Intro

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Standard One - Knowledge of Subject Matter 

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools for inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject meaningful for students.

    For any teacher to be an effective educator, they must have a thorough knowledge of the subject matter that they are teaching as well as they must be able to convey this knowledge to students in such a way that the student will retain the information. Teaching is the highest form of learning; and through our own investigations we, as educators, must grow as learners to become better teachers.  However, we can not know all the answers, but we can convey to the students the way to tackle any problem that they may encounter while I continue growing as a learner.  Through inquiry-based instruction, students learn these necessary tools to help them become independent learners that use their own thirst for knowledge as a guide to find out what they want to know.  This type of instruction creates a more meaningful experience for the student.  The more meaningful the educational experiences are in a student’s life, the more they will retain the information and create true learning.
    To create this true learning, an educator must be able to infuse their knowledge of the subject matter into effective instructional plans.  This means that effective educators must have a firm knowledge of INTASC Standard One to implement INTASC Standard Seven. This shows that the INTASC Standards do not stand alone, and every standard must be met to be an effective and knowledgeable educator.

Rationale for Artifact One

Artifact One

    To be an effective teacher, one must know what they believe and how to build a classroom around their beliefs.  I have placed my Professional Reflection Paper as my artifact showing my competency in INTASC Standard One because I believe it shows that I do have a firm knowledge of the central teaching concepts, the tools of inquiry, the ways that students learn, and also a knowledge of how I can create this environment in my own classroom. 

            I address my firm knowledge of theorists and philosophers by addressing many of these individuals throughout my paper.  I, also, believe it shows that I am skilled in the most up-to-date literature and best practices as I address those throughout the paper as well.  I address how students learn through my section on “Darkroom of Diversity” where I explain how I believe different learning styles must be met in classroom instruction.  Lastly, in my section named a “Portrait of Community” I directly speak about how I can create an open community of learners that will best facilitate learning in my classroom.

Rationale for Artifact One

Artifact Two

    Reading is skill that all students must be able to acquire to become a successful learner.  As an educator, I must help my students grow in their understanding of literature from the concrete level to the abstract level.  This knowledge transcends all subject matter and goes to the deep core of what learning is based on “Reading”.  To facilitate this learning, I have become a lover of literature.  I believe that because I have learned to love literature, that I can and must teach other to love it too.  To, also, show that I have a deep understanding of the central concepts of teaching, I have chosen to include my Literature Summary Journal with a portion of the books I have read.

            This Literature Summary Journal shows that I have a deep knowledge of the subject matter and a thirst to deepen that knowledge even further.  I have read books from all genres and on a wide variety of subjects.  I can use this variety of knowledge in my classroom to help the students understand different concepts not only in reading but also in science, social studies, and math from this background is literature.  However, I know that my journal is only the start of what I plan to read to acquire a more extensive understanding of what is important in education.

            INTASC standard one states that teachers must have an understanding of central concepts and can create meaningful learning for students.  I believe that I can accomplish this because of my understanding and constant growing knowledge in literature that I have shown in my Literature Summary Journal.

This text is a link to my Literature Summary Journal.