InTASC Standard #5: 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.

Learning Goal:
Students will be engaged in learning through activities,
group work, critical thinking, and collaboration.

Narrative:
As a student at Rochester College I had the
opportunity to participate in an immersion field
teaching placement in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I
was in a fifth grade classroom that was
extremely diverse. One of the lessons I taught in
the Muskogee Public School District was about
critical thinking. I give each student a saltine

cracker and a graham cracker. Then, I handed
each student a packet of observational, Reflecti on:
evaluation, and synthesis questions about each My experience in Muskogee gave me an
cracker. The questions asked things like, “why understanding of diverse learners and the
would the manufacturer need to add holes to importance of collaboration. During this activity I
the surface of the cracker?” “What would make
witnessed metacognition from students who never
the crackers different colors?” “What 5 physical
differences you see between the two crackers?” volunteered to speak in class. If I could do this lesson
The students had to practice critical thinking in over again I would like to give each student a
order to conclude why each piece of food was rotating role in their group to better ensure that each
different. Many of the students in this class
student had an equal part in coming up with the
were English Language Learners or remedial
students, so I decided to make the activity a answers to the critical thinking questions. For my
group assignment. I had the students work with own future class, I would like to do this activity with
their tablemates in order to critically think characterizations. I think that older students will be
about each question. Each student had to give
able to analyze a character and critically think about
his or her input for each question. Once all the
tables came to their own conclusions I had one their personalities and traits to figure out why they
person from each group share their answers. As act the way they do. My immersion student teaching
a class, the students commented on each other’s experience pushed me out of my comfort zone and
findings in order to draw one class conclusion
caused me to think about how students who are
to the question.
completely different from me learn and interact with
each other.