InTASC Standard 1 – Learner Development
“The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.“I understand that as the teacher here, I will take time to get to know my students and be able to see how they learn. Students may have different development levels to do group work, different interests, and each student may have different areas in which they are strong. So, this lets me know each student is learning at their own pace in different areas (though most students pass through these same developement areas), and I need to be aware of those different learning rates.
InTASC Standard 2 – Learning Differences
“The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.”I understand that as the teacher here, I will include what I know their differences to be into my lessons. My goal will be to pace things just enough to involve everyone, and ensure to include them in all the different activities of the lesson. So, it tells me each student is their own person, and as their teacher, I need to understand them as each of their persons. If I am unsure about their culture or their constant diversity, I will work with the other teachers and parents, if possible, to ensure their individual parts are added into the lesson. By doing this, all students should learn regardless of who they are.
InTASC Standard 3 – Learning Environments
“The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation.”I understand that as the teacher here, I must provide a place where my students feel respected, safe, and are guided positively. My goal will be to foster this environment to allow them to take part in the lesson, socialize, interact among their peers, and feel motivated and safe to express themselves during lessons.
InTASC Standard 4 – Content Knowledge
“The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.”I understand that as the teacher here, I must be knowledgable about the subject or topic that I am tasked to teach. My goal will be to find different ways, use different physical or online tools for my students to also learn and understand these things that will be new to them.
(note to self: focus within their zpd)
InTASC Standard 5 – Application of Content
“The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.”I understand that as the teacher here, I should be able to guide my students to take their learned concepts and apply them in issues around their community. The activities involved will more than likely be interdisciplinary. My goal will be to guide my students to connect the dots, extend from what they have learned, and apply these in activities.
(Note to self: outsidecontent within zpd)
InTASC Standard 6 – Assessment
“The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.”I understand that as the teacher here, I will possess the ability to assess my students in a variety of ways. Assessment is not limited to written papers. Various, appropriate summative and formative assessments are vital to allow both myself and my students to comprehend the progress of their work.
InTASC Standard 7 – Planning for Instruction
“The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.”I understand that in this standard, it’s asking of me, as a teacher, to use the previous 6 learned standards to plan my lessons. I should have information/data to influence my planning. The planning should be done to include all students and their backgrounds, as well as it allowing a variety of forms which I can assess from, and later on reflect, give feedback, and receive feedback.
(Note to self: keep evidence as to how/what elements were the ones that influenced my planning)
InTASC Standard 8 – Instructional Strategies
“The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.”I understand that this standard is emphasizing my doing and implementing what I planned in standard 7. I should be able to demonstrate ability of performing and achieving most, if not all, of what was planned. Here I must think of the key strategies that will be vital for my students to be successful.
(Note to self: take a look at Standards 1 and 2 to correlate with key strategies)
InTASC Standard 9 – Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
“The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.”I understand that as the teacher here, I shouldn’t forget that I am also an ongoing learner. It is important that I keep seeking professional guidance/teachings/development. Most importantly, how do I take the new things I learn and put it into my teaching.
(Note to self: ask if workshops attendance list or a reflection of a workshop attended will count. Keep evidence of how this workshop was used in the class)
InTASC Standard 10 – Leadership and Collaboration
“The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families,
colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.”I understand that as the teacher here, I can always offer more, if my mental health allows. If opportunity permits, I can be on the lookout for leadership roles to take part in, collaborate with my coworkers, and be part of the culture of the school. After collaborating or taking roles, I must be aware of how it helped my instruction.
(Note to self: keep videos or pictures of those collaborations/roles. Helping other teachers on something counts?)
Because I am an audio-visual learner, I would like to also make reference to other resources that focus on explaining these standards with videos and organized text, as well as providing examples.
References
- Why read and reference the standards? A short YouTube video reminding myself why these lengthy documents will be handy (and why it’s okay to cry while reading them again).
Amy Grinsteinner‘s YouTube Playlist: In her YouTube playlist, she explains the standards once more, what to do and not to do, and the common mistakes between standards that may seem similar.