In demonstrating understanding of InTASC Standard #1, Learner Development, a teacher shows understanding of how learners vary in their growth and development across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas. Once these variations and learning patterns are understood, the teacher can create learning experiences that are both developmentally appropriate and challenging to their students. A teacher must have a thorough understanding of the development across these areas at both the individual and age-group level so that the lessons he/she/they develops are challenging enough to engage the learner without leading to frustration.
In my work, I have used differentiation, pre-test assessments, and hands-on activities to demonstrate my understanding of learner development.
Differentiation
I demonstrate my understanding of the Learner Development standard through my use of differentiation in lesson plans for Pre-AP, regular, and co-taught classes. My lesson plan for teaching the science safety rules provides both scaffolding and open avenues for creativity as needed by my students. One example of differentiation was allowing students to create more complex cartoons for their submissions, increasing the number of panels from the required one to a whole comic strip. In the example to the right, the student created a full-page comic with several panels, above and beyond the baseline requirement of a single panel comic.
Pre-test Assessments
I demonstrate my understanding of this standard by using pre-test assessments to
gauge my students’ understanding of a unit’s content both as individuals and as a class. The pre-test I used for an Evolution and Natural Selection unit let me understand what background knowledge my students already had and allowed me to better fit the unit to my students’ needs.
Multiple Intelligences
I demonstrate my understanding of learner development by using diverse hands-on activities. These hands-on activities allow me to address my students’ multiple intelligences. I use a variety of stations and other activities in my 6th grade Matter unit to present the information in ways so that students are able to engage their bodily-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, interpersonal, and logical-mathematical intelligences while learning about matter.
