Standard #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.
The artifact that connects to standard five is the literary archive. This artifact helps teachers understand how to connect history concepts by using different picture books to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues. This artifact connects to standard five because it educates teachers on how to use picture books to create a lesson that connects to authentic local and global issues. It helps teachers learn how to teach their students about history topics such as Thanksgiving or the Revolutionary War at a young age. The literary archive gives examples of books that all take on a different perspectives. It allows students to be creative when it comes to completing activities that go along with the reading. This also connects to the standard because the teachers are able to be creative when it comes to picking out story books and creating lessons that go along with each book. The literary archive introduces students to authentic local and global issues that requires them to collaboratively think of ideas to problem solve.
This artifact expands my pedagogical knowledge and will improve my future practice as an educator. This assignment allowed me to see how important it is to connect topics using different perspectives in order to engage learners. This assignment allowed me to discover books that can be integrated into a lesson to teach children about authentic local and global issues. In my future practice as an educator, I will be able to use these books in order to allow my students to be creative, think critically, and focus on collaborative problem solving.
The artifact that connects to standard five is the earth and space science unit outline. The artifact helps teachers understand how to connect concepts and use different perspectives to engage students in critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity. The earth and space unit outline allows us to get a better understanding of how to connect concepts using different perspectives. Within the unit outline, science standards were connected to reading and writing standards. The science, reading, and writing standards help connect different concepts through different perspectives. Science is taught to students through reading and writing at elementary school levels. Students may be more engaged in science than in reading and writing. When connecting science standards to reading and writing standards, it may allow students to engage more in critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity. The unit outline also provides lesson plans to help teach students science standards through different activities. It is helpful for teachers to have lesson plans planned out, so that they connect concepts through different standards. For example, one of the lesson plans is based on a writing standard but it allows students to create a research project about different landforms and bodies of water. This allows students to use different instructional strategies in order to learn a science standard. Having lesson plans also allows teachers to understand how to engage students in critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity. The lesson plans offer teachers and students different activities that are planned and use different learning techniques . Within the unit outline, the summative assessment also allows teachers to connect concepts using different strategies. The summative assessment in the unit outline consists of a clay model of landforms and bodies of water. Students are also expected to label and define the different landforms and bodies of water. This allows students to connect different concepts and be creative while also critically thinking. When teachers understand how to connect concepts and use different perspectives to engage students it allows for all students’ needs to be met and a better learning environment.
This artifact expands my pedagogical knowledge and will improve my future practice as an educator. The earth and space unit outline allowed me to understand how important it is for teachers to connect different concepts. It is important for teachers to connect different concepts in order for students to gain a better understanding of specific concepts. Some students may be more interested in reading and writing while other students are more interested in science. When connecting science, reading, and writing standards it allows students to become more engaged in their learning. This artifact also allowed me to understand the importance of using different perspectives, engaging students in critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity. Students are able to learn better when they are engaged in critical thinking. Collaborative problem solving is important because students are able to stimulate each other’s thinking and help each other with their work. Students may learn better when being creative in the classroom. Creativity can come from doing different activities or completing hands-on experiences within the classroom. It is also important to teach students through different perspectives within the classroom because not all students learn the same way. In my future practice as an educator, I will make sure to connect concepts and use different perspectives in order to engage my students in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving.
