Early Childhood-Grade 6 classroom teachers exhibit an understanding of content, discipline, and related pedagogy as determined through the quality of the design and execution of lessons and the ability to match objectives and activities to relevant state standards. Each week, I develop Outcome-Based Instruction lesson plans. While developing these plans, I am attentive to my responsibility as a teacher to adapt my instruction to address misunderstandings and preconceptions. Therefore, I include an “extension” and “re-teaching” section in these weekly lesson plans. The extension section includes a more advanced activity for students to attempt if they have a solid understanding of the new information being taught. The re-teaching section includes instructions for re-teaching the material using different methods to reach the students who are still struggling to grasp the concept. I also include a real-world activity at the end of each lesson plan for my students to complete at home. These activities range from identifying objects in their home whose names include a short or long vowel, finding ten items at home to count, or showing mom and dad how well they can write their name. These activities allow the students to see the material outside of the classroom and discover how their new knowledge is useful in real world experiences.
