Standard Three: Planning for Differentiated Instruction The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content

area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement. This artifact addresses Standard Three. I chose this artifact because I believe it demonstrates the principles of this standard very well. This artifact is an appropriate representation of the standard because it utilizes multiple modes of instruction and assessment in order to best reach students. Not only does this artifact illustrate the importance of the content to the class, but it also takes into account the differing student characteristics and learning styles through various forms of assessment. The grading component of the artifact also illustrates the value I place on their learning. Since there are multiple small write-ups and check-ins, I can use those as formative assessments to continue to tailor my instruction to the needs of my students. There are larger projects that will assess their content knowledge as well as aspects of critical thinking. No assignment is worth a huge amount of points, so there is less pressure on the students so they will feel that they have more creative freedom. I also dont want one project to completely ruin a students score so that students will have more opportunities to succeed. All of the projects have different components, such as writing, role play, verbal communication, art, and technology. Since there are so many different components that the students can use in their projects, there are more avenues for students to express themselves. This artifact illustrates my growth as a teacher in many ways. In planning out an entire semesters worth of assignments and projects, I had to really push myself to think about how the content would relate to the projects I wanted the students to complete. I also had to think about my grading philosophy and focus on what I valued in terms of my students grades. I had to evaluate my goals and values as an educator in order to create this semester-long syllabus. This artifact gave me an idea of what it would be like to plan out a semester and I really had to reflect on what I wanted my students to gain from my class and come away with at the end of the semester.