Standard+4

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The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage children’s development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
 * Standard 4: // Instructional Strategies. // **


 * Evidence**

The “Planning a Trip Around the World” activity I developed for our fifth grade’s study of time zones has students traveling the world by airplane. In pairs, students are asked to travel the world and record the local time when they land. They need to take in account how long the trip was and how many time zones they crossed to come up with the local time. I developed the activity and SMART lesson to give students a global perspective of time zones compared to our curriculum’s focus on the continental U.S. Without this I observed that students often didn’t realize the whole world was broken into time zones. Students came out of the activity and lesson with a better grasp of time zones throughout the world but more importantly, were more accurate in their calculation of time while crossing time zones. I noticed that once students had a grasp of how and why the world is divided into time zones their performance on the assignments and especially the topic test improved.
 * Rationale**


 * KSD:**

Throughout the SMART lesson and “Planning a Trip Around the World” activity I demonstrate my knowledge of how to use technological resources by incorporating websites that show different time zone maps. Some maps include the current time within each time zone. I also use an online air travel calculator in the activity so students are active in finding all the necessary information to complete the activity.
 * 4.K.3 The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and technological resources (e.g. computers, audio-visual technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts, reference books, literature, and other print resources).**

The SMART lesson and activity demonstrates my use of additional materials and an alternative explanation to assist students in learning the original objective of working with time zones in the United States. The maps, websites, and activity provide student an opportunity to see U.S. time zones in a different perspective.
 * 4.S.5 The teacher develops a variety of clear, accurate presentations and representations of concepts, using alternative explanations to assist students’ and presenting diverse perspectives to encourage critical thinking.**

The “Traveling the World” activity demonstrates my value to have students think critically and solve real world problems. Students must use tools and knowledge learned in class to complete a trip around the world with accurate times.
 * 4.D.1 The teacher values the development of students’ critical thinking, independent problem solving, and performance capabilities**