Summary of Domain 3 – Instruction Domain 3 focuses on communicating with students, using questions and discussions in the classroom, engaging students in instruction, using assessments and demonstrating flexibly. Teachers need to communicate with their students every day to make learning clear and purposeful. Students must be given clear directions for class activities, so they know what is required. Teachers should try and link class instruction with other classes to make the content more engaging. Questioning and discussion should be instructional strategies and are central to the teacher’s practice. These techniques should be used to deepen the students’ understandings. Discussions should be lively and engaging to further understanding as well. Engaging students in instruction happens when the students are actively learning and understanding challenging content. Assessment is important to instruction, so the teacher can know where each student is in the instruction and see if there is something that needs further instruction. The teacher should be flexible and are able to demonstrate this when teaching a lesson that is not going the way they thought it would.
Why is Domain 3 important? Communication is key in a classroom. Teachers need to communicate with students to keep them feeling welcomed and, so they know the instructions and expectations. Without clear instructions, students will not be engaged in the learning. It is important for students to master the skill of asking questions and engaging in discussion, so it deepens their understanding. Questions encourage students to make connections and class discussions are needed to see if any students are struggling. Teachers need to know what the student understands and what they don’t understand. This is important, so teachers can give further explanations when needed. It is important for teachers to be flexible during the lessons they teach. The teacher should reflect back on their lesson and see what can be improve and what part the students struggled with the most. Teacher Perspectives A gifted teacher in York, PA using Domain 3 in her classroom daily.She communicates with her students every day, asking questions and encourages discussions. By using Nearpod and QR codes, she engages her students in the learning with this tech tools. She using assessments in learning by using an interactive whiteboard to both engage and assess students. Using ClassFlow, she can give a lesson and assessments during the lessons. She is very flexible in her lessons and reflects back on her teaching.
Gifted teacher involvement (continued) Domain 3 Clearly posted objectives and essential questions Written and spoken directions for things Closure to each lesson High order questioning Varying assignments and activities
Sources: The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument. (2017). Static.pdesas.org. Retrieved 7 December 2017, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_53.pdf Images labeled for reuse