Teaching as a Profession II (TAP II) (2025)

Professionalism and 21st Century Skills

Teaching for Higher-Order Thinking

Communication

Instructional Modifications

Planning for Instruction

Literacy

Final Project

Professional Attributes: Develop a professionalism rubric with performance indicators for each of the following professional attributes:

Strategies that Promote Higher-Level Cognitive Skills: Investigate theories on instructional strategies and activities that promote the development of higher-level cognitive skills. Illustrate the alignment of Webb's Depth of Knowledge and/or Bloom's Taxonomy with teaching methods at each skill level.

Reflection Strategies: Research various reflection strategies and demonstrate how reflection strategies influence academic achievement and student understanding. Develop claim(s) and counterclaim(s) about the relationships between the use of reflection strategies, improvement of student understanding, and academic achievement.

Cooperative and Collaborative Learning: Research the major elements of successful cooperative/collaborative learning and their relationship to higher-order thinking skills. Design small group instructional activities incorporating those elements.

Classroom Communication and Student Learning: Evaluate the relationship between classroom communications and student learning, citing examples from case studies, instructional materials, and academic journals.

Effective Communication: Develop a communications rubric with performance indicators for effective verbal, non-verbal, written, and electronic communication. Create parent/guardian contact information forms and a draft agenda for parent conferences. Use the rubric to evaluate simulated parent conferences prior to the internship.

Scaffolding: Understand when scaffolding is needed to assist students in accessing grade­ level content by analyzing individual student's strengths and needs.

Classroom Modifications: Discuss and demonstrate modifications in the classroom to accommodate exceptional learners, including students with disabilities and those identified as gifted.

Curriculum Standards: Investigate relevant state curriculum standards and explain how they help guide teaching in order to affect learning.

Learning Objectives and Performance Indicators: Gather and analyze Tennessee course content requirements in different subject areas and grade levels. Compare and contrast examples of student learning objectives from different subject areas and grade levels. Analyze how each provides teachers with necessary expectations for instruction. Choose a specific standard to rewrite for clarity and measurability.

Design Principles: Analyze the design principles of high-quality instructional materials in literacy used in the state of Tennessee to engage students. Examples of criteria may include the following:

Lesson Planning: Research lesson preparation in multiple grade levels and subject areas. Analyze the typical components of lesson preparation documents used in Tennessee and identify a lesson preparation document that incorporates components such as the following:

Literate Environment: Using pedagogical strategies, create a literate environment that fosters reading by integrating foundational knowledge, use of instructional practices approaches and methods, curriculum materials, and appropriate use of assessment.

Literacy Instruction: Implement literacy instruction and assessment that reflect an understanding of developmental, cultural, and linguistic diversity.

Literacy Legislation: Research the legislation, policies, procedures, and resources implemented in Tennessee to address literacy.

Project: Apply knowledge from this course by demonstrating specific instructional strategies in a classroom situation. Document artifacts from the capstone project in the course portfolio. Demonstration of knowledge includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:

attendance/punctuality,

professional dress and behavior,

positive attitude,

collaboration,

honesty,

respect,

responsibility,

appropriate technology use, and

reflective teaching practice.

evidence-based practices,

grade-level standards,

progression of content or task,

access points,

content accuracy, and

student-centered.

content-area, Tennessee Academic Standards, and 21st Century Skills standards;

student learning objectives aligned to standards;

materials and equipment needed;

instructional activities;

pacing chart;

accommodations for special needs students;

closure/reflection; and

assessment.

implementing standards-based, subject-specific high-quality instructional materials for teaching students at multiple grade levels;

implementing standards-based lessons (created in this course) with small groups, using developmentally appropriate teaching strategies that promote student learning and higher-order thinking skills;

selecting and using multiple types of teaching methods;

creating a classroom floor plan designed to provide equitable access and maximize learning for all students;

evaluating student levels; and

establishing a positive classroom climate.