The lessons contained in this site attempts to adhere to and address all of the foundations of professional practice as outlined by the Ontario College of Teachers. In general, the following descriptions highlight how the standards of professional practice is addressed in typical lessons in the topic of digestive system and its disorders.
Commitment to Students and Student Learning:
Each lesson has been designed to address multiple intelligence, and different lessons will target different intelligence(s), in order to ensure no student is excluded from the participatory process and/or favored. Further, as an educator, it is always a best practice to review students I.E.P, if there are any in order to ensure lessons provides required modifications and/or accommodations. Also, one:one (1:1) conferences students will provide an opportunity for you as an educator to determine and assess your students' progress and chart out a course of action, if required.
Professional Knowledge:
There are number of resources being utilized in this lesson from a series of videos, online simulations/gizmos along with interactive activities demonstrate a required understanding of the current scientific research and practices in the field.
Leadership in Learning Communities:
Allowing hands-on dissection to take place is a step towards student-centered approach towards education. Students are given a numerous opportunities to experiment their learning with "authentic assessment" based on real-life application. Further, a trip to the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) and/or recommended outdoor activities are a prime examples of reinforcing professional knowledge.
Professional Practice:
Throughout four (4) lessons, there are unique teaching strategies being employed to facilitate a more structured lessons to meet needs of differently-able students to further explore a topic of digestive system and its disorders.
Ongoing Professional Learning:
There are numerous ways you can participate in the process of ongoing professional learning. For example, on Edmodo platform, there is a community of Science teachers, there are numerous science organizations (i.e., STAO) / communities through which teachers exchange resources and engage in a healthy dialogue in terms of best teaching practices around the world in the field of Science. Making an effort to reach out to these communities and organizations is an excellent route to explore. In addition, staying current with treatments and research around digestive disorders (i.e., technologies) is a must to provide students with a most-current foundational understanding of our progress as a human species.