Bryan Van Pelt's bportfolio

        Standard 9 states teacher leaders evaluate and use effective curriculum design. To accomplish this learning goal, I took the course Curriculum Design in the the summer of 2018.   From this course I learned how to properly design a unit of instruction within a music context. One interesting aspect is that this course was taken simultaneously as I completed my Kodaly certification (a specific pedagogical style of music education).   Both my Kodaly course and the Curriculum Design course focused around planning large music units.           Prior to the Curriculum Design course I had two main thoughts.   First, I knew I had a lack of comprehensive unit planning, specifically in the middle school area.   My training and coursework thus far in my career did not prepare me for middle school general music, something that is highly uncommon. I have been designing the curriculums in a “tr...

Reflection: Standard 11 states teacher leaders utilize formative and summative assessments in a standards based environment.   To gain knowledge and skills surrounding this important aspect of teaching, I engaged in a multitude of learning activities in the course “Standards-Based Assessment”.   Prior to EDU 6613 I knew my assessment practices needed some adjustments.   The school in which I work, already uses standards-based grading, and we have received quality instruction on how to best implement this assessment style.  However I still did not feel confident in the ways I assessed students.   After the first couple weeks of the class I formulated two areas of focus for my teaching and assessment practice.   These two areas are: 1) Communicating learning expectations to students. 2) Giving effective feedback in diverse ways. Students in my class have voiced their concerns on “why do we need to know this?”.   Something I put in the ...

Course goals/Program Standards:  Standard #9:  evaluate and use effective curriculum design Prior Thoughts:         Prior to this course I had two main thoughts.  First, I knew I had a lack of comprehensive unit planning, specifically in the middle school area.  My training and coursework thus far in my career did not prepare me for middle school general music, something that is uncommon. I have been designing the curriculums in a “trial by fire” method and relying on student feedback to implement necessary changes.  Second, I reflected on my assessment methods and realized I rely too heavily on a couple of assessments.  My methods are not diverse enough to ensure all students have an opportunity to display their learning in a manner that suits them.  Reflection: Through completion of EDU6524 I have gained new perspective on curriculum design.  The three big takeaways I will implement within my teaching are as follows...

Course goals:  1) to develop a sense of assessment vocabulary and conversation, and 2) to define and implement a strong understanding of sound classroom assessment practice and experiences within an authentic classroom context. Teacher Leadership Standard: Standard 11: Utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards-based environment Response : Prior to EDU 6613 I knew my assessment practices needed some adjustments.  The school in which I work, already uses standards-based grading, and we have received quality instruction prior to implementation, on how best practice principles regarding this assessment style however I still did not feel confident in the ways I assessed students.  Even though the two areas of weakness come before and after the assessment, these two areas of improvement are apart of the larger assessment field.  These two areas are: 1) Communicating learning expectations to students. 2) Giving effective feedback in d...