K-12 EDUCATION
Standards-Based Teaching
I provide sample teaching artifacts from my pedagogical practice that are based on the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching. This framework organizes standards for evaluating effective teaching based on empirical evidence. The 22 standards are divided into four categories outlined below. To learn more about the Danielson Framework click here.
INSTRUCTION
Domain 3 addresses my ability to engage students in learning through effective communication and instructional strategies that adapt to student's needs in the moment.
3a
COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS
Sharing Lesson Objectives, Lesson Agenda and Visual References
To the left is a slideshow in which I share with students directions for a Do Now activity, lesson objectives, lesson agenda and visual/verbal references for movements of the scapulae. While sharing this presentation, I lead students through an interactive song and dance to help them remember the six directional movements of the scapula through multi-modal engagement (kinesthetic, rhythmic, visual, verbal).In doing so, I anticipate possible areas of misunderstanding by clarifying the difference between scapular protraction and elevation, as well as the difference between internal rotation and retraction (students may confuse these directions and corresponding terms).
In this lesson, students communicate to each other about the directional movements of the scapula in the process of creating original duets in which they incorporate these movements through self-expression, helping to consolidate their understanding of scapular movements through meaningful learning.
3b
USING QUESTIONING AND DISCUSSION TECHNIQUES
Facilitating Group Discussions
I utilize many techniques for facilitating class and group discussions. To the left are materials handed out for a group project to high school students in my intermediate-level class in which students led discussions to analyze and interpret examples of ballet-inspired motifs in professional performance videos.
Pictured below are sentence starters for scaffolding discussions that 6th grade students used to provide each other with evaluative peer feedback on their group dances.
3c
ENGAGING STUDENTS IN LEARNING
GoogleSlide Presentation: Popping Technique
I created and used these sample slides for a lesson that I taught to 9th grade students in my Elements of Dance class that focused on movement analysis. I prompted students to collaborate to create a list of movement characteristics of popping technique based off of their observations of popping dance videos. Students' used higher order thinking skills of analysis and synthesis of movement qualities they observed to determine their own list of popping technique characteristics.
3d
USING ASSESSMENT IN INSTRUCTION
Dance Performance Criteria Rubric
I designed and utilized this Dance Performance Criteria Rubric for middle school students' rehearsal performances of contemporary fusion choreography in preparation for an upcoming dance showcase.
3e
DEMONSTRATING FLEXIBILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS
Responding to Student Needs in the Moment
During one lesson I taught to 5th grade students on a creative ballet unit involving ballet-inspired movement motifs, I responded to students' needs for clarification on the definition of motifs. I simplified the original definition of the term, wrote it on the board for verbal reference and facilitated class discussion with student-led demonstrations to help students grasp the concept.
To the left are reference posters for ballet-inspired motifs posted on the walls of the dance studio for students to refer to during the unit. The idea to teach creative ballet through these seven ballet-inspired motifs is from the text "Creative Ballet Teaching" by Cadence Whittier.
