General Inquiry Reflection

4.1 Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy. In order to demonstrate mastery of this program standard, a teacher must plan and implement lessons using a variety of pedagogical practices.  Figure 1 illustrates the relationships between planning, instruction, and assessment as it relates to student learning.

Figure 1: Cycle of Effective Teaching (EdTPA)

During this course, I learned how to create clear and measurable learning targets, scaffold and differentiate lessons, communicate high expectations, plan informal and formal assessments, ask open ended questions, and incorporate student voice and academic language in my lesson planning.  This new knowledge will help me better plan, instruct and assess my students this year.  

Before beginning this course, I was unsure how to differentiate lesson activities and provide learning support for the exceptional learners within my classes.  Now I am excited to go back through my school curriculum and design lessons that provide opportunities for students with a variety of abilities and styles.  I plan to utilize questioning, reflection, cooperative activities, multiple assessment formats, nonlinguistic assignments, and student-led discussion to keep my students engaged and active in their learning (Marzano, 2007).

*  Marzano, R. J. 2007. The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD