Alyssa Supple

Professor Suk
Educational Field Experience EDUC 230-13
Spring 2015
Rationale Statement Demo Lesson NJPTS Standard Five
Statement of Standard Five:
Application of Content. The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use
differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative
problem solving related to authentic local and global issues. (NJPTS, 2014, p. 25).
Name of Artifact: Demo Lesson
Date of Artifact: April 10, 2015
Course: Education Field Experience EDUC 230-13
Rationale Statement:
Constructing and planning a lesson and the concepts therein is but one challenge
when it comes to teaching material to a class: the other is applying all of your theoretical
knowledge to the lesson and implementing useful and meaningful techniques that aid in
student comprehension. Standard Five deals explicitly with this concept as it relates to the
demo lesson I had completed based on my own lesson plans on poetry meter. The
challenge for this demo lesson was to find ways in which I could teach an unfamiliar
subject to my students while also making it meaningful for them, so as to enrich their
understanding of the material. This particular lesson was primarily introductive in nature,
so many of the practices and points outlined in Standard Five were not addressed
specifically, such as those dealing with collaboration, but I still managed to implement
many others.
In order to make the lesson more relevant and engaging, I began with an exercise
that used music as an introduction to poetry meter. Since my students were listening to

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their own song choice, they paid much more attention to this task than they did when
presented with material of my own choosing. I decided to implement this method of
teaching so as to make the material more relevant and understandable, a concept that
Standard Five alludes to: The teacher understands how to use digital and interactive
technologies for efficiently and effectively achieving specific learning goals, (NJPTS,
2015, p.27). By listening to the music and comparing the rhythm of songs to the meter of
poetry, my students gained a better understanding of this relationship. Upon further
reflection, I would have spent more time on this exercise before moving onto poem
analysis, as it seemed to be one of the more relevant and comprehensible exercises that I
implemented in the lesson.
Aside from introducing new material, the intention of my lesson was to have my
students learn new ways of understanding meter through various mediums and through
the use of different tools. I wanted my students to be able to recognize meter and to be
able to apply it to their speaking and to their reading. This was to be achieved through
examples of their choosing; be it songs, nursery rhymes, or quotes. The importance of
these types of exercises is explained further in Standard Five which states, The teacher
engages learners in generating and evaluating new ideas and novel approaches, seeking
inventive solutions to problems, and developing original work, (NJPTS, 2015, p.26), but
while I was seeking novelty and creativity, I found that the pace of the lesson was
incompatible with these intentions. It is important to find the balance between
introducing new material and having your students think critically about it, while also
having them learn to apply it to their own lives. Understanding each individuals learning
ability and level of understanding is paramount as a teacher, and by doing this you are

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fostering the academic and personal connections that make new material comprehensible
and meaningful. In my own demo lesson, I realize I should have made alterations so as to
better suit the needs and interests of the students I was addressing. This draws upon
Standard Five Critical Disposition six, which establishes that, The teacher values
flexible learning environments that encourage learner exploration, discovery, and
expression across content areas, (NJPTS, 2015, p. 27). By providing students with the
time and resources needed to think about the material in a way that suits their learning
individual styles, their comprehension will increase as well as their ability to foster
connections between academic disciplines.
By completing this demo lesson and reflecting upon the success of my content
application, I have learned so much about the challenges of teaching. While my intentions
were clear in the way that I wanted to teach my students in the most relevant and
beneficial way possible, putting this into practice proved much more difficult than I
anticipated. I have had the opportunity to watch my recorded lesson and reflect upon the
impact I had on my student-participants, and I realize that there is much room for
improvement in my teaching methods. Time and practice will help me become a more
effective teacher, but reflections and artifacts such as these aid significantly in my
understanding of the steps I need to take to grow as an educator.
Content application is something that you will do everyday as a teacher, and
understanding the implications of your actions and the importance of the lessons you are
teaching is crucial for all educators. Your students will benefit most when you can allow
them to think critically and creatively and when you show them the relations between
different academic disciplines and their own lives. This artifact has allowed me to put

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into practice the theories I have learned and the philosophy of teaching I have
established, and it has better prepared me for the next steps I need to take to become a
better teacher, as I will continue to learn from my mistakes for the benefit of my students.
References
Professional Development in New Jersey. (2014, August 4). Retrieved from New Jersey
State Department of Education: http://www.state.nj.us/education/code/current/
title6a/chap9c.pdf