InTASC+4+Content+Knowledge

Without a doubt, it is essential that teachers are experts in their specific content areas; however, it is of equal importance that instructors are able to impart that knowledge to students, guiding them from novices to experts. Therefore, InTASC Principle 4 not only calls me to continuously educate myself in English but also to develop pedagogical skills that will ensure students leave my classroom with the ability to read critically, analyze thoroughly, and write effectively. Understandably, I cannot be an effective teacher if I do not educate myself in my discipline and continuously work to master new skills, vocabulary, and concepts. Without a solid understanding of my content area, I cannot possibly explain material to students, recognize and correct misconceptions, and assess students’ progress. In essence, an undereducated teacher instructing a classroom of students equates to the blind leading the blind; it can be both unproductive and harmful. Yet, just as harmful are the teachers that, while experts in their field, do not possess any pedagogical knowledge and cannot effectively teach students the necessary skills. Therefore, as a teacher, I must also have solid pedagogy, so I am able to impart my content knowledge to students. I need to be aware of different theories of learning and instruction, so I can effectively instruct my students. For example, I need to be aware that students learn best when they have multiple representations. Therefore, I can have students draw their interpretation of a text, meet with a group to discuss the different opinions, and write a reflection about the multiple perspectives they talked about in small groups. This way, students are given multiple opportunities and methods of learning how to critically analyze and respond to texts. If teachers possess knowledge of their content and have excellent pedagogical skills, then student learning will increase. Students will move towards becoming experts in the field, using content vocabulary, skills, and critical thinking strategies with ease and confidence.

In an effort to further demonstrate my mastery of InTASC Standard 4, I will refer to the unit plan that I created for Principles of Secondary Education. This unit plan can be found in Appendix I of this Wiki. It was developed for a Standard English 9 class and focuses on teaching the skills necessary for writing an academic essay. In regards to my acquisition of content material, this artifact demonstrates that I have a thorough understanding of composition practice and theory. Reflecting on my own writing, the experience I have as writing center assistant, and the current research on composition, I wrote this unit plan to support two main writing theories: higher order importance and writing as a process. While I plan on teaching my students grammar, I focused the majority of the lessons on higher order concerns such as thesis development, organization, and evidence analysis because without these higher order skills, writers cannot effectively communicate their meaning thereby failing in the writing process. Also, throughout the unit, students are asked to critically analyze and revise their writing in order to teach them that excellent academic writing is not produced in the first attempt. In order to effectively teach my students these skills, I used a variety of methods to deliver instruction, including individual work, mini-lectures, group work, class discussion, modeling, peer editing, and self-reflection. By using many different methods of instruction, I will create a classroom environment that appeals to a variety of learning styles, maximizing the amount of student learning in my classroom and increasing achievement.