NC Teaching Standard #3 - Teachers Know the Content They Teach

While I'm away today, moving into my new classroom (!), enjoy my thoughts on Standard #3 - Teachers know their content. (Can we all have a, "Well, duh?" moment? Ok, moving on.)

Standard 3 seems like a no brainer, but I've seen many teachers in my 10 year career who really don't seem to know their stuff.  Aside from class management, you should have a firm handle on the basics in your subject area(s). I know there are some things you refine in the trenches - but you shouldn't learn it for the first time there!  Here are the big ideas with Standard 3:

• Teachers align their instruction with the NCSCOS. 
• Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching speciality. 
• Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines. 
• Teachers make instruction relevant to students. 

I'm assuming the first bullet will be revised for the 2012-2013 school year, as NC will be adopting the Common Core Standards and using state developed Essential Standards for everything else.  Still, nothing earth-shattering there, right?  Here are things I used for artifacts:

• Lesson Plans
• Year Long Plan - This is a link from my "file cabinet." You may want to open it in a new window.
• SCOS Checklist - created for my colleagues who chose not to use my Year Long Plan, so they could ensure they taught the big ideas
• Connect to student interests (survey)
• "Hats off to Bloom's"
• Real-Life Math projects
• Math learning contracts in combination with pretesting for chapters
• Trial runs with Data Notebooking

 This standard makes a lot of sense to me.  I work hard during the school year and throughout the summer to refine my practices and increase my knowledge.  One of the reasons I've started blogging again was to create a network of like-minded professionals from whom I could learn.  I see a lot of overlap in this standard and in Standard 4 (Teachers Facilitate Learning for their Students.)  But we can talk about that tomorrow!