California Standard for Teaching

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

California Standards for the Teaching Profession

Standard 3

Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter

for Student Learning

Standard for Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for

Student Learning

“ž¢ Demonstrating knowledge of subject matter content and student development

“ž¢ Organizing curriculum to support student understanding of subject matter

“ž¢ Interrelating ideas and information within and across subject matter areas

“ž¢ Developing student understanding through instructional strategies that are

appropriate to the subject matter

“ž¢ Using materials, resources, and technologies to make subject matter accessible to

students

Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning

When I stepped into my first teaching assignment I did not think much about how I would

organize and present students with content. In fact, I remember the teacher that was

leaving gave me instructions on how I could finish the unit she was teaching. There were

no class sets of textbooks of any subject available for students. Instead, I would find three

or more variations of textbooks in every subject. I began creating lessons that would

follow the chronological order that material was presented based on the few resources that

were made available to me. I believed that textbooks and other academic materials would

present material in a scaffolding manner that would benefit all students. I must also admit I

believed that teaching from the textbook in the order content was presented was common

practice among educators. I remember staying up many nights, wondering if I was

prepared to teach content matter and whether I would be successful at being able to reach

the diverse student levels that would be present in my classroom. Every morning, the hour

before my students walked through my doors I experienced knots and stomach pain

because of my uncertainty in being able to deliver content and I knew that negative

behaviors would be exhibited if I was failing them. As I began to understand my

students”€™ needs and began observing mentor teachers, attending workshops and

in-services, and collaborating with other colleagues, I began developing my own teaching

methods. In discussing and describing this standard I will share the journey that I have

taken in order to understand and organize subject matter for student learning.

Demonstrating Knowledge of Subject Matter Content and Student Development

Working at Fullerton Day School has allowed me the unique opportunity to teach English

language arts for four periods and teach an elective subject of my choice for one period. I

was initially hesitant about teaching one subject since I had taught in a day school class

where I was responsible for teaching all subject matter to a class of students that were with

me for the entire school day. I remember being concerned I would be stepping on the toes

of other teachers at the site if I integrated other subject matter since they were responsible

for that specific subject. After a few days of working at Fullerton Day School, I learned I

was mistaken. By the end of my first week, I was collaborating and working on unit plans

with the other teachers as we would be supporting one another across the curriculum by

teaching topics simultaneously in each of our core subjects. Throughout this standard, I

will show my understanding and the opportunity to organize subject matter for student

learning in English language arts, social sciences, mathematics and science.

The first area of concern that I must address is my ability to understand the content that I

am responsible to teach to my students. Having a bachelors degree, passing the Multiple

Subject Assessment Test (MSAT) and having two years of classroom experience as an

instructional assistant were the basic requirements that I had obtained upon receiving my

first teaching assignment. I believed that all I needed was to be resourceful and could rely

on the foundation I already had to successfully teach and assess student learning. At that

time I was satisfied and felt that I could accomplish my goals of teaching students the

content they needed to master in order to graduate from high school. Of course there were

good days and bad days, where I would wonder what went wrong and try to figure out how

I could have changed a lesson or addressed a student question better. Aside from what was

occurring in my classroom, I was receiving inquiries from other agencies and parents

regarding specific students needing to be tested for special education services. I did not

understand how other people who were not in the classroom observing and assessing

student needs daily could dictate whether or not a student “might”€ be a candidate for

special education services. The fact of the matter is that based on the transient student

population and their unique experiences, I was not sure whether a student had a disability

that had not been identified or if there were other factors contributing to their lack of

academic success. That was when I decided to pursue a special education mild/moderate

disabilities teaching credential through California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

I successfully earned my clear education specialist instruction credential in February of

2003 and continued to fulfill the requirements for my masters in education, which I

completed in August of 2003. Upon completing my teaching credential, I learned that I

would need to obtain a multiple subject teaching credential if I desired to stay in the day

school setting that I am currently teaching in, which led me to the District Intern Program.

As you can see I have had the opportunity to continuously evolve as a student, a

professional educator, and an individual. I have been able to read, see and practice research

based strategies that have been proven to be effective when using state frameworks, and

teaching across multiple subject content areas. I now see and understand clearly that the

domains of English language arts: reading, writing, speaking and listening are the

foundation for all other content areas as specific standards are being taught. One of the

guiding principles of the California State Frameworks states:

The framework provides guidance to ensure that all educators and learners

understand that (1) specific skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening must be

taught and learned; (2) the language arts are related and reciprocal processes that build on

and strengthen one another; and (3) the language arts can be learned across all academic

disciplines. (Reading/Language Arts Framework, 1999, p.5)

I plan and organize content using the frameworks as a guide to teach content in social

science, mathematics and science while I lead students to master English language arts

standards.

I can still remember the look on the faces of my students when they were asked for the

first time to write out how they solved a word problem during our consumer math class.

There were students who were confused, others who stated “I just did it”€, and still those

who knew how to solve the problem, but were unsure of how to explain their thinking.

During one of my methods courses, I remember reading the mathematics frameworks and

reflecting on the following:

the standards emphasize computational and procedural skills, conceptual

understanding, and problem solving. These three components of mathematics instruction

and learning are not separate from each other; instead, they are intertwined and mutually

reinforcing. (Mathematics Framework, 2000, p.18)

I remember reflecting on my own mathematics instruction and how I just wanted to know

the process, the how and was not concerned about the why. Today I am responsible to

ensure students are developing their critical thinking and problem solving skills as they

apply the knowledge they have to appropriate situations, not only in mathematics, but in

all other content areas as well. My daily instruction provides students with the

opportunities to apply their knowledge in all content areas through reading, writing,

speaking and listening activities that I plan and organize for the development of their

diverse literacy needs.

I have found that teaching students through multiple subject integrated units allows for an

in-depth study of topics and keeps them interested as they are making new discoveries.

Students with special needs, and English language learners are more apt to retain and use

the appropriate academic language as their needs are being met comprehensively. With this

knowledge, I plan to be consistent in collaborating with my colleagues, attending

in-services, watching television programs developed for teachers, researching on the

internet, and reading various resources so that I can continue to evolve as an educator and

inspire my students”€™ learning.

Organizing Curriculum to Support Student Understanding of Subject Matter

I mentioned earlier in the introduction of this standard that I allowed textbooks and other

instructional materials to dictate the order that I presented and organized curriculum for

my student learning. I often did not know how to handle a new student entering my class

on day three of an on-going lesson. How could I get them up to speed with the content that

we had already built on? Once I became familiar with the value of thematic units, also

known as integrated units, I was able to facilitate a rich and deeper understanding of

subject matter. A new student entering the class could find a print rich environment; simply