STANDARD #5: Application of Content

The standard: The teacher 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.

Narrative: During my student teaching experience at Madison Elementary, I taught a multiplication

unit. Introducing the students to the skill required a lot of modeling and “I do/we do/you do”
teaching methods. Demonstrating the skill for the students, allowing them to do it together with me,
and then giving them freedom to work on their own was a format I grew more comfortable with as
the semester continued. Throughout the unit, one method of this format allowed the students to
come up and teach the lesson themselves for asfar as they can get in sixty seconds, before rotating to
the next student who takes over. This allowed the students to display their understanding, learn how
to appropriately disagree with each other and correct, and properly master the content together. One
exercise we did asked the students to put their tables into groups of four. Each table split their desk -
- with dry erase markers -- into four quadrants. Each quadrant had a multiplication problem inside.
Each student was assigned a number, and was responsible for explaining the corresponding
quadrant’s problem to the rest of their team.
Reflection: Students were given the opportunity to share their answers, agree and disagree with each
other, and present their mastery of the skills taught. They were not just exercising their mastery of
multiplication, but their social and problem-solving skills were put to the test, too. Through a variety
of learning experiences, students were able to utilize different tools and skills to express their
learning in versatile ways.