Proposition+Two

__**Proposition 2: Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and How to Teach Those Subjects to Students.**__
 * NBCT's have mastery over the subject(s) they teach. They have a deep understanding of the history, structure and real-world applications of the subject.
 * They have skill and experience in teaching it and they are very familiar with the skill gaps and preconceptions students may bring to the subject
 * They are able to use diverse insructional strategies to teach for understanding

= Artifact: Daily Sight Word Clapping = = = media type="youtube" key="5mRsA45M-Pg" height="390" width="480"

Description: Kindergarten students need to learn specific sight words before the end of the school year. These words help enhance their reading ability. To help aid in their learning of these words I created a system of clapping and motions for each word to help the children master the words.

Analysis: Since creating this system five years ago I have seen an increase in the number of students that master all of the required sight words and the speed in which they learn them. Parents often come to conferences and talk about how their child comes home and will do the "claps" for them and how excited the student's are to learn.

= Artifact: Italy Unit = = =

Description: In 2010 Whittier's multi-cultural committee had decided that out school would have a multi-curtural night highlighting different countries around the world. Classroom teachers were to choose a country to focus on and then incorporate it into the curriculum for the remainder of the school year.

Analysis: This was a great success. I was able to incorporate Italy into many parts of the curriculum. Some of the things that we did included: At the conclusion of the unit, we put together a display highlighting the things that were learned for peole to look at during multi-cultural night.
 * "Painting the Cistene Chapel"- I put together a SmartBoard presentation showing the Cistene Chapel and the different parts of the ceiling. The students then got to pretend they were painting the ceiling of the chapel by laying under our classroom tables and painting papers that were taped underneath.
 * Mona Lisa-Students looked at the painting of the Mona Lisa and sketched their own.
 * Italy Facts- Students researched things about Italy with their book buddies and then wrote facts that they learned.
 * Paintings of famous Italian landmarks and the map and flag

= Artifact: Kindergarten Buddy Story Writing = = = = =

= Description: Two kindergarten classes teamed up the week after St. Patrick’s Day to write stories about “the leprechaun” that had visited the class the previous week. = = Analysis: The students really enjoy book buddies with the other kindergarten classes. We paired the students’ mixed-ability and had them work together to outline and idea, illustrate and then write the story. Melissa’s class has different strengths and weaknesses than my class so it was nice to have the kids collaborate and work together to practice teamwork with people that aren’t part of our classroom community. =