The+Learner+and+Learning

Green = Cathy Higgins edits ** ﻿ The Learner and Learning ** Education begins with the learner who is growing up in a digital era //generation. // Effective educators have high expectations for all students and understand the significance of the personal, social, physical, and academic development of each student. They do this with the recognition that students are individuals who bring differing personal and family backgrounds, skills, abilities, perspectives, talents and interests. Educators collaborate with students, colleagues, school leaders, families, talented individuals, businesses, and members of the students’ communities, and community organizations to understand better their students and maximize their learning. Within supportive and safe learning environments, educators promote students’ acceptance of responsibility for their own learning and collaborate with them to ensure the effective design and implementation of both self-directed and collaborative learning. **Standard #1: Learner Development ** The educator understands how students learn and develop and **recognize** **s ** that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the personal, physical, social, and academic areas. The educator facilitates developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences based on the unique needs of each learner. **Performances ** (a) The educator regularly assesses individual and group performance in order to meet every learner’s needs in each area of development (personal, physical, social, and academic) and builds personalized learning strategies into each student’s learning plan. (b) The educator uses developmentally appropriate learning strategies into each student’s learning plan that take into account each students’ strengths, interests and needs and that allow each student to advance and accelerate his/her learning. (c) The educator collaborates with families, colleagues and other professionals to promote student growth and development. **Essential Knowledge ** (d) The educator understands how learning occurs--how students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop disciplined thinking processes --and knows how to use instructional strategies that result in student learning at high levels of achievement. (e) The educator understands that each student’s personal, social, physical, and academic development influences learning and knows how to make instructional decisions that take these factors into account. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(f) The educator identifies readiness for learning, and understands how development in any one area may affect performance in others. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(g) **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator understands the role of language and culture in learning and knows how to modify instruction to make language comprehensible and instruction relevant, accessible, and challenging. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Critical Dispositions ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(h) The educator respects students’ differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each student’s development. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(i) The educator is committed to using students’ strengths as a basis for growth, and their misconceptions as opportunities for learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(j) The educator takes responsibility for ensuring students’ growth and development. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(k) The educator values the input and contributions of families, colleagues and other professionals in understanding each student’s development. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(l) The educator values the input and contributions of families, colleagues and other professionals in understanding each student’s development. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Standard #2: Learning Differences ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that allow each learner to reach his/her full potential. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Performances ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(a) The educator facilitates the process of learning, adapts, and delivers instruction to address each student’s diverse learning strengths and needs. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(b) The educator uses various instructional strategies that are sensitive to the multiple experiences and diversity of learners and that allow for different ways of demonstrating learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(c) The educator ensures appropriate provisions (e.g., variations in time, task demands, and communication, assessment, and response modes) for individual students who have particular learning differences or needs. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(d) The educator makes available learning environments in which individual differences are respected and valued. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(e) The educator connects instruction to each student’s prior knowledge and experiences that result in high levels of student learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(f) The educator brings multiple perspectives to discussions around content, including attention to students’ personal, family, and community experiences and cultural norms. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(g) The educator incorporates tools of language development into the learning process, including strategies for making content accessible to English language learners and for evaluating and supporting their development of English proficiency. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(h) The educator accesses appropriate services and resources to meet specific learning differences or needs. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Essential Knowledge ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(i) The educator understands and identifies differences in approaches to learning and performance and knows how to facilitate learning opportunities that use each student’s strengths to promote growth. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(j) The educator understands every student’s exceptional learning needs (both disabilities and giftedness) and develops personalized student plans to use strategies and resources to serve these needs. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(k) The educator knows about second language acquisition processes and understands how to incorporate instructional strategies and resources to support language acquisition that result in student learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(l) The educator understands that students bring assets for learning based on their personal experiences, abilities, talents, and prior learning, and peer and social group interactions, as well as language, culture, family, and community values. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(m) The educator knows how to access information about the values and norms of diverse cultures and communities and how to incorporate students’ experiences, cultures, and community resources into the facilitation of learning opportunities. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Critical Dispositions ** <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(n) The educator believes that all children can learn at high levels and is committed to helping all children reach their full potential. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(o) The educator respects students as individuals with differing personal and family backgrounds and various skills, abilities, perspectives, talents, and interests. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(p) The educator establishes an environment within which each student feels valued and helps students to learn to value each other. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(q) The educator values diverse languages and dialects and seeks to integrate them into his/her instructional practice to engage students in learning. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Standard #3: Learning Environments ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator works with learners to introduce a variety of learning environments within school, digitally, and within the community that support individual and collaborative learning, encouraging positive social interactions and active engagement in learning based on each students interests and passions. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Performances ** <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(a) The educator makes available a variety of learning experiences that engage students in collaborative and self-directed learning and that extend their interaction with ideas and people locally and globally. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(b) The educator collaborates with students to develop shared values and expectations for respectful interactions, thoughtful academic discussions, and individual and group responsibility that create a positive learning climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(c) The educator organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention to actively and equitably engage students in learning. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(d) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator uses a variety of methods to engage students in evaluating their learning environment and collaborates with students to make appropriate adjustments. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(e) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator communicates in ways that demonstrate respect for and responsiveness to the cultural backgrounds students bring to the learning community (e.g., appropriate use of eye contact, interpretation of body language and verbal statements, acknowledgment of and responsiveness to different modes of communication and participation). **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Essential Knowledge ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Essential Knowledge ** <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(f) **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator understands the relationship between motivation and engagement and knows how to make available learning experiences using strategies that build student self direction and ownership of learning. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(g) The educator knows how to help learners work productively and cooperatively with each other to achieve learning goals. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(h) The educator knows how to work with students to collaboratively set and monitor elements of various learning environments including norms, expectations, routines and organizational structures to assure access for each student. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(i) The educator understands how student diversity (e.g., culture, gender, exceptionalities) can affect communication and knows how to communicate effectively in differing environments. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(j) The educator understands how students use interactive technologies such as social networking and media and knows how to use them to extend the possibilities for student learning locally and globally. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Critical Dispositions ** <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(k) The educator is committed to working with students to establish positive and supportive learning environments. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(l) The educator values the role of students in promoting each other’s learning and recognizes the importance of peer relationships in establishing a climate of learning. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(m) The educator is committed to supporting students as they participate in decision-making, engage in exploration and invention, work collaboratively and independently, and engage in purposeful learning. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(n) The educator appreciates the cultural dimensions of communication and seeks to foster respectful communication and multiple perspectives among all members of the learning community. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">(o) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The educator is a thoughtful and responsive listener and observer.