Designing coherent instruction is the heart of Domain 1, as it reflects the teacher's knowledge of the content and the students, the intended instructional outcomes, and the available resources. Proper execution of this involves teacher knowledge of state, district, and school expectations, and the ability to translate this into a coherent lesson, that will reach all of the students. To do this, teachers must be using best practice in teaching, including research based methods, best use of resources, and intentional grouping. Finally, teachers should design the lesson with adaptations in mind for each student, and feedback from students. Designing coherent design is manifested in Domain 3. Elements of this include:
Learning Activities
Lessons are designed to engage all students, while also advancing their knowledge in multiple areas, such as factual and procedural knowledge, conceptual understanding, thinking and reasoning skills, and collaborative and communication strategies.
Instructional Materials and Resources
Materials and resources are designed to be scaffolds for learning, and are beneficial to the students.
Instructional Groups
Cooperative learning is done intentionally, and groups are created to help each student learn best.
Lesson and Unit Structure
The organization of individual lessons and units are designed in a clear way that allows students to build on what they have learned before.
Implementing in the Classroom/Artifacts Demonstrating Competency
- Use tools such as Class Dojo to generate groups
- Create structured lesson plans for each lesson
- Write adaptations into lesson plans for students who need it
- Ask students for feedback on the lesson
- Answer reflection questions at the end of lessons to better them for the future
- Make use of multiple resources
- If possible, allow student choice in lessons
- Help students understand how each lesson relates to other lessons
- Use apps such as eManipulatives to adapt lessons for students
- Photo labeled for reuse
- ClassDojo for Teachers. (2018). Teach.classdojo.com. Retrieved 6 March 2018, from https://teach.classdojo.com/#/classes/5a8ad217a239e61c82ba6f52/points?_k=3m4jsb
- (2018). Static.pdesas.org. Retrieved 15 March 2018, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_2.pdf