PTS Name: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students
Element: Modifying instructional plans to adjust for student needs
Indicators
As teachers develop, they may ask, “How do I…” or “Why do I…”:
- Adjust the lesson plan to make content relevant and accessible to each student?
- Revise plans based on formal and informal student assessment?
- Adjust my plans to allow enough time for student learning?
- Modify my plans to ensure opportunities for all students to learn and synthesize information?
- Reflect on my teaching to inform short-term and long-term planning?
Descriptions
Examples may include, but are not limited to:
- Using formal and informal assessment data to determine key learning needs and guide instruction
- Using students’ homework assignment responses to determine which students need additional direct instruction in small groups, and which students can benefit from independent practice
- Re-teaching a lesson using another instructional strategy, activity, or learning modality after realizing that most students did not meet the intended learning goal
- Recognizing when the lesson isn’t working, and making immediate adjustments to ensure
student understanding
- Expecting all students to study the same content, but allowing for variation in learning experiences and demonstration of mastery
Problems of Practice
Challenges with this element frequently include:
- Planning a one size fits all lesson
- Continuing with the lesson exactly as planned despite a noticeable lack of student response, or
obvious confusion
- Using the same set of lesson plans year after year without incorporating revisions based on student feedback, teacher reflection and changes in the discipline