Domain 3: Instruction 

3a. Communicating with Students

When communicating with students, it is imperative to communicate with ALL students, in any an all languages present in my classroom. My student teaching placement provided me the oppurtunity to instruct and meet many emerging bilingual students, specifically those whose first language is Spanish. Below are examples of how I communicated with my students in their native language; examples include daily agendas for classroom flow, and translated course content and assesments utilized during instruction, and a thank you note I wrote to them upon completing my student teaching internship.

Danielson in Action: Student Teaching Internship Evaluations

Below is an evaluation from cooperating teacher from my student teaching internship in regards to this component of Danielson.

3b. Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques

Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, I utilize questioning and discussion techniques to promote critical thinking in my classroom. Further, this engages students in higher-order thinking and supports students in deepening their understanding of the content, both inside and outside of the classrooms four walls. I utilized the chart below in order to scaffold lesson and unit planning, specifically through classroom learning objectives.

3c. Engaging Students in Learning

Using inquiry-based learning and collaborative learning strategies, my instruction actively engages students in learning. During my student teaching internship, I instructed a choreography unit where students explored social justice topics and artists of color through the poetry. Students chose lines from the poem “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet” by Joy Harjo. They chose lines of the poem that they resonated with; they used their poetry to create choreography, which was performed through movement and spoken word.

3d. Using Assessment in Instruction

Formative and summative assessments are important for measuring students’ understanding and growth. Throughout my student teaching, I utilized backwards design to create formative assessments that scaffold learning objectives based on the summative assessment for each unit. Below, you will find summative assessment rubric utilized during body positivity unit of study. This rubric aligned with both a choreographer’s checklist and reflection questions, also pictured below.