P3- Practice standards-based assessment.

P3.- Practice standards-based assessment. Teacher-candidates use standards-based assessment that is systematically analyzed using multiple formative, summative and self-assessment strategies to monitor and improve instruction. For each unit taught, teachers should monitor student understanding throughout the whole unit. Some of the monitoring will come in the form of quizzes or tests, other monitoring may be informal during class or through self-assessment assignments for students to complete. I have included two documents showing how the units I write incorporate various methods of assessment to improve student learning. Document 1 (bacteria unit overview) shows the progression of the bacteria unit as it occurred in class. Document 2 (assessments) shows the various methods of assessment I used throughout the unit to monitor student learning. The assessments include summative, formative and self-assessment strategies to gauge student understanding from day one until the unit quiz. While writing the unit and compiling the assessments, I noticed how natural assessing students in various ways occurs during instruction. What does not come as natural is creating alternative summative assessments that allow students at various levels to succeed in class. In future units, I would like to prepare multiple forms of summative assessment to ensure students who learn in different ways are able to be assessed appropriately. I would also like to include more opportunities for students to self-assess their progress as self-assessment is a key skill for success in academia and life.

Bacteria unit overview                                                         Assessments

Biology Course Rationale

The attached document outlines the Biology class I have been participating in during my internship.

Biology Course Rationale

P2- Practice differentiated instruction.

P2.- Practice differentiated instruction. Teacher-candidates apply principles of differentiated instruction, including theories of language acquisition, stages of language, and academic language development, in the integration of subject matter across the content areas of reading, mathematical, scientific and aesthetic reasoning. As students come into science, they are at all different stages of growth and knowledge of scientific workings. In order to reach each student individually, a certain amount of tailoring must be done for each student in order to give students their best shot at acquiring the academic language necessary to survive in the academic world. To demonstrate differentiation, I have included two versions of a conclusion I asked students to complete during the bacteria unit of Biology. One was offered to the majority of students and the alternative version was offered to students that needed additional guidance and alternative expectations for the assignment. By offering two versions of the same assignment, I was able to appropriately assess more students than if I gave only one version of the assessment. While going through the submitted work offered by students from the standard and alternative assessments, I noticed how helpful simplifying the expectations was for the students of the alternative assessment. I would not have received as high quality of work if I hadn't done so, because these students were able to show me what they really knew by completing the alternative assessment. Student learning  would have suffered if every student had the same expectations in this situation. In the future,  I hope to make an effort to create alternative assignments for each major assessment (such as tests or lab reports) to offer students I feel need streamlined expectations to show me what they really know. Bacteria Lab Analysis Questions

microbe modified lab rubric