Standard 3: Demonstrates competence in planning and preparing for instruction

a. The teacher uses student achievement data, local standards, and the district curriculum as planning for instruction.

I incorporate core subjects' curricula into each of my GOAL classes. I want my students to be able to transfer learning from subject to subject. The artifact below is my UbD 2 year reflection and shows how I've worked the 7th grade unit on Epidemics into GOAL. It also shows how I changed and adapted what I did last year to improve my students' understanding.

b. The teacher sets and communicates high expectations for social, behavioral, and academic success of all students.

All of my GOAL classes are required to contract for a certain number of independent reading pagers per quarter. This is reading of their own choice. However, I know that many students do not challenge themselves to read difficult material. I worry that though many do not consciously practice reading strategies now, they will "hit the wall" at some point and not have good strategies to fall back on to comprehend harder reading material. For some of my students, the wall will not come until college, but I don't want them to wait until then to develop a cache of strategies to aid comprehension. One way I combat this problem is with the 8th grade Classics unit. Students choose a classic piece of literature that is above their current reading level. As they're reading the book, we go over different literacy strategies as mini-lessons in class to help them develop ways to understand material that is much harder than they are used to reading. The PowerPoint below is what they did for their final assessment.

c. The teacher uses student developmental needs, backgrounds, and interests in planning for instruction.

I love the National History Day program because it's more than just a history report. The program gets students to move to a higher level of thinking by analyzing the historical impact of an event, person, etc. It's also a great way to learn about primary source documents and annotated bibliographies, both of which are areas of research which are new to 7th graders. The key to success for this project with middle schoolers is the element of choice. I let them choose whether they would like to work alone or in groups. I also let them choose which of the following kinds of projects they'd like to do: documentary, exhibit, or performance. National History Day has a different theme every year, but within that theme the choices are endless. This year's theme was "The Individual in History." Below are pictures of some of this year's projects. They are all tied to the theme, but every project has been adjusted according to the interests of the student(s) completing it.

Madison's project was an individual exhibit on Salvador Dali. She is interested in art, so her exhibit was on an actual artist's canvas and easel.

Hanna and Eden researched Helen Keller. They did a group exhibit that was a large book with multiple pages to display their research, rather than a trifold or two dimensional display.

Here are two groups working on editing their documentaries using the iMovie program on the MacBooks. Huma's individual documentary was on Amelia Earhart. Jorge's and Coren's group documentary was on Thomas Edison.

d. The teacher selects strategies to engage all students in learning.

One way I engage all students in learning is by varying my seating charts. Normally, I have my desks in a square formation. I like this arrangement because I can sit with them, and the students and I can all see each other. This is great for discussion. It puts us all on the same plane and invites natural discussion (see the first picture below). I frequently move desks according to the activity or unit. For the 6th grade GOAL "Great Ocean Rescue" activity (their extension of the 6th grade oceanography/water systems unit), desks were moved so groups could sit together and work together more easily (see the second picture below).

e. The teacher uses resources, including technologies, in the development and sequencing of instruction.

I love using technology in my classes. Since my Elmo and LCD were installed last year, I have used them nearly every single day. They're especially nice when using borrowed materials from the AEA or the library. The pictures below are part of the 6th grade GOAL unit on consumption. I ordered several materials from the AEA, but I knew of a book in our library that would take that information to a more global perspective. We only had one copy, but since I have the Elmo and the LCD projectors, the entire class was able to look at that one copy. The Elmo is also great for 3-D objects. My classes enjoy playing Boggle and Blokus, and the Elmo/LCD combination makes those accessible for an entire class to play at once.