INTASC 2

The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can
provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social
and personal development.

*Reflective Statement*

To me this means that the teacher understands how children learn and that students must be given opportunities in order to learn.  Teachers should help students learn and grow not only as students but as individuals and as members of a community.  This standard is important because each student is a person of their own and teachers must help them to embrace this and to grow into themselves as well as learn.  It is important for a teacher to become skilled in this particular standard because helping children grow into young adults is a very important step in their development as humans.

*Revised Reflective Statement Fall 2008*

A classroom adresses many different forms of development.  Teachers are not only responsible for the educational and intellectual development of their students but also the social and personal development of their students.  In order to foster students abilities to learn and grow in every area, intellectually, socially, and personally, a teacher must have a comprehensive understanding of their students.  Courses that I have taken at Ball State have given me a better understanding of this INTASC principle and its importance in the classroom.  For instance, teachers must understand that adolescents brains are not as fully developed in certain areas as adults and that as they develop students will be able to do different things.   A wonderful example is the differences between middle school and high school students.  A teacher in the middle school has to understand that students are not personally developed to the point that they can take as much personal responsibility as high school students.  If a teacher understands the physical and social development of students then they have a better grasp on the student's abilities and limitations.  Middle school students are less prone to peer pressure than high school students, making classroom discipline for middle school and high school different based on peer pressure and how students will react to classroom discipline differently based on their perceptions of how their peers will view them.   Another example is that middle school students brains are not developed enough to be able to have good organization skills, because a good teacher understands this they will help teach middle school students organization skills and give them more leeway with lack of organization.  High school students brains are also not entirely developed in this area however they are more developed than middle school students and therefore should be held to a slightly higher standard.  This INTASC principle means that teachers should have a comprehensive understanding of the developmental stage that their students are at and be able to set reasonable expectations and opportunities for students to grow in every area, such as growing beyond peer pressure to do whats right, or by creating social awareness through a classroom project reaching out to the homeless.  In each stage of a students life they will experience physical, emotional, and developmental challenges and if teachers understand those challenges they will be capable of helping their students overcome those challenges and grow from their experiences.

*My Personal Experience*

In high school one of my teachers also happened to be the coach of one of my sports teams.  Because he was around me in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom he helped me in many ways. Not only did he teach me about his subject in school, soccer on the field, but he also taught me lessons in life. He taught me about honesty, in the classroom, on the soccer field, and in life. He taught me about team work and how to rely on others while still being an independent person.  This teacher helped me learn life lessons that I used in every aspect of my life and still to this day use.


*Artifact  Rationale*

This artifact is a paper that I wrote about hormones and physical development in adolescents and the impact and importance to people in the teaching profession.  I believe that the information in this paper directly corrolate with the importance of INTASC principle 2 in regards to the importance of teachers understanding how children learn and devlop in order to provide a better learning environment for their students.  In this paper I discuss the various physical and emotional developments that adolescents experience.  I also discuss theoretical perspectives about hormones and the physical development in adolescents.  I cite many well known issues that adolescents face, such as eating disorders, issues with puberty, self-image issues of height and weight, clumsiness, awkwardness, the differences between male and female hormones and changes, and how all of these issues can and normally do impact adolescent education.  In this paper I cite multiple publications, surveys, and books that offer information about adolescent behavior, hormones, and development.  In writing this paper I learned a lot of information about adolescent development and the impact that this has on student's educational abilities.  The limitations that many adolescents face because of their development, or in some cases lack there of, and how to adapt lesson plans, classroom environment, and my expectations as an educator to meet with adolescents needs.

Paper

INTASC 1	INTASC 2	INTASC 3	INTASC 4	INTASC 5
INTASC 6	INTASC 7	INTASC 8	INTASC 9	INTASC 10

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