| The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development. |
Fall 2007
A strong understanding of “students’ physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development” (Standard2 Knowledge2) is critical to appreciating how they learn. “How students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind” (Standard2 Knowledge 1) provide me with a roadmap of how to guide students from current knowledge to new knowledge. In other words, understanding student development will provide me with a framework for designing instruction to effectively teach students. Knowing how to "use students' strengths as a basis for growth, and their errors as an opportunity for learning" (Standard 2 Disposition 2) will also help me design effective lessons.
Students’ prior knowledge and experiences are incredibly powerful in enhancing their learning. It is important for me, as the teacher, to “stimulate[s] student reflection on prior knowledge and links new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to students' experiences, providing opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas and materials, and encouraging students to assume responsibility for shaping their learning tasks" (Standard 2 Performance 2). The ability to effectively guide students to link previous knowledge and experiences to new concepts will prove to be a very powerful tool in creating learning experiences that they can relate to on a much more personal level.
Fall 2004
This principle explains a teacher's need to be able to understand student development in learning. As a teacher I must understand "how students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind" (Standard 2 Knowledge 1) and "that students' physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development influence learning" (Standard 2 Knowledge 2). It is important for me to "appreciate individual variation within each area of development, show[s] respect for the diverse talents of all learners, and [is] commit[ted] to help them develop self-confidence and competance" (Standard 2 Disposition 1). Through my understanding of students' development I need to be able to appreciate the individual, respect their talents, and commit to aid in their development.
It is extremely important for me to understand "how learning occurs— how student construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind—and knows how to use instructional strategies that promote student learning" (Standard 2 Knowledge 1). Without this knowledge, I will be ineffective in ensuring student learning. I need to build upon this concept by knowing how to "use students' strengths as a basis for growth, and their errors as an opportunity for learning" (Standard 2 Disposition 2). Through student success, I can better use the development process to guide students in their growth and use their errors to foster learning experiences.
Through mastery of this standard, I will effectively use all available knowledge of student development to my advantage. "The teacher stimulates student reflection on prior knowledge and links new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to students' experiences, providing opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas and materials, and encouraging students to assume responsibility for shaping their learning tasks" (Standard 2 Performance 2). By showing competence in this standard, I can enhance student learning through students' personal experience and links to previous knowledge.
At this time, I do not posses a knowledge of adolescent development. So I am unable to determine if this principle will be a strength or weakness for me. I would venture to guess that this will take some practice but I will be able to claim this as a strength in my teaching.
In my personal experience, I found it easier to learn material that was tied to previous experience or knowledge. For example, I have struggled with math for many years. I found it much easier to complete the tasks when I understood how they could be used in real life application. The teacher effectively related the concepts to real life application which helped me create mental connections between new ideas and previous knowledge.