Standard #1: 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 leaning experiences.
Rationale: Identifying the various stages of learner development and the factors that influence the growth of students is crucial to the success of all learners. In this essay completed during the Ed Psych course, I had the opportunity to interview a student with questions geared towards the student’s interests in school. The responses collected from each question were compared to research on cognitive and behavioral development in the student’s age demographic. The comparison shows connections that can be used to determine material that is developmentally appropriate for a given grade level or age group.