Educators implement effective planning, instruction assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for students learning and development.
This professional standard looks at how teachers plan, implement and assess within their classroom, for their students. While also ensuring a teachers ability to formulate all the factors mentioned above in a respectful and inclusive way to all the diverse students in your classroom, to ensure learning is developing for all involved.
I have a lot of appreciation for this standard being included in the 9 professional standards that BC teachers need to follow, for me personally it is one that I hold in high regard and think that it really does encapsulate all that it means to be a teacher. If we as educators cannot help our students learn in the best most productive way for each individual student, seems like we would not even be doing our job. As a student learning to be a teacher right now, we have talked a lot about planning and assessment, and how it may look different for different classes, teachers students. I think we can talk and learn about it all day long but until we are actually in the classroom, with real students right in front of us it is a hard concept to grasp. I am just coming off my first 3 week practicum, and not a knock to UNBC but I learned more in these three weeks, just actually being in the classroom then I ever could just talking about it up at the University. I had an amazing coaching teacher and she showed me two massive things that I undoubtedly will take into my classroom one day that in my mind epitomizes this standard and having the ability to assess and plan for all the diversity you will face in your classroom.
The number one thing she utilized was stations, both with literacy and math in this case. There were stations set up and she structured them around the times she knew there would be EAs in her room, that way there was an adult at all the stations. The students were sometimes grouped together based on academic level, and she also mixed it up sometimes so that students could help each other if needed and build those skills in the “high” academic students as well. Sometimes stations would have a higher option at it, for example a station building words for students who were at that level, but then if another group came that was not at that point yet, she would just change the station to an activity working on letter sounds. This is an example, but by teaching this way your allowing everyone to progress at the level and speed that works for them.
The second thing I earned from the teacher was regarding assessment, first she always made sure she was at one of the stations to assess every small group of students that came through, this allowed her to see where everyone was at and how they were progressing. She also utilized her students center time to work on some assessments with students, as this is a free time for the students to decompress from a day of learning and it was a good time for her to pull a couple students a day and work with them one on one not for a super long time but just to see where they are at and what she needs to do with them to take them to the next step. I loved how she did this, it not only helps you see where your students are at, it also helps build that connection and let that student feel seen by you as the teacher by giving them this one on one time with you that is likely super rare.
Obviously there are so many ways teachers can attack being successful in this standard, I love the idea of making things individual while still having your classroom community. It is just a fact that no two students are going to learn the same and the more flexible you can make you lessons, planning, and assessment the better of your students will learn and that is the ultimate goal.
