Danielson 1b
Demonstrating Knowledge of Students
Teachers don’t teach content in the abstract; they teach it to students. In order to ensure student learning, therefore, teachers must know not only their content and its related pedagogy but also the students to whom they wish to teach that content. In ensuring student learning, teachers must appreciate what recent research in cognitive psychology has confirmed, namely, that students learn through active intellectual engagement with content. While there are patterns in cognitive, social, and emotional developmental stages typical of different age groups, students learn in their individual ways and may have gaps or misconceptions that the teacher needs to uncover in order to plan appropriate learning activities. In addition, students have lives beyond school—lives that include athletic and musical pursuits, activities in their neighborhoods, and family and cultural traditions. Students whose first language is not English, as well as students with other special needs, must be considered when a teacher is planning lessons and identifying resources to ensure that all students will be able to learn.
Knowledge of child and adolescent development
Knowledge of the learning process
Knowledge of students’ skills, knowledge, and language proficiency
Knowledge of students’ interests and cultural heritage
Knowledge of students’ special needs
Formal and informal information about students gathered by the teacher for use in planning instruction
Teacher-designed opportunities for families to share their heritages
Database of students with special needs
Teacher participation in community cultural events
Student interests and needs learned by the teacher for use in planning
Possible Artifacts
Student survey inquiring about family, traditions, etc
Reading Counts level recommendation given to student
Picture of classroom library books with reading level stickers
Examples of modified tasks
Seating chart to demonstrate knowledge of IEP or other needs
Differentiated lessons/tasks
Lesson plans that demonstrate understanding of learning styles
Behavior management plan for individual students demonstrating an understanding of their personality or interaction style
Student surveys
Notes about individual students strengths and challenges
Partner and student grouping lists based on student data
Log of attendance of students' sporting or extra curricular events
Teacher-designed opportunities for families to share their heritages
Sample accommodations/modifications made for students with IEPs or 504 plans
Attributes & Examples
- The teacher does not understand child development characteristics and has unrealistic expectations for students.
- The teacher does not try to ascertain varied ability levels among students in the class.
- The teacher is not aware of students’ interests orcultural heritages.
- The teacher takes no responsibility to learn aboutstudents’ medical or learning disabilities.
- The lesson plan includes a teacher presentation for an entire 30-minute period to a group of 7-year-olds.
- The teacher plans to give her ELL students the same writing assignment she gives the rest of the class.
- The teacher plans to teach his class Christmas carols, despite the fact that he has four religions represented among his students.
Attributes & Examples
- The teacher cites developmental theory but does not seek to integrate it into lesson planning.
- The teacher is aware of the different ability levels in the class but tends to teach to the “whole group.”
- The teacher recognizes that students have different interests and cultural backgrounds but rarely draws on their contributions or differentiates materials to accommodate those differences.
- The teacher is aware of medical issues and learning disabilities with some students but does not seek to understand the implications of that knowledge.
- The teacher’s lesson plan has the same assignment for the entire class in spite of the fact that one activity is beyond the reach of some students.
- In the unit on Mexico, the teacher has not incorporated perspectives from the three Mexican-American children in the class.
- Lesson plans make only peripheral reference to students’ interests.
- The teacher knows that some of her students have IEPs, but they’re so long that she hasn’t read them yet.
Attributes and Examples
- The teacher knows, for groups of students, their
- levels of cognitive development.
- The teacher is aware of the different cultural groups in the class.
- The teacher has a good idea of the range of interests of students in the class.
- The teacher has identified “high,” “medium,” and “low” groups of students within the class.
- The teacher is well informed about students’ cultural heritages and incorporates this knowledge in lesson planning.
- The teacher is aware of the special needs represented by students in the class.
- The teacher creates an assessment of students’ levels of cognitive development.
- The teacher examines previous years’ cumulative folders to ascertain the proficiency levels of groups of students in the class.
- The teacher administers a student interest survey at the beginning of the school year.
- The teacher plans activities using his knowledge of students’ interests.
- The teacher knows that five of her students are in the Garden Club; she plans to have them discuss horticulture as part of the next biology lesson.
- The teacher realizes that not all of his students are Christian, and so he plans to read a Hanukkah story in December.
- The teacher plans to ask her Spanish-speaking students to discuss their ancestry as part of their social studies unit on South America.
Attributes and Examples
- The teacher uses ongoing methods to assess students’ skill levels and designs instruction accordingly.
- The teacher seeks out information from all students about their cultural heritages.
- The teacher maintains a system of updated student records and incorporates medical and/or learning needs into lesson plans.
• The teacher plans his lesson with three different follow-up activities, designed to meet the varied ability levels of his students.
• The teacher plans to provide multiple project options; each student will select the project that best meets his or her individual approach to learning.
• The teacher encourages students to be aware of their individual reading levels and make independent reading choices that will be challenging but not too difficult.
• The teacher attends the local Mexican heritage day, meeting several of his students’ extended family members.
• The teacher regularly creates adapted assessment materials for several students with learning disabilities.
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