Standard-4

home / Standard-1 / Standard-2 / Standard-3 / Standard-4 / Standard-5 / Standard-6 / Standard-7 / Standard-8 / Standard-9 / Standard-10

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage children's development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. Evidence 1:Integrating Taxes into your Understanding- HERO Coop classroom unit
 * Standard 4**
 * Teachers know how to teach. **

Rationale 1: This unit was designed to help my junior/senior HERO coop students(students who have a job/career interest related to family, children, food, health science, fashion, clothing or community) who must carry a part time job as a part of this class. Students learn about filing taxes through a simulated internet experience as well as face to face instruction and guest speaker. Students file a 1040EZ or learn proper filing techniques in order to file their taxes.

KSD The webquest I designed was so that students had diversified case studies in understanding how taxes are filed. Filing taxes information for this unit is utilized in student text, computer/internet, printed resources located from the library at tax time, and local expert tax preparer.
 * Knowledge**** 4.K.3 ** The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and technological resources (e.g. computers, audio-visual technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts, reference books, literature, and other print resources).

The neat part of this unit is the timing fits perfectly with students needing to file their taxes. Students are interested in getting MONEY!!! They actively work on the webquest and think critically to solve the problem each case scenario presents. Students are motivated to understand their resources to learn the process of filing.
 * Skills**** 4.S.2 ** The teacher uses multiple teaching and learning strategies to engage students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance capabilities and that help students assume responsibility for identifying and using learning resources.

In starting in high school to have students begin to understand filing yearly taxes, helping students to solve the questions of what forms to use, etc. and impacting students on such a personal need to help them feel confident and capable of completing the forms successfully filing taxes is such a great feeling.
 * Disposition**** 4.D.1 ** The teacher values the development of students’ critical thinking, independent problem solving, and performance capabilities.