Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching
Danielson's "blueprint" explains how a TEACHER can strategically level up to EDUCATOR.
What must an educator know? Why must an educator take specific steps?...
The Classroom Environment
(The image is of a wall in my award-winning decorated classroom)
This is Domain 2's environment and social synthesis goal.
WHAT? Establish a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures, organizing physical space, and managing student behavior.
WHY? Students learn best when they feel respected and understand exactly how the classroom functions on a daily basis.
The Instruction
(The image above is me teaching History class to freshman)
This is Domain 3's delivery and dynamic interactions goal.
WHAT? Clear communication, using questioning and discussion techniques, engaging students in learning, providing accurate feedback, and being flexible.
WHY? It ensures the content is understood, students are actively engaged, and their progress is consistently monitored.
The Professional Responsibility
(Above is an image of gradebook software used in many schools)
This is Domain 4's ethical and proven practices goal.
WHAT? Reflecting on teaching, maintaining, accurate records, communicating with families, participating in a professional community, and developing professionally.
WHY? It demonstrates a teacher's commitment to continuous growth, systemic collaboration, and advocacy for their students.
The Planning and Preparation
This is Domain 1 and its goal are; meticulous preparation, coherent lessons, designing effective assessments.
What? Know your content/pedagogy, knowing your students, setting clear instructional outcomes, creating and editing assessments.
This image on your left is an example of how I keep high school history students engaged. This image could be a lesson on "yellow Journalism" or the importance of voting, or the usefulness of the constitution. i could have the students pretend to be lawyers or judges or the parents. Which amendments would be used in this case and why? Do you know the history of the town's violent crimes and is there a pattern you can share with the parents, so they hire you to defend them?
There is a debate whether kids should learn "History" or "Social Studies". Well, the best of us know history IS social studies. When we take our exam to become a history teacher, they do not just ask us about deceased people and their experiences at certain events. We must actually KNOW, an insane number of events' causes and effects, geography factors, civics, economics, sociology and human development. We are even taught how to create tests, how to read maps and graphs, gather data from completed exams, research and create strategies that will help all the students retain more knowledge. History is your life while you are living it. People who do not make the connection that history is directly related to your quality of life will not be prepared to do well in society. Teachers know their life's work. Teachers pay attention to their students. Teaching is a priceless skill. The classroom is not the only option for teachers. It is a radical and visionary choice to agree to work 7 days a week for poverty wage pay, to teach kids things they think they DO NOT need to learn. Please be kind and patient with your teachers.
Why? Good teaching doesn't happen by accident. It requires intentional and targeted preparation.
This image on your left of all the workers and everyday people in the street would be an image many history teachers own a copy of. Accurate historical events captured can change overnight, or over hundreds of years later when new evidence is found. There is almost always a textbook shortage for schools "budget reasons". Even digital textbooks and virtual images are limited once you pay for those too. Access to all resources to study is hard to acquire. Monthly dues to journals and newspapers, biannual purchases of testing material samples, Copyright Restrictions on photos, quotes, music, cartoons. Even if a teacher works all summer to gather resources and write plans, there would still be an impossible number of tasks to be done. Everyday obstacles, like broken printers, no staples, chrome books repairs, stolen chargers, teachers out sick, printer has no toner, printer has no paper, parent meetings, student office hours. The teacher must still complete reading and categorizing the materials to be used, memorize about 132 students' names. Summarize data to support over 50%percent of the student population which disabilities and challenges.
One year I had two senior students as teaching assistants. I still had to come to work on Sundays or start work at home by 5 pm. Now, let's remember the teacher is an actual human being with a spouse, friends, family, pets, kids, other jobs to make ends meet, bills. medical needs, grocery time. A teacher sacrifices a lot of personal time and needs to get students resources for 10 months of the year. Time/Task priority and management is a professional and life skill at this point in one's career.
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