effective teaching/learning in the future. **

<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This artifact has affected my understanding and learning by collaboration with other educators and implementing their ideas with my own. In creating this lesson plan, my partner and I allowed each other to be creative in how we wanted to use technology and reading strategies to emphasize social and global issues. I look forward to collaboration with other teachers in the future. There are limitless possibilities in putting together lesson plans that include other content areas.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Strengths: **<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">My ability to connect students with real world situations is a new tool that I have developed during this program. This new awareness gives me the opportunity to create more meaningful instruction that adds meaning to what students learn. Adolescents usually develop a social awareness during this period and I think adding activities with technology can motivate students to engage a subject (computer science) that has been stereotype as a boring and uninteresting learning experience.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Areas for Improvement: **<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This lesson plan can benefit from a few adjustments in grouping. The grouping seems to have too many students and should be decreased. This is due to my inexperience with in-class instruction. Time management may need adjusting to accommodate students with different needs. There is always other reading and writing strategies that may be more effective than the K. W. L. strategy suggested in this artifact. These improvements can be made as I gain more teaching experience.