Artifact Six

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Standard #5 Educators implement effective practices in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting

Artifact: Narrative Rubric

Context	This artefact represents a method of assessment that I used for my students. This rubric was made and shared with the students prior to them starting their own narrative. It was used to show students what was required when they wrote their own narrative and students could use it as an assessment as. Students also were able to use the rubric to help a friend assess and improve their work and after students self assessed I used the same rubric to mark the narratives.
Detailed Observations	Students were on task during narrative writing and sharing the rubric led to not having any major classroom management issues. Students were on task because they knew what was required of them and using an example showed them what a good narrative should look like. Students also could improve on their narrative while they wrote using the narrative rubric as a guide so there was also a high level of student achievement. Students were also not surprised when it was my turn to assess and return their marks because they already had a pretty good idea of where they fell on the rubric.
Linking Theory with Practice	From my assessment class at the university I learned that it is important to include assessment as, for, and ofs to help student achievement. I saw hoe this was demonstrated in using a rubric. By giving students the opportunity to see how they are being assessed before, and while, they work on a product students can achieve a higher level of success in their final product. It is also important for students to have the opportunity to review and revise their work after receiving peer or teacher feedback. Using this rubric provided opportunities for students to do all of these things.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	There were a few different outcomes to this activity. Some students were very interested in using the rubric and made sure to read each requirement for the assignment. Other students did need quite a bit of assistance with the rubric because it was a new format, but I believe that with more practice using this assessment model all students would be able to use it effectively. Using the example and marking it with the whole class was a very valuable aspect of sharing the rubric with the students because they had a good example to measure their own writing against even if they had trouble using the rubric at first. Students felt more pride in their narratives because they were able to see where it fit on the rubric, and they could add more or change it to move it to exceeding territory.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	This artefact provides a good representation of the knowledge, dispositions, and performances of Standard #5. I learned from using this form of assessment that it needs to be explicitly taught to the students on how to use the rubric, but once they understand it is very effective. I will definitely continue to use rubrics in my assessment practices and I believe that using this form of assessment and sharing it with students also helps with classroom management, instruction, evaluation, and reporting. In the future, once my students are comfortable with using the rubric for assessment, I would really like to have students involved in creating their own rubric for assessment, or creating one as a class. I think that would help make students take even more control of their own learning, which is important for assessment.

Artifact Five

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Standard #3 Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development

Artifact: Whiteboard Matching “Link”

Context	I had a very diverse group of students. There were twelve students in the class that we English Language Learners and I also had students on IEPs and a split grade 2/3 class. It was important when starting a lesson to do some review on what we had covered in the previous lesson of the unit to refresh students with what they already new, and to remind them of some of the vocabulary. This was a matching exercise that I had students look at and try to decide on their own what ones they would match, I then let students share with a partner and then had students come up and volunteer to draw in the correct lines.
Detailed Observations	I often used different activities to refresh the students and to get them engaged in the lesson. I used matching, brainstorm charts, and group discussions. Sometimes I even posed a question for students to try to answer before we started the lesson and the goal was to be able to answer it by the end of the lesson. This matching exercise was one of the more effective methods of getting students involved and having students come up to the board to draw the lines was part of the excitement.
Linking Theory with Practice	Having effective “links” at the beginning and end of lessons was something that was stressed to be very important to students throughout our planning courses with Sheryl Macmath. It helps students start the lesson off in a zone where they are comfortable and reviewing their background knowledge. Then when you move the students into their zone of proximal development where you are stretching them to learn and to think about new ideas. This first link is an important link in the growth and development of the student’s learning. It is important as a teacher to scaffold the new learning on what the students already know and by starting with a good link you can see what the students know right away, or possibly you need to spend more time on the knowledge of previous lessons. A final review link should not be forgotten as well to help review and round the lesson off.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	Having an interactive review at the beginning of the lesson was a great way to great students involved right away at the start of a lesson. I pulls students right in to what the lesson is. Once students are on track it is more effective to then deliver the new material. Students continue from where they are instead of feeling like they are just jumping into the middle of something that they do not understand. It led to better student engagement and involvement and less student frustration. Some students did still have a hard time matching the harder concepts like condensation and evaporation in this matching exercise so I got students to either try again or ask a friend, then I also knew that a little more review on those concepts had to be added into the lesson of the day so every students was current with the information.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	I found using solid links very effective in my classroom and I think making a variety of links also helped keep students interested and excited about the information. I think the matching exercise is a good representation of the knowledge, dispositions, and performances of BC Standard #3. It shows teacher sensitivity to the different learning needs of the students in the class and helps the teacher make decisions about instruction, assessment, and classroom management. It is a great way to set the classroom up for an effective lesson and it is something that I will continue to incorporate into my lessons to come.

Artifact Four

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Standard #4 Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools

Artifact: Family Math Night

Context	Many of the math methods that we are using in schools today are new and different than when many parents were attending elementary school. There is a strong focus on mental math and on students understanding the process, not just memorizing the facts and algorithms. Some parents are lost of confused when they try these methods at home or when they try to support there children with their homework. Parents can become frustrated and miss how important and useful these new techniques are. It is important for parents to be on board with what the schools and the teachers are doing to fully support student achievement.
Detailed Observations	Parents were very interested in learning the methods that we were using to teach the students two and three digit addition. Instead of “carrying the one”, which is really “a ten”, students are encouraged to add on paper how they could add mentally. Stepping away from this helps students to see exactly how all of the numbers are combined instead of having a hovering one that does not really make sense unless you just memorize an algorithm. Parents watched a number of demonstrations and even completed some examples with the guidance of our group of grade three teachers. Many parents saw the value in this new process of addition.
Linking Theory with Practice	It is really important as teachers to have the support of parents and families. If the parents or families of our students do not value what is being taught in our classrooms there is a high possibility that the student will not value it either. It is also important for the parents to be able to help support their students with content, when they can, to help students achieve to the best of their ability. By bringing parents into the school to teach them what we are teaching their students it helps keep them connected and helps them see the value in what is being taught in the classroom.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	The Family Math Night for addition brought out a large crowd of eager parents. The night started off with the parents in a separate room where we taught them addition strategies that we were using in the school. The parents found the strategies effective and were also able to voice any questions or concerns. The parents were thankful for the time that was set aside to help bring them into the same style of learning as their children. After this formal instructional time the parents and students were then separated into groups that circulated between a couple different classrooms. Each classroom had a different addition game that helped the students and parents practice the skills that were learnt. At the end of the night students got a goody bag of games to take home to continue playing and practicing with their families. The math night was an extreme success with 100% of parents and students saying that they would like to have another one.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	Since the night was such a success I believe it is a great example of how parents can be brought into the community of the school. This night was largely a collaboration between all of the grade 3 teachers at the school. It is was a lot of work to organize and set up but it was definitely worth it. I hope that when I find a position at a school I can organize something similar with the teachers at the same grade level. If not then it is something that, with principal support, I would like to do with possibly even just the parents of my own class.

Artifact Three

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Program Value #4 Reflective Practice

Artifact: Post Conference Form

Context	I had many observations and lessons that went really well over my practicum experience. The students in my class were eager and involved students that were curious and excited about new material. During one of my Formal Observations with my FM I had a Math lesson that did not go according to plan. Students were not connecting with the concepts that I was trying to teach and were off task and unfocused. As a Student Teacher I was discouraged but after discussing the experience with my FM during our Post Conference he reminded me that bad lessons do happen. I managed to revise the lesson and re teach it the next day with great success.
Detailed Observations	Previous to this difficult teaching experience I did not fully see the value in reflecting. I thought that reflecting was more of a regurgitation of the series of events and did not fully see the value in digging a little deeper. Since many of my lessons had gone well reflecting was more of a focus on what went well than on what should I reflect on and change.
Linking Theory with Practice	Through our Reflective Practice class at the University self reflection was stressed as an important attribute for Student Teachers, as well as for any Teacher. Reflecting is something that can help you look inwardly and can help more your practice forward by self evaluation and self correcting your own practice. This process was especially valuable after this lesson that did not go according to plan. If I had not stopped to reflect and to think about what might have gone wrong in the lesson, perhaps I would have made the same mistake in lessons to come. I would have possibly just kept pressing forward and students might have missed an important component in their understanding of multiplication. It was important to reflect on what did go well in the lesson as well and to continue to use that moving forward.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	By having this more difficult lesson I realized that to keep students engaged it is really important to keep them in their zone of proximal development. This lesson did not work well because some students had absolutely no idea what they were doing and some students were completely bored.  The lesson was on arrays and some students had not had enough time with the manipulatives to understand the connection between the snap cubes and the   rows of dots on the page. Other students were bored because we were only   doing multiplication by 2 and they already knew how to answer the questions   through mental math and could not see the value in the assignment. By understanding what went wrong in the lesson I was able to take the students   back to the manipulatives to show the connection with the rows in the arrays. I also made a regular and a challenge multiplication question for students to chose and to challenge those students that needed it. Students were back on track and could see the value of using arrays for multiplication once their understanding was scaffolded in this way.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	Self reflection is a hard but valuable task when there have been problems in a lesson. Without self reflection the same problems would continue to arise throughout other lessons. It is good to self reflect on both what works and what doesn’t work to create a more rounded understanding of my own professional practice. Different things work for different teachers and I need to find those things that work for my own teaching and for my own students. By continuing to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of my lessons I can continue to develop myself as a teacher.

Artifact Two

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Program Value #2 Integration of Knowledge and Practice

Artifact: Classroom Posters

Context	This artifact is important because it represents the visual aids that help all learners. Having a diverse class with 12 ELL students, one student designated with an intensive behaviour category, two students were on IEPs, and two were of Aboriginal status.  Since there were so many different levels and abilities in my classroom it was important to have strategies in place to help support all of these diverse learners. After attending a Pro-D Day session on Visual Supports for Learners I decided to take this seriously in my own classroom to target students of all abilities.
Detailed Observations	Right of the bat you can tell that my classroom is diverse. After teaching the students you begin to realize just how diverse the students really are. Some students can work individually and focus directly on the task at hand after having only verbal instructions. Many students needed the instructions written out and demonstrated as well. It was hard for many of the students to understand a task if there was no visual piece. Students often worked better when they had a visual point of reference to help them work. This freed me up, as the teacher, to give more direct instruction to the students that were really struggling, even after having oral and visual support.
Linking Theory with Practice	From both my ELL and Specials Needs courses at UFV I learned that visuals are very helpful to many different learners. This idea was also highlighted during the Visual Supports Pro-D day. Students that have the visual support are often able to understand and remember things better. Also, for ELL students it is really important for them to get the correct vocabulary for the different content areas. By having posters available around the room for students to access they could look at the posters while they were working to check their spelling and to remind themselves of the main ideas and key points of the units that we were working on. Students did not have to feel pressure to memorize everything but had freedom to access the posters as a support when it was needed.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	There were many useful outcomes to this classroom activity. First of all students were able to access the posters all the time, so when students were sitting on the carpet waiting for the next activity, they could read the posters. The posters also helped the students that had difficulty formulating their own ideas to participate in class discussions. I would ask the students a question and hands would go up. Some students would glance at the poster to double check their answers after their hand went up, while others would look at the poster first to help them find an answer. This led to more classroom participation from the students that did not normally feel comfortable participating. Slowly students would feel more confident in the material and would not even need the support at all anymore.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	This artifact represents a solid understanding of the knowledge, dispositions and performances of the Teacher Education Program Value #2. It shows how something as simple as creating a poster can help, not only the struggling students, but all students. The posters were something that my TM did and it took me a little while to implement them into my own teaching during immersion. Once I did take the time to put the posters up I realized just how valuable they really were for the students. In the future I would not delay on putting up content focused posters so that students could get used to seeing vocabulary and ideas right away. Just seeing how useful they were to the students was something that convinced me that this will be something used in my classrooms to come.

Artifact One

REFLECTION/RATIONALE FRAMEWORK: Program Value #5 Social Justice

Artifact: Tradition Tree

Context	This artifact was collected after doing a lesson on culture and traditions. This project was done near the beginning of full immersion in my grade 2/3 class. I had students take home a worksheet to discuss with their parents about some traditions that they celebrate in their family. It was important for the assignment that students discussed with their families and that the family was involved in explaining why it is a tradition that is celebrated and how it was important to the family, and to the individual student.
Detailed Observations	My practicum class is very diverse, with many different cultures. I also learned from different conversations with teachers in the school that there was sometimes a cultural barrier between some of the different cultures, and misunderstanding did sometimes arise. Through this activity it was great to see the variety of traditions that were celebrated in the different families. Students were also excited and interested to learn about traditions that are not present in their own families, but that were important to students from other, or even the same, cultures. It served as a bridge between some of the different cultures and to see how similarities and differences help to make us all unique.
Linking Theory with Practice	From my Social Justice course at UFV I learned that identity is a huge piece of a students success in school. Students that are proud of their identity are often more involved in the classroom environment. Students that feel confident and secure often feel that they can share in class discussions and participate in the various classroom activities. It is very important to provide a classroom environment that promotes inclusivity and individuality to promote the academic achievement for all students. This exercise was important for my students to be able to see how their differences and similarities make them unique and interesting. It led students to dig a little bit deeper into their own identity and it also led them to learn something a little deeper about their fellow classmates, which helped to foster our inclusive classroom setting.
Interpreting Causes and Effects	There were many useful outcomes to this classroom activity. First of all students had the opportunity to understand traditions and why they are important. Secondly, they learned more about their own culture and about the cultures of others. Lastly students also had the opportunity to discuss differences and similarities in traditions with other students and then wrote a journal entry as a response. Students were encouraged to find at least one similarity and one difference in their families. This created an environment of respect between students and a deeper understanding of the importance of culture and tradition.
Self Assessment and Professional Planning	This artifact represents a solid understanding knowledge, dispositions and performances of the Teacher Education Program Value #5. I learned how many students are uncertain or unaware of some of the things that make them an individual. At this level many students look at their own family or culture as the norm and as students from different cultures as the other. This project was very important from a Social Justice standpoint because students were able to step outside of that mindset and to see, on a very basic level, how cultural diversity is interesting and exciting. It opened students up to learn something from their classmates and it also gave me the opportunity to learn about my students. It is definitely something that I would do again in my future classrooms.