Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Alisha Carlin
National University
Teacher Interview
Due to the month we’ve had - my friend dying and my Mother-in-law being diagnosed
with cancer - I ended up interviewing my husband for this assignment. His name is Daniel Carlin
and he is in his first year of teaching and coaching at Vista Murrieta High School in the Murrieta
Valley Unified School District. Mr. Carlin teaches six periods of US History. His course is
designated for Juniors, but he does have a few Seniors who have had to repeat the course.
Vista Murrieta’s student population is just over 3,500 students. Ironically, the
demographics of his classroom fit the percentages of the school-wide demographics. 38% of the
students are Caucasian, 13% are Asian, 10% are African American, 33% are Hispanic and 6%
two or more races. Mr. Carlin does not have any ELs in his class, so I ended up using example
students who are actual students from my mentor teachers classroom that I am familiar and have
worked with.
Mr. Carlin is very familiar with National University’s Learning Map and uses its methods
every day to lesson plan. Mr. Carlin is usually a day or two ahead of his students because this is
his first year of teaching and he has nothing to reference. He is learning as he goes and is
definitely trialing everything he has learned from his credential program. As his wife and fellow
future colleague, it was fun to ask him questions about his planning process and how he makes
adjustments.
the standards for my unit and look to see if there are any mutual learning goals set by my
lesson has enough width and depth that can challenge students that are ahead of the
curve, but enough pieces that can bring those who are falling behind in. Making sure my
UDLs are covered so that students are getting multiple means of representation,
expression and engagement. Also making sure that I have enough scaffolding in place so
that those who may potentially struggle have something that will bridge those gaps.
3) In terms of content area knowledge, how do you decide on the target for a one-day lesson,
two-day lesson or an instructional unit of study over several days? When I’m planning my
unit I’m making sure I am hitting all of the standards. When it comes to individual lessons
plans, there may be one or two specific standards that I may be basing it around. In terms
of the unit or lesson, looking at prior knowledge and tying it back into previous lessons.
When I look at the unit, I am also planning ahead and looking how I am going to develop
4) In terms of your learners, what are some key things you always keep in mind when
have many ELs or 504s. My course is not AP or dual, so there is a pretty big mix of
students who care deeply for academics and see a lot of value in education but I also have
a lot of kids who are unmotivated. It is the balance of challenging the kids who
realistically could be in the higher level courses but chose not to but also needs to be at a
level where other kids will be engaged and won’t get up.
5) Do you plan for differentiation ahead of time and if so, what are you including in this
sources that require in-depth analysis and some students are not at that level and need
6) How about planning for differentiation while you are teaching? How about technology
my lesson plans online through Haiku (online school wide platform) and refer back to
them as needed. They can look at slides and resources ahead of time.
7) In terms of assessment, what are important areas you keep in mind when planning? Do
you prepare your assessments as part of your planning? Do you allow yourself to deviate
Our main assessments are DBQs (document based questions) which can be short answer
analysis or essay responses. Quizzes: vocab, reading, etc. And obviously unit tests and
presentations. For DBQs, lessons are based around these assessments. Generally for my
units tests, I will wait until the end of the unit to see what we actually covered and what
8) Finally, what is the importance, relevance and pertinence of planning for effective
lesson needs to first cover the standards, be engaging/relatable and lastly there should be
enough depth to the lesson that all students should be represented and be able to connect
9) Would you be so kind to share with me how you map out your planning or capture your
ideas or annotate them for instruction so I can see your instructional planning?
He lists the title, then the standard, then lists out his list of questions which are his
essential learning goals. Once the goals are established then he lists all of the academic
texts he needs to share (videos, documents, photos, sources, etc). From there he looks to
see if any modifications need to be put in place, particularly for the reading documents.
Then he creates activities to go along with the sources and then times out how long it will
take to get through each activity. Students watching video and responding to it, partner
discussion, reading through a document and responding, etc. So he has them timed out on
the paper and then adds in scaffolding for in-between or during activities. Then he has
some type of assessment at the end of class to see if students have accomplished the
learning goals and can answer the essential questions. That could be through a quiz,
Grade Level: 11
11.10 Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.
4. Examine the roles of civil rights advocates (e.g., A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther
King, Jr., Malcom X, Thurgood Marshall, James Farmer, Rosa Parks), including the
significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a
Dream” speech.
https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf
UDL Principles Engagement Representation Action & Expression
Small Group discussion Students will read two Reading the article and
where they will create a articles. Watch two watching the videos
Martin Luther King Jr. Followed by a class They will then share the
article and watching Engagement section for refer back to. Students
video of major life more detail on each will work in small groups
Rights Movement.
UDL Principles Engagement Representation Action & Expression
on the football and track School. Family speaks beginning of the school
team. Overly social and some English at home. year from China. Took
Chinese transfer
and fashion.
The importance of strong, rigorous planning for instruction is to help all students be
successful in and outside of the classroom. It is important that no child be left behind, especially
when a teacher can help to make changes to suit a specific students needs. Relationships are vital
to the success of a teacher. Knowing each of my students will help me to understand their
backgrounds, interests, strengths and desires. Just like in fashion, teaching for a wide variety of