Week 2 Assignment 4

Teacher: Mrs. Ester Schorr

Grade Level: 2

Mrs. Schorr is a veteran second grade teacher, having taught the grade for over twenty years; she is also a Literacy Coach who teaches many classes spanning from grade one through four. She is a sought-after educator and gladly gives advice to first-timers. Mrs. Schorr holds a Masters Degree in General and Special Education. To add to her many credentials, she is a part-time college professor.

Although she has taught for so many years, Mrs. Schorr spends hours preparing each lesson. She is always on the lookout for ways to improve her instruction and lesson content.

How do you plan the curriculum and lessons with the integration of technology?

First, I think about the unit I want to cover. I then think of the skills I want my students to gain. For example, I might be doing a literacy unit and focus on the inferencing skill. When planning the skills, I want to address, I first determine what level of the skill I want to teach, the grade level and level of the particular class I’m teaching. I think of the highest level of the skill and then plan the progression of the skill I want my students to reach. 

I choose the units I want to teach based on the core curriculum. I think about how many weeks I want to spend on the unit and how much time it needs in order to be covered. This is a very important aspect of lesson planning.

Once I think of the skills I want to address, I can then think about how I’d like to integrate technology. I took a six-week course to learn how to use the SmartBoard. I use the SmartBoard for word study and phonics games and word work. The SmartBoard is also a great tool for teaching math.

I think it is very important for teachers to be learners as well. There is so much information and professional development available for teachers to use to enhance their lessons.