Standard Four: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experience for All Students

4.5 Modifying instructional plans to adjust for student needs.

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Description of Practice

Strong Practice that Exemplifies the Standard

Instructional plans are modified, as needed, based on formal and informal assessment and students' suggestions, to endure deeper conceptual understanding by all students.

Maturing Practice

Instructional plans are modified as needed to enhance student learning based on formal and informal assessment.

Developing Practice

Modifications to instructional plans address only superficial aspects of the lesson.

Practice Not Consistent with Standard Expectations

Instructional plans are not modified, in spite of evidence that modifications would improve student learning.

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What the classroom looks like

• Determines before and after a lesson, whether students are making progress towards the learning goals
• Makes changes in plans in instruction if students are not making progress
• Monitors students' understanding of content through a variety of means
• Makes changes to plans in response to observed difficulties that students are having with the instructional materials, the learning activities, or the content
• Engages in long-term monitoring of student understanding through reflecting on a lesson or a series of lessons in light of student work or the pattern of student responses over time
• Reflection focuses on the extent to which students were able to meet the learning goals
• Reflects on how specific instructional methods, learning activities, and materials might have facilitated or hindered student understanding
• Does not simply move on to the next topic if students are not meeting the learning goal
• Teacher modifies his or her instructional plans to re-teach the missing concepts, methods, or skills, and/or incorporate further work in future instruction.
• Modifications made in response to observed difficulties include:
  • supplying different types of examples
  • providing more structure for an activity
  • extending the period of time for student to work
  • scaffolding an activity so that students can accomplish more than they might on their own
  • approaching a concept through different mediums
• Monitors by a variety of informal means:
  • asking questions
  • paying attention to nonverbal cues from students
  • watching for signs of student progress
  • student misconceptions when checking student work
• The culturally diverse classroom:
  • Is sensitive to the verbal and nonverbal signals that each student might use to indicate that she or he does not understand what is expected
  • Has insight into culturally specific ways of a student expressing understanding and confusion
  • Provides graphic organizers to help students understand textbook passages
  • Has students talk about what was easy and what was difficult about a unit that they just completed
  • Collects information about their students' responses and modifies the next use of each activity or unit
  • Does not ignore the individual needs of students who master the content easily or those who need more support
  • Adjust instruction when teacher recognizes a "teachable moment" and changes plans to capitalize on it
  • Anticipates student misunderstanding and difficulties
  • Checks for student misunderstanding and difficulties during instruction and learning activities
  • Responds to signs of student misunderstanding with a wide repertoire of modifications to accommodate diverse student needs

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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?
• incorporate diverse subject matter perspectives in my planning?