State Objectives

What follows is some notes on how you might meet the various state objectives. These are merely some suggestions, not the way to do it, so read them just for guidance to help you get focused.

A. The candidate understands the role of the community in education and develops and maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and the community to support student learning and well-being.(# 9)

1. Expresses democratic values in teaching and learning practices and policies ["expresses" is the key word here. Give me some written evidence that you have expressed democratic values in your teaching and learning practices.]

2. Completes collaborative work [Accounts of your group projects will fill this.]

3. Maintains respect during interactions with peers, parents, cooperating teachers, faculty, and staff[Give me written evidence of this -- a statement of some kind with examples]

4. Creates a learning community in which individual differences are respected [Give me a written explanation of how you did this -- perhaps when you divided the class into small groups for your "interactive lessons."]

6. Identifies and uses community resources that foster learning ["Community resources" -- people, organizations, etc. -- that you tapped to advance your learning. What did you do? Explain in writing.]

7. Talks with and listens to others, Investigates situations, and seeks outside help as needed and appropriate to remedy problems [Describe your group interactions as you prepared and presented your group projects]

9. Considers multiple perspectives and interpretations [Explain how you did this. When did you consider multiple perspectives or multiple interpretations?]

B. The candidate is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.(# 10)

1. Is self-regulating and self-directed and thinks critically [Best evidenced in your reflective papers on your group work]

2. Willingly receives and gives feedback [Critique sheets]

3. Engages in teaching and learning as an on-going, reflective process [Reflective papers]

4. Uses professional research and resources (e.g., colleagues, professional literature) in learning, planning, and teaching [Overlaps somewhat with A6 above. But a bit different.]

C. The candidate understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.(# 11)

3. Abides by state laws and professional codes of conduct [Explain in writing]

4. Strives for academic excellence [Explain in writing what you did that went beyond the minimum requirements of the class. Show me how you sought "excellence" instead of "average."]

5. Attends class and makes arrangements for absences and missed work [Explain in writing]

6. Talks to and listens respectfully to others [Explain in writing]

D. The candidate understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students.(# 1)

1. Engages in generating knowledge and testing hypotheses according to methods of inquiry and standards of evidence used in the discipline/s [Your movie review will be good for this}

2. Uses major concepts, assumptions, and debates central to his/her discipline/s [You should do this both in your presentations and in the movie review]

3. Relates his/her disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas and sees connections to everyday life [Should do this in all presentations and in movie review]

4. Displays enthusiasm for his/her discipline/s [Explain how you "display" it.]

5. Effectively uses multiple representations and explanations of concepts [This should occur in the group presentations. Explain how you did it.]

G. The candidate uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. (# 5)

1. Works productively and cooperatively with others in complex social settings [Group work reflections should show this.]

5. Helps the group to develop shared values and expectations for interactions, academic discussions, and individual and group responsibility that create a positive classroom climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry settings [Group work reflections should show this.]

I. The candidate understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. (#6)

3. Models sensitivity to gender and cultural differences [Group work presentations should show this.]

6. Uses a variety of media and communication tools, including audio-visual aids and computers. [Presentations should show this.]