InTASC Reflection
The Application of Content standard takes the previous standard, content knowledge, to a tangible level. Application of content essentially means a teachers ability to connect the concepts being learned to the students in interesting ways that keep the students engaged and motivated. As times go on I think teachers are becoming more and more obligated to make their content more relatable as it applies to their students lives and potential lives.
I write lives as well as potential lives because I think the general pattern of development regarding teachers and their requirements that I mentioned above is a step in the right direction, but I have noticed an extreme emphasis on connecting to the students personal lives. This, I believe, when done right is something marvelously engaging for the student, but we cannot ever hope to expect that in every lesson a student can directly and immediately reflect on their own current life. From what I have seen, many examples of making the content apply directly to the students lives is forced, and does not flow well with the lesson itself. Instead, I would propose that we allow for the application of content to be focused also on the potential lives of the student as well. By this I mean that we need not rely so heavily on what goes on in their day to day life because it quite realistically may be repetitive and simple. This is not a bad thing, in fact it probably means that they live in safe homes free from traumatic events. Nonetheless, the students should be engaged not just by what happens in their own lives but by what could happen, utilizing imagination more than mere reflection.
In the realm of foreign languages, this could mean including real world examples not necessarily of native speakers going through their day to day lives, but of travelers going to these countries that were once in the same position that these students were in: sitting quietly in an American public school. In the lesson that I have planned for this week, I run through their vocabulary list of places to visit in a community and connect each of them with real places that you could potentially go and visit if, one day, they get the opportunity to fly to one of these countries. How would they plan their visit to Madrid? What places would they go to? In my lesson plan I show the students video examples of these various places to visit in a city, some of which are videos that I have personally taken on my travels. Doing this provides the students with a potential example of what their life could be, of what things they could be doing, but leaves out their current lives. The problem with teaching foreign languages in an area where native speakers have a very small population in their community is that it is difficult to connect to their students daily lives. Instead, I suggest offering to them a tantalizing way that they could live out their future, say, traveling to Spain as I did when I graduated.
To summarize, the application of content cannot be understated in it's importance, but it should be understood that when there is a large push to make every lesson directly relate to the students lives, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Connecting to the students’ potential lives may play out to be far more interesting and informative for them in the long run.
I write lives as well as potential lives because I think the general pattern of development regarding teachers and their requirements that I mentioned above is a step in the right direction, but I have noticed an extreme emphasis on connecting to the students personal lives. This, I believe, when done right is something marvelously engaging for the student, but we cannot ever hope to expect that in every lesson a student can directly and immediately reflect on their own current life. From what I have seen, many examples of making the content apply directly to the students lives is forced, and does not flow well with the lesson itself. Instead, I would propose that we allow for the application of content to be focused also on the potential lives of the student as well. By this I mean that we need not rely so heavily on what goes on in their day to day life because it quite realistically may be repetitive and simple. This is not a bad thing, in fact it probably means that they live in safe homes free from traumatic events. Nonetheless, the students should be engaged not just by what happens in their own lives but by what could happen, utilizing imagination more than mere reflection.
In the realm of foreign languages, this could mean including real world examples not necessarily of native speakers going through their day to day lives, but of travelers going to these countries that were once in the same position that these students were in: sitting quietly in an American public school. In the lesson that I have planned for this week, I run through their vocabulary list of places to visit in a community and connect each of them with real places that you could potentially go and visit if, one day, they get the opportunity to fly to one of these countries. How would they plan their visit to Madrid? What places would they go to? In my lesson plan I show the students video examples of these various places to visit in a city, some of which are videos that I have personally taken on my travels. Doing this provides the students with a potential example of what their life could be, of what things they could be doing, but leaves out their current lives. The problem with teaching foreign languages in an area where native speakers have a very small population in their community is that it is difficult to connect to their students daily lives. Instead, I suggest offering to them a tantalizing way that they could live out their future, say, traveling to Spain as I did when I graduated.
To summarize, the application of content cannot be understated in it's importance, but it should be understood that when there is a large push to make every lesson directly relate to the students lives, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Connecting to the students’ potential lives may play out to be far more interesting and informative for them in the long run.
Artifact: Lesson Plan- Application of Content
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