Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SCED 499
Being a teacher is more than just knowing material within a specific content area. A
teacher’s knowledge should extend as they always seek to find ways to help students apply what
is being taught to real-world situations. InTASC Standard #5 states, “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”
(Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013, p. 27). In other words, a teacher should
understand how various lessons being taught can correlate to issues happening both locally and
globally. They should be able to help their students see the relevance of the information being
taught during class by challenging them to think critically about specific topics and learn from
Let us imagine that the assigned reading for a particular period is The Outsiders. Prior to
starting the text, the teacher gives students an assignment in which they research either a local or
global area and explore their class system. While reviewing the class systems, the students are
informed that they should take notes on the characteristics that surround the lowest class. These
notes will then be transferred to a Venn Diagram, and while students are reading The Outsiders
they will be responsible for comparing the Greasers to another low class in society today. This
assignment relates to InTASC Standard #5 because it forces students to make connections with
the 1960’s text to what is happening in society today. Students will be forced to employ critical
constantly exploring how to use disciplinary knowledge as a lens to address local and global
issues” (27). Within an English Language Arts classroom, the teacher may have students
complete a social justice project that can address a research issue that either affects their local
community or the global community. This project could happen while students are reading
novels such To Kill A Mockingbird, The House on Mango Street, The Crucible, or any other text
that allows for discussion about issues happening within specific communities. Through this
project, they could use skills learned such as researching and writing.
learning relevant to the real-world. When students can make connections on how information can
be applied to their lives, they are often more keen to paying attention and taking something from
the lesson.