Module 7 Introduction to Clinical Practice

Project Description

Overview

You are now getting ready to begin the clinical practice portion of the program. In preparation for your clinical practice, you must understand the standards used to observe, evaluate and reflect on your teaching during the clinical practice. We will be using the TEACH-NOW Clinical Rubric based on the 10 InTASC standards to evaluate your teaching practice. To meet all objectives in Module 8, you will need to understand the ten Teach-Now standards thoroughly. You will discuss the Virtual Classroom and Discussion Forum standards with your instructor and cohort this week. Use this time to clarify doubts, questions, and ideas that you may have around each standard and how it will influence your clinical practice. 

 

Performance outcomes

• Candidates discuss ideas, problems, and solutions in applying the ten standards described in the TEACH-NOW Clinical Rubric to their own teaching practice

What will you do?

1. Review the TEACH-NOW Clinical Rubric and the Ways of Thinking About the Clinical Evaluation Criteria documents and prepare your questions before the next virtual class. 

2. As a cohort, create a separate Discussion Forum thread on each standard to keep track of the discussions related to each standard. 

3. Write a post on at least one standard, explaining how you will apply it in your classroom during the clinical practice. Your Discussion Forum post should detail how you will apply the standard to the subject area and grade level that you will be teaching during the clinical practice. Include any questions about that specific standard.  You may also share an idea of how to present this standard. You will be presenting this standard to your cohort in the Virtual Classroom in the upcoming weeks of your clinical practice. Your instructor will share a sign-up sheet to schedule your presentation session.

   • Tip: Select a standard that you feel you can demonstrate well in the classroom or one that you think would be a challenge for you to demonstrate. This is an opportunity to research, learn, and practice teaching in the virtual classroom with your peers.

4. Comment on posts made on at least two other standards by your peers in the cohort. Your responses to colleagues should be relevant, thorough, and kind.

5. Review the discussions on the 10 standards in the Discussion Forum and write a summary of how you will apply all 10 standards to your teaching practice on this activity’s Submission page along with your selected standard for presentation.

6. Prepare to participate in next week’s virtual classroom discussion on the 10 standards of the TEACH-NOW Clinical Rubric. 

Report requirements

• Discussion Forum post on at least one Standard from the TEACH-NOW Clinical Rubric 

• Comments on cohort peers’ posts on at least two other standards 

• Selected standard for presentation and summary of discussions 

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In Standard 5:

Candidate understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues. These are two domains of curriculum design:

Lessons and Projects to Address Real-World Problems

Multiple Perspectives and Interdisciplinary Themes

I will be specializing in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).  This course, "Learning Drones in English," is designed for 10th graders. INTASC Standard 5 for ESOL teachers focuses on creating an environment where English learners can apply their language skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, and real-world contexts.  The following outlines my plans to meet this standard.

Course Structure and Activities

The course leverages the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a springboard for brainstorming ideas. These global goals address real-world problems we face.  Connecting to drone technology, the central question guiding our exploration is: "What can drones do to solve these problems?"  Drone application for SDGs is an interdisciplinary topic encompassing environment, engineering, and law. Students will benefit from this real-world investigation.

In class activities, students will be shown several pictures highlighting challenges we face.  They will then discuss and propose solutions using drone technology.  Open-ended questions will be posed to encourage critical thinking beyond factual recall.  For example:

• "How can drones help farmers grow crops more effectively?"

• "What are some safety considerations when using drones for delivery?"

• "How might drone technology be used to help people in emergencies?"

Discussions will be conducted in pairs or small groups, allowing students to share ideas and practice using target vocabulary. All activities aim to develop essential 21st-century skills.

Real-World Exploration

To demonstrate content application, field trips are planned to visit a lake and a drone development center.  Students will learn about drone applications in various industries to solve problems, along with current trends in drone technology.  One activity will involve flying a camera drone to experience how a bird's-eye view reveals water resource limitations. Throughout these real-world experiences, students will deepen their understanding of the environmental impact of drone applications.

Guest Speaker and Presentations

Back in the classroom, we will host a guest speaker – a police officer with experience in drone applications.  The officer will share their experiences with students.  The final course project will involve creating a short presentation or writing a news report on drone industry development.  I will provide English language support, such as vocabulary lists, sentence stems, and guidance on using AI writing tools for editing.

These plans represent a significant investment of effort.  I am eager to see them come to life in the real classroom environment.

 

Hi Tyler,

 

It's fantastic to connect with a cohort member working in my home country!  Having a supportive school manager for this program is great news. As professional teachers, we're all on a lifelong journey of learning and reflecting. This is especially true when you're in a new environment, where everything from the school culture to your colleagues and students might be unfamiliar. It takes time and experience to adjust, but that's part of the exciting adventure!

 

Teaching in an exotic location sounds amazing, but I know it also requires adapting your teaching approach. One of the biggest challenges foreign teachers face is navigating cultural differences. LIke the following question:

 

"Does the candidate design and implement culturally relevant learning experiences for students of diverse races, genders, ethnicities, and learning differences, without any personal bias?"

 

Teaching abroad can be seen as a way to put Standard 9 into action. Teachers constantly learn about different cultures and find effective teaching methods for diverse student populations.

 

Tyler, maybe someday our paths will cross and we can attend a seminar together! I'd love to offer some ideas on teaching Taiwanese students. Perhaps I'll even get the chance like you to embark on a similar adventure myself someday!

 

In addition, here are some links that might be helpful for you.

https://tfetp.epa.ntnu.edu.tw/en/tfetp/web/home

https://journal.fulbright.org.tw/teaching-and-cultural-experiences-in-taiwan-a-teachers-reflection/

https://andrewpaulsen.org/2018/03/30/education-culture-in-taiwan/

 

Sean

 

Hi Ashley,

 

Exploring various teaching approaches is definitely my favorite part of being a teacher. I really appreciate your list of well-organized instructions – it gives me a great starting point.

 

As a novice teacher, I understand the importance of constantly learning new approaches. Whenever I get stuck coming up with teaching strategies, I often turn to these resources for inspiration:

 

Teachings in Education: https://www.youtube.com/@TeachingsinEducation/videos

TeachThought - Instructional Strategies: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/instructional-strategies/

 

Now, while I consider how to adapt these instructions to specific student needs based on the content, the biggest challenge lies in connecting them smoothly and fluently into a cohesive lesson plan. It is also challenging that students meet your expectations after you put a great amount of effort into it. It requires time and experience to gradually refine, and I wonder if you have the same feeling? 

 

Sean

 

 

The candidate wrote a detailed summary of discussions from the Discussion Forum on the ten standards highlighting what they learned from their peers and additional research, and summarized the discussions for the specific standard analyzed by the candidate.

 

Standard 1-3

This is what I learn from Hyejin Kim, states four points of Standard 1 :

Teachers should understand students’ diversity, their language proficiency, personal traits, cultures..etc This can be done by chat or survey and then observe their performance in the classroom. Assist students determine their goals and help them achieve. Differentiated instruction is the way of doing this. The teacher should take advantage of various teaching strategies to support different students’ needs.

 

Carol Lang mentioned three points to build the learning environment: She will take advantage of a platform to inform parents activities and related information to create a  positive learning climate, offer choices and opportunities for language and literacy exploration to build a learner-centered classrooms, reinforcing positive rules and routines for managing the learning environment norms and procedures.

 

Standard 4-5

Tara Hough uses instructional resources and technology tools to connect her student’s interests, backgrounds and experiences as the first step, making sure it is clear how the books and clips relate to the lesson before and after they are shown to the students. The next step is to recognize gaps in subject knowledge and correct misconceptions by pre-assessing what the students know with a thumbs up thumbs down question on the new material. In addition, she also uses literacy “powers” that the students have learned across content areas. 

 

Kamila Bekshentayeva teaches Design technology (DT)" . This subject itself is the practice of Standard 5, where we help students apply design thinking and other important skills (research, collaboration, problem solving, creativity) and knowledge to solve an authentic, appropriate problem that addresses a need in their community, and/or a problem that considers SDG. Starting from the environment we live in, analyzing problems, situations, and being able to design solutions with the goal of improving performance, sustainability, efficiency, etc. This fits the element of Standard 5 : “Being able to design and implement lessons and projects to address age-appropriate real world problems.” For integrating multiple perspectives into interdisciplinary lessons, she will encourage students to ask questions providing multiple perspectives, as well as to listen to each other with respect embracing and celebrating diverse cultural, language, values backgrounds.

 

Standard 6-8

Jacob Campbell teaches PE, applying this standard by first assessing his students prior knowledge in new sports, then assessing their understanding of new skills, and finally assessing their ability to apply new athletic concepts into real game situations. He also uses assessments to differentiate between different skill levels, and for ELL learners and students with special needs, using constant assessments to monitor student progress, so he can diagnose when they are ready to move on to the new lesson, or if they need more time and practice in a previously learned skill.

 

LaToya Wellington organizes and uses content knowledge, curriculum, integrative strategies, and pedagogy to develop each lesson as well as consider her students’ backgrounds, and how they learn in order to create the most effective and meaningful instruction possible. She also mentioned that when planning lessons, instructional strategies, extra time, interruptions, modifications, and accommodations are essential elements. Besides, the data from previous lessons would help flow of the lesson, materials planned, engagement, little interruptions, differentiation, and scaffolding.

 

Ashley Zhao lists five instructional strategies including board scope of teaching practices. She will facilitate students in cultivating critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills with those instructions. An important point is that if a strategy fails to yield the desired results, reflective consideration is necessary, prompting a shift to an alternative approach.

 

Standard 9

Tyler van Hoorn is an American ESL instructor teaching primary age students in Taiwan. His challenges are navigating the cultural and linguistic barriers while being mindful of his place as a foreigner within the norms, laws and expectations of Taiwan. It requires strong interpersonal skills and mental flexibility to navigate successfully. He works with his Taiwanese supervisor to understand the academic expectations of his students, which tailors his expectations accordingly and helps him to grow as an educator by understanding what areas these students need to improve their English. His school has also been receptive to his participation with Moreland which allows him to identify areas where he can develop himself as an educator.

 

In summary, collecting cohorts’ posts helps me to identify my weaknesses to prepare well for the Module 8. I have planned the initial structure of the curriculum and can’t wait to be guided by Ashley and Cheryl.I am looking forward to this new challenge, although I know it will require a significant amount of effort from me. This will be an enriching and rewarding experience.