Teaching Skills are exemplified by the following competencies:

9. Teaches based on planned lessons

Reflection - Good lessons build upon previous lessons and scaffold the learning of students, providing stepping stones to future concepts.  This type of planning requires time and effort and therefore every single lesson that I teach is based upon a thoughtful lesson plan.

Artifact - This sample lesson plan was used in my American Studies course during our discussion of some World War II literature.  I established the timeline I wanted to follow, selected the major objectives and key terms I wanted to address, and I established my means of assessment at the close of the lesson.  (This artifact fulfills NCTE standards 1.1-3, 2.1-6, 3.1.2-4, 3.2.3-4, 3.3.2, 3.4.2, 3.5.1, and 4.2)

10. Provides for individual differences

Reflection - Students learn best when the can relate to the material and find some type of relevance to their lives.  This means that the material must be accessible to people from many different backgrounds and experiences.  One way that I tried to achieve this was by giving my students choice in the classroom whenever possible.

Artifact - The wikispace allowed each student to have their own personal space where they could communicate with me and their peers while completing assignments.  They also had a final project at the end of the unit where they chose their major project and were able to explore an area of their choice.  (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 4.1-4.10)

11. Uses motivational strategies to promote learning

Reflection - In my ninth grade regular English class we had been having some difficulty with motivation.  I do not believe in offering the students a piece of candy for doing their work and personally I possess a great deal of intrinsic motivation.  However, I do know that sometimes people need to recognize the fun side of learning as well.  Therefore, I used a theme game that I found where students used domino pieces to connect themes and quotations from the play.  The winner from each group moved on to the next round to play other winners.  Students appreciated the competitive aspect of the game and became very familiar with the major themes at the same time.

Artifact - I did not design this game but rather found it at a wonderful website full of many English resources for teachers.

12. Engages students actively in learning

Reflection - One of the first things my administrator discussed with me was the level of engagement I had obtained in my classroom.  If the students are not actively interacting with the material then they will never experience a sense of relevance or interest.  I try to encourage a lot of discussion and while I do like students to volunteer, I also call upon other students who do not frequently participate to ensure that everyone has a voice in our conversations.

Artifact - My administrator's evaluation after observing a class including the first page of her scripting (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 1.1-4, 2.1-2.6, and 3.1)  

13. Uses a variety of effective teaching strategies

Reflection - One thing that I discovered about the group of students I am dealing with is that they enjoy creating things and benefit from visual representations of content.  Literary devices can seem very abstract when they are just definitions written up on the board.  Tone and mood can become flat words used to describe poetry in attempts of impressing someone.  However, I found that when I allowed my students to draw representations of literary devices they enjoyed the lesson and remembered the content.

Artifact - These are two representations of oxymorons drawn by my ninth graders (loving hatred and tyrannical angel); these are cartoons drawn by my American Studies students during a study of a poem so they could trace the shift in tone in a World War II poem (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 3.4 and 3.5)

14. Helps students develop thinking skills that promote learning

Reflection - One way that I like to begin units is by establishing the previous knowledge of students eithr through a pretest or some type of concept map activity.  At the beginning of our Romeo and Juliet unit, I asked students what came to mind when they heard the title of the play.  While students originally expressed concern that they did not know anything, we soon discovered that they knew a great deal.  We documented our concept maps on the wikispace.

Artifact - The individual pages on the wikispace contain the concept map of each student. (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 4.1 and 4.2)

15. Monitors student learning

Reflection - Every single day I monitor my students in either formal or informal ways, and sometimes both.  After every unit they have a test and frequently multiple quizzes along the way.  During our readings I often create and handout reading guides which accompany the text.  This way I am constantly able to ensure student participation and basic comprehension of material.  On a more personal level, I also try to touch base with my students as frequently as possible.  I greet them as they come in the door and I say goodbye at the end of class.  If someone has their head down I ask them if they do not feel well or if they are not sleeping.  I care about my students and I know they cannot learn if they have other major issues on their minds.  They all know my planning block and they also know I will stay after any day to meet with them.  Although most days no one takes me up on my offer, I hope that they know I genuinely care and want to be available to them.

Artifact - This is a sample reading guide I use in my classes.  This particular guide accompanied two poems and allowed us to compare the opposing tones and perspectives. (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 3.5 and 4.10)