Component 1b centers around teachers understanding and really knowing their students. Highly connected to Bronfenbrenner's theory of Ecological Systems, the component points out how students may have many other things occuring in their lives beside just schooling. It also covers the misconceptions or gaps students may have, and how it is part of the teacher's job to fill or correct these. It is important because it brings up the fact that a student's life does not sorely focus on school. By knowing that students have other responsibilities or issues occuring, the teacher can work to understand how to better teach them.
The first element is knowledge of child and adolescent development, which pertains to grasping the ideas of a child's psychological development when it comes to learning. Knowledge of the learning process covers the fact that students must be engaged intellectually in order to fully learn. Knowledge of students’ skills, knowledge, and language proficiency is understanding the lives students have beyond school and how well they succeed in the three areas. Next is knowledge of students’ interest and cultural heritage, which is about knowing the activities students take part in outside the classroom and what cultural background they may come from. Finally, knowledge of students’ special needs is what is says, it is about working with the special educators, knowing what students may need, and finding the best ways to help them succeed. I can implement this in my classroom by making an environment that is safe and comfortable for the students, this way they feel open and accepted when talking about their lives outside of school. Through constant memory work, I can recall important and defining aspects of the students in order to truly connect with them.
Artifacts:
Designing lesson plans that correspond to interests of the students
Designing lesson plans that take into account the different ways/levels of learning students having
Designing lesson plans for students that need accommodations or modifications
Student feedback forms on interests to tie into lessons
Charlotte Danielson, (2011). The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument. Retrieved from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_32.pdf