Standard #3 Artifact Title: Power and Energy Class Power Point Date of Artifact: Spring Semester, 2014 Artifact

Description: This artifact occurred during my student teaching at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School during the 2014 spring semester. One of the classes that I taught was a Power and Energy class. I decided that the fourth quarter in this course should be all about electricity. One of the things that I had to keep in mind for this topic was the diversity of the class. One unit that I made was on Ohms law and calculating different voltages and currents in circuits. Some of the students in my class were concerned because they felt they were weak with math, while others were more comfortable with their math skills. I had to take this into account when planning how to approach various lessons as well as allowing for extra time in the schedule for difficult topics if needed. Alignment Reflection: This artifact best aligns with Wisconsin State Teaching Standard #3: The teacher
understands how pupils differ in their approaches to learning and the barriers that impede learning and can adapt instruction to meet the diverse needs of pupils, including those with disabilities and exceptionalities. The diversity Standard fits well with this artifact because I had to use different approaches for teaching the math that was required for the electricity units. I had to be aware of students varying levels of comfort with math and utilize various techniques to ensure all students were grasping the concepts whether they were strong in math or not. I started teaching the class using a PowerPoint and got the students to discuss different parts of electricity. I broke down the large concepts into smaller parts, getting the students to first understand the variables for electricity. In electricity, V stands for voltage, I stands for current, and the R stands for resistance. I used this as the stepping stone to get the students to understand the math that was to come so that it would hopefully be easier for them to grasp. Another things that I told students was to always write down the equation V=IR. If they wrote this equation down for every problem that I gave them, they could simply fill in the equation and solve for the missing variable. This method proved to be difficult for some students because they could not remember parts of the equation. To help these students, I had to think of another way to teach them the concept and I remembered the electricity triangle. I told them to make a triangle with the letter V at the top of the triangle, and then write I in the bottom left corner and an R in the bottom right. From there I told them put your finger over the letter you want to figure out, and write down what you are left with. Once I showed students they could use this method if it made more sense to them than the formula, I could see the little light bulbs turning on and they understood it. After finally getting the entire class on the same page with the math involved with electricity, we could move on. In the future, I will make sure that I have several ways of teaching students how to calculate other equations for this class. While formulas work for some students, particularly those with strong math backgrounds, I have found that taking a more visual approach helps reach the remainder of the students who may not view math as their strong suit.

UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Alignment: KSD3.e This artifact best aligns with KSD3.e: The candidate has the ability to make appropriate adjustments to his/her instruction and accommodates students questions and interests while being aware of student differences and difficulties, and can use a wide range of resources and strategies to meet all students needs in the classroom. My experience reflects this KSD in particular because I had to be aware of the students differences in mathematical abilities in order to ensure all students would understand my electricity unit. It is extremely important to know how your students perform in other classes when planning your own lessons. Mr. Teunissen, my Co-op teacher, advised me to always be aware of the abilities of the students when planning out my own curriculum. I frequently ran my plans by him just to make sure that what I was planning on doing would be effective. When I was first creating my lessons for this unit, I figured that it would go smoothly -- no questions or problems would arise --but things did not end up turning out this way. Since then, I learned to plan on including different teaching techniques and strategies especially when dealing with difficult concepts. This way I make sure that each individual student will be able to learn the way he or she learns best.

Secondary alignment: KSD3.a, KSD3.c

Personal Reflection What I learned about teaching/learning from this experience: What I have learned about teaching/learning from this experience is that all students learn things differently and that I have to be able to adapt my lesson plans to accommodate for different types of learners. This experience related to me personally as well. When I was in high school I often needed visual aids to be able to best understand concepts just like some of my students needed the extra drawing of the electricity triangle to best understand Ohms Law. In the future, I will always make sure that I have different ways to approach lessons to accommodate how each student learns best. I will include a visual way of teaching lessons whenever possible to reach those students who learn best in this manner. What I learned about myself as a prospective educator from this experience: The most important thing that I have personally learned as a prospective educator from this experience would be to always be well prepared. There is no such thing as being over-prepared. I will plan on having several ways to teach each lesson for the students who may not understand the material in the initial way it is presented. I believe that understanding this concept for teaching, especially in the Technology Education field, is extremely important. In most cases, classes contain a very diverse set of learners. Each student learns differently, and I have seen the importance of adapting my lessons to meet these diverse needs.