Standard+1

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**Standard 1** **Teachers know the subjects they are teaching** The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines she or he teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for pupils. Evidence:  Reading Hybrid Wiki created in EDT 672 (Module 7) https://watsonsreadinggroup.wikispaces.com/

Rationale:  In fifth grade we work a lot on getting students to become independent readers and being able to respond to texts at a deeper level. At the beginning of the year we work on introducing students to Linda Dorn’s Comprehensive Literacy Model and then throughout the year work on integrating them into their reading responses. The way I wanted students to respond to their text was on a wiki so they could collaborate and communicate with each other more than the one time a week that we would meet. The wiki was a hybrid unit used at the end of February. The first lesson had the students using the wiki to do pre-reading research and activities to gain background knowledge before starting the book. As we read through the book, students had different tasks for them to finish that were posted on the wiki in the navigation bar.

 The wiki not only helped all of us stay on track, but I saw an overall increase in engagement with the discussions on the wiki rather than during our weekly guided group time. For the students, when they used the wiki as a place to respond, discuss the book, and show their understanding it helped them be more engaged and enthusiastic about the reading. I feel that creating the hybrid class is important to my development as a teacher because our students learn in many different ways and exposing them to different technologies is what I will need to do to continue to do as we are teaching the 21st Century students.

KSD:  **Knowledge: 1.K.1** The teacher understands the major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry, and ways of knowing that are central to the discipline(s) s/he teaches. I have many reading levels in my classroom and many of my high-level students only get to meet with me once a week for a 15-minute time frame. Knowing that these students still need time to discuss and develop a deeper level of thinking, I created a hybrid unit to focus on a book that has many deeper-thinking themes within the book. My students were able to discuss the book with each other, I was able to monitor the posts and discussions, and also respond to the students on a more regular basis.

 **Skills: 1.S.3** The teacher can evaluate teaching resources and curriculum materials for their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness in representing particular ideas and concepts.

When creating the wiki I looked at what I wanted the students to achieve, acquire deeper-thinking skills, and then developed lessons so they would have a chance to show their thinking. Providing students with a unit that is layed out for them and they know what is expected gave them the confidence and engaged discussions at a deeper level.

 **Dispositions: 1.D.3** The teacher has enthusiasm for the discipline(s) s/he teaches and sees connections to everyday life.

I feel this unit helped students understand what time was like in Birmingham, AL in 1963 and since we made strong connections to the characters it gave students an opportunity to use the comprehensive strategies that they have learned from the beginning of the year. Many students had great discussions on connecting to the characters, inferring what would happen, and making predictions. I feel that the students were more engaged because they could apply the concepts to real life situations.