Running Head: PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Charis Sileo
Regent University
UED 495-496, Field Experience/Student Teaching ePortfolio
Dr. Gould
October 30, 2016

In partial fulfillment of UED 495-496 Field Experience/Student Teaching ePortfolio, Fall 2016

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

Introduction
The primary goal in every day instruction is ensuring your students understand,
comprehend, and meet the learning objectives. The teachers job is to determine the extent to
which each individual student is arriving at the learning objective. The data pulled from preassessments, mid-instructional monitoring and grading, and post assessments, is key to
recognizing patterns of student growth, student needs and how to accommodate them, and any
potential requisite for enrichment or learning aids. Data analysis can provide a snapshot of what
students know, what they should know, and what can be done to meet their academic needs.
With appropriate analysis and interpretation of data, educators can make informed decisions that
positively affect student outcomes (Lewis et. al., 2015). As an outgrowth of planning,
preparation, instruction, and assessment, student data as a whole guides instruction and improves
student learning.

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

Rationale
My first artifact of choice is evidenced through a fourth grade unit plan I have developed
on the topic of research. This unit plan is stretched over the course of a month (four weeks), and
is comprised of: (1) Pre-assessment tool - a computer-based quiz that assesses prior knowledge
of basic research skills. Quiz will include questions whose content covers knowledge in
constructing research questions, use of research tools, collection/integration of resources, and
citing of sources; (2) instruction, projects, and activities related to the SOL objective. During this
instructional learning and practice phase, the teacher will continually monitor for student
progress and comprehension, through whole group, paired, and small group settings, and through
direct feedback from students through exit tickets and a confidence checklist; and (3) postassessment tool a G.R.A.S.P. (goal, role, audience, situation, product) e-portfolio assignment.
This unit plan includes group discussions, brainstorming, student-to-student sharing of
progress, collaboration, self-assessment/reflection, and constant feedback. Evidence of
differentiation is evidenced through the students ability to choose technology tools or a topic for
some of their activities. Using the formative and informative assessments pre, mid, and post unit,
the teacher will gather the data prior to and throughout the unit to drive her instruction and
modify if necessary. The teacher will compare data collected from the assessment tools to guide
instruction. To help students directly with their assignments and tasks, the teacher will model the
steps and clearly outline the expectations for each activity, as well as conduct a whole group
review of student work or specific student samples as necessary.
My second artifact of choice is a collection of the four steps of instruction planning,
preparation, instruction, and assessment for a first grade geometry unit on solid vs. plane
geometric figures and their attributes. First, the students took a paper-based pre-assessment on

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

the fundamentals of geometric shapes. This satisfies a portion of the assessment phase. From
those results, I determined individual levels of pre-instructional comprehension, using the data to
compile a list of students who: (1) needed one-on-one guidance, (2) small group guidance, (3)
whole group practice, or (4) enrichment. This satisfies part of the planning and preparation
phase. For whole group morning math, my students practiced drawing their plane geometric
shapes (circle, rectangle, square, and triangle), identifying the shapes attributes, and practicing
vocabulary (sides, right angle, vertex/vertices, etc.). This activity was done with white erase
boards. This satisfies a portion of the instructional phase. The students held their boards up when
their task was complete so that I could review their work. I recorded the individual results on a
grid (attached). This satisfies a portion of the assessment phase. For small group guided math
and one-on-one practice, I worked with the students who needed more direct application and
reinforcement (instructional phase). This was done using following the Madeline Hunter lesson
plan I developed (planning and preparation phase attached). Throughout whole group and
small group practice, I recorded anecdotal notes as another means of informally assessing in
order to further guide my instructional input (assessment phase picture attached).
Rationale
Assessments should be versatile. No single assessment can tell educators all they need to
know to make well-informed instructional decisions, so researchers stress the use of multiple
data sources. Generally, schools collect enormous amounts of data on students attendance,
behavior, and performance, as well as administrative data and perceptual data from surveys and
focus groups. But when it comes to improving instruction and learning, its not the quantity of
the data that counts, but how the information is used (Lewis et. al., 2015). A students greatest
performance potential in any given subject or learning topic may not necessarily be best

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

demonstrated through a single mode of assessment; nor will a students pertinent or most
insistent learning needs or deficiencies be best exposed through a single mode of assessment.
Therefore, it is the teachers responsibility to create variety in the assessments given. This is not
to say that a formal assessment, such as an exam or quiz, is not needed or not adequate in
measuring student performance. As a quantitative tool, it is undoubtedly useful for this purpose.
That said, using versatility in the delivery and mode of assessment before, during, and after a
learning objective is crucial. This is done through offering several modes of assessment from
diagnostic to formative, from formative to summative, from formal to informal and providing
differentiated ways of drawing student performance within the parameters of those assessments.
Instruction should be differentiated. Students show their comprehension of a learning
concept the way their brain functions. If kinesthetic learner is obligated to write out the steps he
or she took to get to the final product, this will most likely not be an accurate display of the
childs understanding, skills, or ability. Instead, this particular learner might prefer to show
comprehension by performing a reenactment of the task and how to reach the final result, or by
manipulating the materials and resources provided to prove practical understanding. Instruction,
as LEARN NC articulates, requires a teacher who can provide age-appropriate, culturally
relevant, learning-style appropriate, cognitively challenging, linguistically comprehensible input
for each student in an environment that respects a range of physical abilities. It requires the
ability to provide meaningful learning opportunities for every student, taking into consideration
what makes them unique (Hobgood, n.d.). Following this platform, a teacher will enabled
herself to most tactically educate her students on an individual basis.
Planning and preparation should be student-minded. With the student at the forefront of
the mind, planning and preparation becomes not only necessary as a groundwork for effective

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

instruction, but also as a reflective period in which the teacher thoughtfully and critically
considers how her students would be most engaged and interested in what they are learning.
Planning requires strategic analysis on the part of the teacher, with which she explores and
implements creative ways of delivering content with the students best interests as her guide.
Preparation, which goes hand in hand with planning, protrudes from the development and
organizing of materials, resources, and instructional delivery for both the student and the teacher.
It, too, must observe the guidelines of student-mindedness by providing ease of access and
efficiently paced construction.

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

References
Hobgood, B. (n.d.). Reaching every learner: Differentiating instruction in theory and practice.
Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-learner/6778
Lewis, D., Madison-Harris, R., Muoneke, A., & Times, C. (2015). Using Data to Guide
Instruction and Improve Student Learning. SEDL Letter, Volume XXII(2). Retrieved from
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v22n02/using-data.html