Teacher Scott Houston Analysis

Educators around the world employ a number of strategies to engage the diverse learners in their classrooms. In any given classroom, students may be gifted and talented, speak several different languages or come from different socioeconomic classes. Students may have different educational backgrounds and different levels of learning. As a teacher, our job is to educate students despite the many differences they present. Teacher Scott Houston reaches all his students in a Biology lesson on the structure of DNA (Laureate Education, Inc, 2008). Much of what Mr. Houston does in class exhibits best teaching practices. In this essay, I will analyze and evaluate Mr. Houston’s classroom practices and his ability to create a learning environment that meets the needs of his diverse students.

NBPTS Standards During his lesson on the structure of DNA, Mr. Houston demonstrates that he knows the subject he teaches and how to teach it to students. He begins the lesson by making real world comparisons to nucleotides. Mr. Houston explains that individual groups can stand alone as their own element but also combine to make nucleotides. He further explains this concept by using students as the example.

Houston’ class provides evidence of a finely planned lesson. This is the biggest strength that Mr. Houston exhibits. Questioning techniques and informal assessments are seamlessly embedded into all areas of the lesson and students are always actively engaged. This is probably due in part to the fact that students anticipate the many assessment opportunities placed within the lesson. Students are attentive and are eager to show that they understand the concept. Many welcome the opportunity to share out in class and raise their hands to answer questions. The type of environment that Mr. Houston creates makes learning meaningful and safe for all students. This is a goal for many educators, and one that Mr. Houston has