Standard 3: Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.
A teacher should be knowledgeable about how students develop mentally and socially in order to connect to them and teach them in the most effective way. Teachers need to know what a student’s brain is able to understand at certain ages and how far they can stretch their young minds to wrap around new concepts.
However, as an educator, it’s important to remember that each student will learn differently and not all students are the same. The way students learn can decide the curriculum, the instructions, as well as the assessment used. A teacher will need to connect their students to the learning by talking about cultural identity, worldviews, and diversity. This helps the students feel included and safe in their classroom, which also helps with learning. These are important topics that the students will need to understand in order to become well rounded people.
While in my first practicum, I noticed my coaching teacher would separate students into specific groups when it came to certain lessons, like UFLI, based on their current level of learning. She was aware of each students ability, what level they were currently at, and what they needed. She managed to do it all at once, which I found to be extremely impressive. This was my first lesson in balance, and how its a very large part of a teachers career.
Photo credit: Maddie Corbett, 2020.