The purpose of the Professional Knowledge Standard is to ensure that Virginia’s public school teachers are providing students with an exemplary education that draws on both the teacher’s pedagogical and content knowledge. The Professional Knowledge Standard is important because it guarantees that Virginia’s students receive an outstanding education that is grounded in the best evidence-based pedagogical practices and a teacher’s secure mastery of content.
I. PEDAGOGY
Hollins University recommends several ways to meet the Professional Knowledge Standard, three of which are when the teacher is:
1.) Communicating Clearly and Checking for Understanding
2.) Taking Into Account My Students' Intellectual, Emotional, Cognitive, and Social Development
3.) Making Content Relevant to My Students' Lives, Other Studies, and Interests
1.) Communicating Clearly and Checking for Understanding
There are many ways for teachers to check if students are understanding material, among them are the formative assessments in this list of 53 ways compiled by Edutopia.org : 53 Ways to Check for Understanding
During student teaching, I checked for understanding after teaching a whole-group lesson on reading with expression by asking the children to interview their partner about the topic. I gave each pair of partners a popsicle stick and the partners took turns being the interviewee and interviewer. I circulated the classroom and listened to the interviews to check that the students understand the elements of reading with expression, including reading with an appropriate volume, tone, and rate, and reading groups of words in phrases.
2.) Taking Into Account My Students’ Intellectual, Emotional, Cognitive, and Social Development
As an undergraduate student, I took a course in child development which allowed me to learn the different theories of child development.
PBS Child Development Tracker, a resource for understanding child development, encourages caregivers to normalize the emotions of seven and eight-year-old children. On my last day of student teaching, I worked to normalize the emotions the students felt about the end of my student teaching. I told them that I was happy that I was graduating but also sad that I was not able to teach them anymore. I shared my own ambivalent feelings with them so they heard someone model how to articulate feelings.
3.) Making Content Relevant to My Students’ Lives, Other Studies, and Interests
During student teaching, the children from Botetourt County, Virginia, a rural area, were able to participate in a field trip that linked a few of their home lives (farming) to education. James River High School hosted the children for a day of learning about raising livestock, raising chickens, milking dairy cows, and growing plants. This event helped tie in the real-world experiences many of my second graders (one of whom is growing up on a 200-acre farm that raises hogs) to their education.
II. CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
I have demonstrated content knowledge, a component of Professional Knowledge Standard, through my academic coursework and academic testing.
Student Internship, G.W. Carver Elementary School, Salem, Virginia
January 2017
Student Teaching, Breckinridge Elementary School, Fincastle, Virginia
February 2017-April 2017
Education:
Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia
Masters in Teaching. I currently have a 4.0 average. Expected graduation, May 21, 2017.
Click here for my Hollins University Transcript.
Columbia University, New York, New York
Master of Science in Information and Digital Resource Management, 2009.
Master’s Thesis: Evolving Trends in Teen Web Librarianship
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
English Major, Magna Cum Laude Graduate, 2003.
Educational Testing
Praxis II: Elementary Education, Multiple Subjects
Reading for Virginia Educators (RVE): Elementary and Special Education
Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA)
[Click on the tests above for my test scores. I received 200/200 on the Social Studies Subtest, among other excellent scores, reflecting my dedication to content mastery.]
License
PreK-6th (Hollins University will submit my materials by or on June 1); Click here for a verification letter from Hollins University.
References
Hollins University Education Department. (2015). Professional Practice Standards (PPS): Professional Knowledge.