Teaching Application Help- not GKU related

[penguin129]

I'm filling out teaching applications for the first time in 2 years so I am a little rusty. There are 2 questions I have to answer in a "concise" way. Please help me with wording and let me know if this makes sense.

The question is:
2. How would you address a wide range of skills and abilities in your classroom?


My answer: 

I would differentiate instruction in order to address a wide range of skills and abilities in my classroom. Content, processes, product, and learning environment are all things I will differentiate to better meet the needs of each individual student. I will also use technology to aide in differentiating instruction by using learning programs and educational videos and having different activities for each. I will use higher level questioning associated with Bloom's taxonomy. I will vary my teaching style to address multiple learning styles and Gardener's Multiple Intelligences. I will use the multiple Kagan Structures such as Rally Robin, Timed Pair Share, Round Robin, Rally Coach, and Stand Up, Hand up, Pair Up.


Thank you in advance. I appreciate it.

[swivelchair5]

I don't work in education, so I have no clue if the content is good (but it sounds impressive).

However, I have reviewed candidates and interviewed plenty of people for jobs in my office. And when I do, I am more concerned with their experience than with what they say they can or will do. I think theoretical knowledge is good, but practical application of that knowledge is much more important. Have you addressed a wide range of skills in a previous teaching job? Or while student teaching, group tutoring or as a classroom assistant? If you have an example from your previous experience, even if it isn't an identical situation, I think you should add that in.

Good luck!

[Andrea]

I would put some practical stuff in there such as : I would be responsive to individual differences, incorporate assessment into instruction, and provide students with multiple avenues to learning. My goal is to have a classroom where specialized instruction is the expectation for each student. Students who need more support will have the appropriate access to modifications and tools for learning the content; students who are excelling will be presented with appropriate challenges to meet their needs.


All of the theory stuff is great, but I feel for a lot of those questions they are looking at how you would actually apply to that to real time classroom learning. I haven't taught in 5+ years but that's my two cents

Good luck!


eta: +1 on adding actual concrete examples on ways that you have done this in the past! 

[fuzzylogic]

I hate reading educational buzzwords like "differentiated" and "product." I would want specific examples. How are you doing that now? What has worked for you? What hasn't?

(lurking, obvs...I haven't filled out an application for teaching in a decade, so take my opinion for what it's worth. While the buzzwords make you sound educated, they are very hollow to me and provide very little content about what you would actually do. I'm not so good with theories -- I like hearing about things in practice!)

[akraus2015]

+1 to cautioning the overuse of buzzwords. When I interview teachers I want to know how they can take these best practices and make them useful everyday. How will you be intentional about your grouping? Can you explain how daily and weekly data analysis will inform your instructional decisions? To me, the term "differentiation" is a buzzword that simply means "good teaching". Be concrete in your examples of how you differentiate through the course of your day, and how you know who needs what support.

You're off to a good start; now just take those abstract concepts and make them more concrete.

Best of luck to you!!!

[helloerrbody]

I agree with what others have said. Give more concrete examples of the HOW. In my classroom for example, I used small-group instruction daily in both reading and math, plus individual conferring in writing, to provide tailored lessons covering the same standards. My groups were also flexible and changed often based on student needs. I grouped students using assessments rather than lumping them into just 3 groups ("low, medium, high").

[helloerrbody]

Also, in my opinion, higher leveled thinking skills and questioning (Blooms, etc) do not belong in the answer to this question. ALL students should be doing higher ordered thinking - not just "advanced" ones. To me this belongs in an answer about general instructional practices or educational philosophy.

[BurritosAtEveryMeal]

+1 for a concrete example and less buzzwords. I would also mention small group work, 1:1 work, etc., like helloerrbody mentioned.

What grades are you certified in? I teach K, so I can only speak to elementary teaching, but you can mention how you would start a lesson as whole group (intro), send students to do differentiated work, then come back (closure) to discuss what was learned (if the objective was met).

Good luck!

[fuzzylogic]

An idea for group work is jigsawing. A lot of our core teachers use it. Give them the overall assignment, then split into groups that find the pieces of the puzzle. At the end, you get back together and put the pieces together to finish the assignment. This might be a way to cover the differentiated learning idea -- kids can be grouped so that not all of the higher-level kids or lower-level kids are together. It also teaches them how to work in a team, how to assign a leader, etc. Good skills for kids of all ages to learn.

[penguin129]

BurritosAtEveryMeal I'm certified to teach K-6. I student taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th. I taught K and 2nd when I was actually paid to teach. Thanks for your input.

fuzzylogic Yes! Jigsaw is such a great activity. My Science for Elementary Schools teacher was always doing this.

pineapplesmoothie, The term "chunking information" is new to me I'll have to look that up.

helloerrbody The reason I included higher level questioning is because I saw it in an article on how to differentiate instruction. I agree it is something we do normally.

[mrsk23]

(Lurking)

As someone who has been on the other side of teaching applications I would caution (as others have advised) filling your answers with buzzwords and really take the time to describe how you will do these things. Also saying what you will do is fine but using anecdotes from previous experience is better! Describe how you will or have set up a system of progress monitoring in your classroom. How will you know when a student is needing remediation or extension? What will you do to provide these opportunities? Small groups, lunch bunch, after school/before school...ect. Set up a plan for dealing with the wide range of abilities. Reading applications is tedious and if you don't capture the reader with stories and anecdotes then they may tune out mid answer and skim on! Good luck!

[mosdub]

Jun 7, 2015 10:16:13 GMT -5 pineapplesmoothie said:

Lurking.

I just finished a second teaching credential for special ed. and they drilled in to us that key ways to help lower students access the curriculum (as well as EL students) is "chunking information", repeated instruction of key information, additional time to practice and use of visual models. I would add stuff about presenting information is multiple ways to help students who have different learning styles, as in they they should hear it, see it written, see it modeled, etc.
ETA: Oops, you talked about different learning styles/multiple intelligences. I forgot I read that.

Is your school doing Marzano?  I hear that a lot now that we are on the Marzano train. 

[mosdub]

I agree that using: anecdotes/personal experiences/examples of implementation - to explain each item is helpful and makes you more memorable as they are reading through the apps.

Kind of like what jennykat said - explain how you would differentiate instruction when teaching a specific concept.

What are you applying for? Secondary or Elementary? (sorry if I missed this!)

[mosdub]

Jun 7, 2015 17:00:53 GMT -5 pineapplesmoothie said:

Jun 7, 2015 16:53:17 GMT -5 mosdub said:

Is your school doing Marzano?  I hear that a lot now that we are on the Marzano train. 

I hope not because I have no idea what that is! It came up a lot in all my RICA test prep books.

LOL  trust me you would know!  It's a new way of evaluating teachers that some districts are using. 

[teachermomtobe]

+1 for everyone's suggestions on being more specific and relying less on the educational buzzwords, especially because it seems you have some real experience teaching.

[penguin129]

I'm applying for VPK (4 year olds) to 2nd grade. So lower elementary. I taught K and 2nd before and student taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th.

[helloerrbody]

Jun 7, 2015 16:53:17 GMT -5 mosdub said:

Jun 7, 2015 10:16:13 GMT -5 pineapplesmoothie said:

Lurking.

I just finished a second teaching credential for special ed. and they drilled in to us that key ways to help lower students access the curriculum (as well as EL students) is "chunking information", repeated instruction of key information, additional time to practice and use of visual models. I would add stuff about presenting information is multiple ways to help students who have different learning styles, as in they they should hear it, see it written, see it modeled, etc.
ETA: Oops, you talked about different learning styles/multiple intelligences. I forgot I read that.

Is your school doing Marzano?  I hear that a lot now that we are on the Marzano train. 

I am so Marzanoed-out.  The strategies are fabulous, yes, but damn have I had it on overkill the last five years or so. 

[mosdub]

Jun 7, 2015 18:26:58 GMT -5 helloerrbody said:

Jun 7, 2015 16:53:17 GMT -5 mosdub said:

Is your school doing Marzano?  I hear that a lot now that we are on the Marzano train. 

I am so Marzanoed-out.  The strategies are fabulous, yes, but damn have I had it on overkill the last five years or so. 

Ditto.  

[fuzzylogic]

I feel like a terrible teacher -- I can never remember terms for things or what they mean. A lot of these things don't really work the same way in a music classroom, or a journalism lab making a yearbook or news site. I know I'm good at what I do, and I know this stuff had to have been covered in my ed classes (you know, 12ish years ago...) but I just don't remember it for some reason.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming. Just reading all of this makes my mind explode. Like I said, I guess I'm more of an "in practice" vs. a "theory" kind of person