Ued 496 Dalton Dylaney Developmentally Appropriate Instruction

Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION

Developmentally Appropriate Instruction Dylaney Dalton Regent University

In partial fulfillment of the UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019

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Introduction When teaching, it is essential that a teacher first consider students and their development. According to research done by Bergin and Bergin (2015), student psychological, emotional, physical, and cognitive development plays a key role in student ability to perform well on tasks and assessments given to them. Tileston (2000) reiterates this idea, stating, “The time has come to quit assuming that all students come to us with the background to be successful in school…” (53). Tileston then goes on to state that dismissing this assumption does not mean to give up hope on student success, but rather addressing cultural, physiological, and cognitive differences in such a way that provide all students the opportunity to develop and succeed in their education. Educators best understand this concept as developmentally- appropriate practices designed to meet student needs. Artifact Rationale My first artifact comes from my second practicum experience at Tallwood Elementary School with a 2nd grade classroom. The SOL covered during this instruction was English 2.2 d and e (Virginia Department of Education, 2010), which addressed student usage of synonyms, antonyms, and vocabulary expansion. The second grade class that participated in this lesson had a diverse range in abilities as well as ethnicities and it was exciting to see how these groups worked together in order to gain a better understanding of synonyms and antonyms. This lesson was taught to two of the lower level reading groups by reading the two level 1 and 2 books, Big and Little and Opposites by Little Library. These two books were written at a lower reading level and could easily be decoded by using context clues

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and using the pictures. This allowed for the students to not be challenged by the content they were reading and be able to focus solely on the skill of identifying and creating synonyms and antonyms. If the books had been too challenging, this could have created a learning barrier that would have divided the child from the desired skill, as well as led to student’s frustration. As noted by Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005), “it is not a matter of thinking about development (of a skill), but thinking and acting developmentally which allows educators to truly reach students…” (94), which means that it is not enough to simply teach students the skill, but provide them with ways to work successfully up to the desired skill within given parameters. Such is seen in this artifact, which allows students first focus on what they already know then expand the concept in new ways. The students then conducted a word study in groups of three, using terms from the book and extra terms to help shape their vocabulary skills. Because many of the students came from different backgrounds, groups were picked so that each group had diverse students. Some of the vocabulary, such as “heavy and burdensome” and “prosperous and fruitful”. Some students were quick to understand the phrases, but others struggled greatly and relied on their peers to explain the terms, then were able to understand the terms better because of relating better to a specific version of the word. For instance, some of the students that originally came from a middle to upper-level socioeconomic class were able to comprehend the word prosperous, whereas their peers were only able to identify the word “fruitful”. After some debate, I noticed the groups began to understand that their words meant the same thing and they were able to pair the words

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together. This activity allowed students to work together, as well as share and rely on personal experiences to decipher the specific terminology. Students then were given the opportunities to expand their understandings by providing their own word choices at the end of the activity to redefine terms like “tall”, “heavy”, and “tasty”. This gave children a chance to articulate themselves in a way that showcased their knowledge, showcase their understandings to other students by exposing them to more vocabulary, and choose words with familiarity. My second artifact was done during my first student teaching experience in a fifth grade classroom and involved more creativity. Because students are at an age where they desire less structure and uniformity and are capable of thinking in broader concepts, this activity involved less teacher guidance and was reliant on student participation (Bergin & Bergin, 2015). Students at this age need to be given more flexibility and ability to create their own guidelines and rules in order to meet higher levels of thinking and learning. The activity selected for this age group acknowledges this need and addresses it by giving students the opportunities to create with few guidelines and more choice. In this specific activity, students were expected to meet the VDOE SOL Math 5.8, which states that students are expected to work with perimeter, area and volume problems, as well as create and identify situations in which they may need to solve for those types of problems. Students were given the opportunity to demonstrate this understanding through two creation activities. Students were given the expectations and criterium, which stated that they must create a creature with a head, body and arms/legs as well as find the area of their creature. The second part of their assignment asked them to demonstrate an understanding of creating word problems using those terms.

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According to Finnan (2009), this activity could be considered as an adultsupervised activity because expectations were given, as well as a partial unsupervised group activity because it allowed students to follow the given set of rules on their own terms (89). Finnan (2009) notes that an unsupervised activity does not mean that students are left without supervision, but that students willingly take responsibility for their work, create it on their own to their own expectations, and willingly partake in the activity when it stops being an expectation. My observations in the classroom showed me that students stayed on task, created their own parameters for the assignment and then initiated them, as well as desired more opportunities to use these creations. This activity was very simple, allowed students to choose the complexity of their work, and gave students the opportunities to work more hands-on and experience the applications of perimeter, area and volume problems. Some of the students that had normally performed lower on other activities seemed more engaged and creative with these activities, often creating unique designs and detailing out their thought in more concise ways. This gave me a better opportunity to assess students on what they truly knew as well as build off of those ideas they created. Reflection on Theory and Practice My teaching experiences have given me a broader understanding of how students learn, how prior knowledge and preconceptions play into their learning, and how student age and cultural development factors into their ability to perform given skills. Tileston (2000) states that addressing these barriers and providing students with equal playing fields that encourage the involvement of all students by focusing on what they can do allows students to grow and strive to meet standards. The activities I had chosen for both,

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fifth and second graders, demonstrated an awareness of their needs and abilities. Students in both groups left the activities engaged, expressive with and towards peers about their work, and in anticipation of further learning, which mirrors the empowerment, collaboration, and engagement noted by Finnan (2009) in her observations of what developmentally appropriate classrooms resemble (172). As an educator, it is essential to make sure that practices are not hindering student success but leading up to and showcasing the qualities of it. When done rightly, learning does not feel burdensome for students and leaves them feeling empowered by the teaching despite any differences and obstacles they may have been presented with.

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Reference Bergin, C. & Bergin, D. (2015). Child and adolescent development in your classroom (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Darling-Hammond, L & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Finnan, C. (2009). The upper elementary years: ensuring success in grades 3-6. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. Tileston, D.W. (2000). 10 best teaching practices: how brain research, learning styles, and standards define teaching competencies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.