2.5 Lesson Resources

2.5 Lesson Resources: The teacher obtained and employed resources appropriate for the lesson.

Resources can include visual or presentation tools, such as PowerPoint, white boards, photos, videos, models, or visual organizers. Resources can also consist of the materials the students are supplied with during the lesson, such as calculators, computers, laboratory materials and equipment (including safety equipment), textbooks, manipulatives, construction paper, scissors, tape, etc. Other resources can be worksheets, quizzes, lab sheets, etc., that the teacher plans to use as part of the lesson. When rating this indicator, particular attention should be paid to the ways in which the teacher uses all kinds of technology or lab and/or safety equipment appropriately to enhance student learning.

This indicator captures the degree to which the teacher has chosen and uses appropriate resources to successfully implement the lesson. The evidence gathered should demonstrate that the teacher carefully selected resources that enhance the learning opportunities of the students, while avoiding resources that serve as distractions (i.e., the addition of unneeded or irrelevant manipulatives to a lesson or showing videos that are visually appealing or interesting but unconnected to learning objectives) or compromise the lesson’s objectives (i.e., allowing students to use calculators to produce trend lines instead of having them draw their own graphs and think through the most relevant function based on the data collected). We recognize that the resources allotted to a classroom may not always be under the teacher’s control. However, raters should rate the quality and use of resources without concern for the degree of control the teacher had over what he/she was given.

General Rubric

1. This item should be rated a 1 if one or more of the resources chosen for the lesson was highly inappropriate or negatively impacted student opportunity to learn.
   
    
2. This item should be rated a 2 if one or more of the resources chosen for the lesson occasionally negatively impacted student opportunity to learn, and/or if there were clearly more appropriate and effective resources that could have been chosen.
   
    
3. This item should be rated a 3 if the resources were adequate for the purposes of instruction. None of the resources disrupted student learning, but none of the resources noticeably enhanced learning through their use and implementation.
   
    
4. This item should be rated a 4 if there was evidence that the specific resources selected by the teacher were appropriate and enhanced student learning. There may have been a small missed opportunity or minor problem with resource use or there may have been a small instance of limited access to the resources appropriate for each stage of the lesson.
   
    
5. This item should be rated a 5 if there was significant evidence that the teacher had carefully selected resources to enhance student learning and that these resources were effective, accessible, and appropriate for this purpose.

Specific Examples of Supporting Evidence

Science

1. The lesson was designed to introduce the biology class to the molecular structure of DNA and build understanding about the concept of heredity, and the teacher showed a video about the migration of sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean. Although entertaining, the video made no references to the structure of DNA as the fundamental basis for heredity.
   
    
2. The resources chosen by the teacher for the lesson on DNA structure and the process of replication included materials for making a model with different-colored paper clips, which the teacher put together on the overhead projector while students took notes at their desks. It was difficult for students to see the different colors on the overhead and many seemed confused by the “rules” the teacher was using to construct her demonstration model.
   
    
3. The resources chosen by the teacher for the lesson on DNA structure were some modeling kits that allowed students to construct double strands of DNA, open them up, and prepare messenger RNA strands from the DNA templates. The teacher had prepared instruction sheets with clear diagrams for the students to see how to put the pieces of the model together.
   
    
4. The resources chosen by the teacher for the lesson on DNA structure were some modeling kits that allowed students to construct double-stranded DNA molecules and the correlated messenger RNA strands from these templates. In addition to instructions for the model kits, the teacher also provided a short video clip showing replication and transcription processes.
   
    
5. The resources for this lesson on the structure of DNA and the biochemical processes of heredity were as those described in number 4 above, but the teacher also provided students with a simulation of DNA replication and transcription that they could use to create their own coded sequences and create their own corresponding mRNA strands. Students could choose which (or both) modeling systems to use to explore and develop their understanding of this concept.

Mathematics

1. During this mathematics lesson, the teacher brought the students to a computer lab to do research for a project using graphing software. During the 20 minutes where the teacher explained the instructions and expectations and reviewed relevant concepts, many students surfed the web at their computers. This continued after the introduction was completed and when students were given time for independent work. The teacher explicitly allowed students who finished early to play video games on their computer, and these students were very disruptive to others who were not yet finished.
   
    
2. This was a seventh-grade class, and the teacher reviewed decimal addition and subtraction using base-10 blocks. This did not seem like an appropriate resource for the level of the students, and a few students were playing with their blocks without paying attention to the teacher.
   
    
3. The resources chosen for this algebra lesson were an overhead projection device and a marker board, which were used by the teacher as she delivered a lecture and went over selected problems. The students seemed able to read and understand the work the teacher was going over and took notes dutifully. From time to time, the teacher called on students to come up to show their work on the overhead projection system, which the students readily volunteered to do.
   
    
4. For a lesson on surface area, the teacher had chosen a variety of everyday objects that represented important three-dimensional solids. The teacher also prepared and handed out cut-out paper shapes for each group of students to “unfold” to see how they could figure out the formula for surface area for each shape. For example, students were challenged to calculate and cut out the material needed for a label for a soda can using the formula for the surface area of a cylinder. Overall, these resources were quite engaging for students, although a lot of students used the provided markers to spend time decorating their label rather than listening to the teacher.
   
    
5. The students were making presentations for a multi-day mathematics project they had been working on. The teacher had a variety of resources like paper, markers, graph paper, etc., so they could make physical posters, but the teacher also provided students access to computers with software so they could create digital presentations with graphics and embedded videos. The technology resources also allowed the students to use some simulation software for exploration and presentation. These resources chosen by the teacher provided to them multiple ways to communicate their results in the most clear and informative way possible. The students were developing very high-quality presentations as a result.