LEARNER

AND
LEARNING
I N TA S C # 1
ERICA CONDON
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

INTASC STANDARDS
InTASC Standard #1: Learner Development:The teacher understands
how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and
development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic,
social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements
developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
InTASC Standard #2: Learning Differences:The teacher uses
understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities
to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet
high standards.
InTASC Standard #3: Learning Environments:The teacher works with
others to create environments that support individual and collaborative
learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in
learning, and self-motivation.

INTASC STANDARD #1:

LEARNER DEVELOPMENT
The teacher understands how learners grow and
develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and
development vary individually within and across the
cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical
areas, and designs and implements developmentally
appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
Each area of the standard above can be identified throughout this presentation based on the
following color coding descriptions:
Understanding of how learners grow and develop
Recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across
cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas
Designing and implementing developmentally appropriate and challenging learning
experiences

OBSERVATION MATRIX & SUMMARY

DOMAINS

Keontae
(Below
Target)

Physical
- Very (but overly) energetic
- Starting to go through puberty:
has had a growth spurt but his
voice has not dropped nor is he
gaining muscle
- Sexually active; soon to be
father
- Overall, on target

- Has gone through puberty, but

not experienced a growth spurt
(so maybe she will just stay
short?)
- Energetic and healthy, but
goes through mood swings that
bring down energy.
- Whether or not she is
interested in sex is
undetermined, but I know she
does not have a significant
other and often talks about
doing her own thing.
JNyjah
- Overweight and larger than
(At Target) both of her best friends (as one
has not full gone through
puberty) which definitely causes
her to be self-conscious at
times.

Branton
(Above
Target)

Social
- Craves adult attention, but
only to be the class clown
- Not interested in being
productive, would rather play
or sleep
-Extremely loud and
rambunctious
- Responds poorly to adult
lectures and participates in
eye-rolling, scornful facial
expressions, etc. described by
Wood (2007, p.168)

- Is becoming more mature

and willing to take advice and
corrections in a constructive
manner.
- Has a specific peer group of
best friends (two other girls)
whose group relies on loyalty
and trust.
- I have observed Ny when she
is fighting with her two best
friends and seen how
negatively her confidence and
personality were affected by
losing that social status and
peer group.
Respects my honesty and
straightforwardness with
regards to how she should
approach the situation and
how her confidence shouldnt
be defined by who she is
friends with.

Emotional
- Very little evidence of
adult personality;
immaturity is more
evident.
- Acts immaturely both at
home and at school,
showy risky behaviors by
getting in trouble with
both the administrators
and the law.

- Relies on her peer group

for support
Self-conscious about
physical appearance,
especially when being
compared to her closest
friends and being rated on
attractiveness my her
male peers
- Has built a strong
relationship with me as an
adult and take my
suggestions and guidance
when dealing with issues.
- Takes advice from adults,
and is willing to listen to
me tell her what it will
take for her to improve
both socially and
academically.
- Does not participate in
particularly risky behavior
and, from my
understanding, does not
reject parental standards
and expectations more
than others who are on
target in this domain.
- Only domain he seems to be
- Has grown out of
- Does not express
partially deficient in.
(or possibly never went
emotions in an
- Has energy, but does not use it through?) the loud and
exaggerated way like
in the hyperactive way that
rambunctious/obnoxious
many of my other
many teenage boys do.
stage.
students.
- Rarely misses school; never
- Is a star at school great
- It seems that his identity
missed school due to illness.
grades and behavior and,
has already started to
Participates in sports and other from what I am told, also a
develop as he is very
extracurricular activities
star at home
confident in himself and
- Has not yet experienced a
- Very involved with his church carries himself in a very
growth spurt or begun
community and their social
mature manner.
developing muscle, but his voice group, a more mature peer
- Though he is smaller
has gotten squeaky as if it will
group than most of the other than the other students,
be dropping soon.
14-year-old students I teach. he does not give off the
- Very much a good boy and
- Respects honesty and
vibe that he is selfdoes not seem particularly
straightforwardness from
conscious of his body.

Cognitive/Linguistic
- Does not calculate the
consequences of his actions
or behaviors.
-Does not show evidence of
thinking logically or
abstractly. Very literal
interpretations of both social
and academic concepts
(often incorrect
interpretations within the
academic realm).
- Never willing to admit error
and shuts down when urged
to try again.
- Generally does not like
learning.
- Understands the
consequences of her actions
and does not act out (most
of the time) because of that
understanding.
- Is able to think
hypothetically, abstractly,
and logically, but needs
prompting most of the time.
- Can self-analyze when
asked questions like What
do you want to achieve?
Will this behavior help you
do it? What could you do
differently?
- Will admit error and retry a
problems but, if she is in a
bad mood, may shut down.

- Clearly calculates the

consequences of his
thoughts and actions as his
behavior is never risky or
inappropriate
- Enjoys working through
difficult math problems and
learning multiple ways to
solve each using systematic
problem solving
- Has mastered many of the
fourteen-year-old curriculum
expectations in math.

My ability to make these observations

displays that I understand how my
students grow and develop
I observe my students and am able to
recognize that their patterns of learning
and development vary individually, even
though they are all the same age
This understanding allows me to attend to
all areas of growth when creating my
lessons
Example: To attend to the needs of
these three students across all
domains, I created a lesson that
incorporates a lot of hands-on
learning for Keontae, while pairing
him with a responsible student like
Branton that will help him with the
content and keep him on track.
Students who are at the stage of
development where they are self-

DEVELOPMENTALLY
APPROPRIATE TASK

In creating this task, I display my understanding of how learners grow and develop by giving
my students the opportunity to show mastery of the content in ways that are
developmentally appropriate yet challenging for them as individuals. In this assignment,
students are posed with the question if a student throws an object out of the classroom
window, how long will it take for the object to land on the ground? They must not only
derive a function that could be used to predict the answer to this question, but are required
to create an object and actually calculate the answer to the question using their derived
Monday
TuesdayformulaWednesday
Thursday
Friday
over the course of one
school week.

Project
Introducti
on
Research
potential
formulas

Egg Drop
Challenge:
Group
Planning
and
Discussion

Emotional/Social/Ling
uistic
Students must be able to take
their teammates perspectives into
account when planning a course
of action to meet the
requirements for all parts of this
assignment. In addition, group
reflection provides appropriate

Egg Drop
Challenge:
Group
Building

Create a
quadratic
function in
groups
Predict the
answer
algebraically

Cognitive
Students are required to
thinking logically and display
mastery of the math curriculum
expectations of 9th graders
including the visual, auditory,
and kinesthetic aspects of the
assignment and content.

Challenge Day: Did

we predict right?
Did we create an
indestructible egg
transporter?

Physical
Students participate in hands on
activities that get them out of their
seats and working In different
environments during each part of the
assignment. In particular, the
Challenge Day is particularly
eventual for students as they get the
opportunity to compare their
algebraic calculations to their