STANDARD 4: CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and

structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning
experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and
meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

MY ARTIFACT THAT SUPPORTS THIS STANDARD:

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Problem Solving Worksheet

What the standard means:

Standard 4 goes beyond simply knowing what you are teaching. As a teacher, there
are many tools one must have to get students to a point of wanting to learn. These tools
may be engagement through questioning or scaffolding a lesson to probe for student
background experience. Teaching requires much more than knowing the content, it
requires a teacher to know how to get students eager to learn and driven to succeed
with the topic they are being taught.
Why the artifact was chosen & how it is an appropriate representation of standard
#4:
The artifact I chose to represent Standard #4 is a problem solving worksheet. The
objective of the worksheet is to solve word problems by writing an equation. The
attention grabber for my students, was that I had told them there are multiple ways to
solve these problems. This immediately sent them on a "hunt" to find the various
strategies that we had learned in our lessons leading up to this worksheet. They were
eager to find the most unique strategy to solve the word problems. This eagerness to
learn and solve problems was a very positive and collaborative experience for my
students. It showed me that they have learned and retained a wide variety of strategies
while in math class, and this proved to me that they are on their way to mastering this
content. The approaches my students had taken to these word problems demonstrated
higher order thinking in which they had to not only evaluate their word problems, but
also support it with more than one way to solve it. The thought processes, and critical
thinking skills I saw come to life, were simply amazing.
How this artifact demonstrates my growth and development as a teacher:

My artifact is a clear depiction of how I approach learning in the classroom. I

often take on the role of a student while I am teaching. Once I have taught
content and strategies to navigate this content, I allow my students to put on their
teacher "hat." In doing this, I am able to gauge what my students are learning
and how they understand it. At times, I am able to better understand the central

concepts of what I am teaching because of a students explanation. This

demonstrates that I am a teacher who is willing to make sure my students grasp
a concept and not only know it, but are able to share it with others and apply it to
their lives. I strive to make the content I teach, both rigorous, yet applicable.
STANDARD 5: APPLICATION OF CONTENT
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage
learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local
and global issues.

MY ARTIFACT THAT SUPPORTS THIS STANDARD:

Life in a Pioneer Iowa Home

- Click rubric to view the rubric used for the project
- Click here to view images of student-created Iowa pioneer homes

MY REFLECTION:
What the standard means:
When it comes to preparing a lesson, any lesson, it is crucial that a teacher realizes the
need for real life connections. Just as stated in Standard #5, teachers should be implementing
concrete, real life connections into their teaching. This creates opportunities to critically think
and engages learners in collaborative leadership and problem solving depending on the topic.
Without opportunities to relate education to a real life issues, education loses its practicality and
purpose. This standard should be a pivotal part of every classroom because it truly shows
students the power they have as both a student and community leader.
Why the artifact was chosen & how it is an appropriate representation of standard #5:
After teaching my classroom of 4th graders about what life was like as a pioneer and the
types of homes they usually built and lived in, I challenged my students to create a Pioneer
Diorama. Their task was to create a diorama to illustrate life in a pioneer Iowa home. They
choose either the Iowa log cabin pioneer home or the Iowa sod house pioneer home.
This was an opportunity for me to provide my students with a project where they could use
their own creativity and critical thinking. Students were given the freedom to create their pioneer
Iowa home using any type of materials they felt necessary and assemble to pioneer diorama is
their own unique way.
Students brought their personalized projects to school and we invited other elementary
classrooms into our room to view students' projects and ask students questions about the
assembly of their diorama as well as information about Iowa pioneers. It was very neat to see
the variety of pioneer dioramas that were created. Students created dioramas that involved
food, mud found on their farms, twigs from trees in their yards, popsicle sticks, and lincoln logs.

How this artifact demonstrates my growth and development as a teacher:

This lesson shows my understanding as a teacher how to use differing perspectives to
engage learners in critical thinking and creativity. Through this project, I was able to see the
uniqueness of each of my students. This artifact shows my ability to meet the unique learning
style of each of my students.

STANDARD 6: ASSESSMENT
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to
engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and
to guide the teachers and learners decision making.

MY ARTIFACT THAT SUPPORTS THIS STANDARD:

Whole Group Reading Lesson Review and Test
- Teacher created Lesson 11 Review Game
- Unit 3 Lesson 11 Test

MY REFLECTION:
What the standard means:
As a student teacher, the area I feel most hesitant in is assessment. I sometimes feel
unsure of myself, and I underestimated how much assessment I am taking and if
its enough assessment. I am reminded that each time I backed up and retaught a
lesson or activity, I am informally assessing my students and gauging their
understanding. Not all assessment is formally documented, and that it is important for
teachers to be strong at both formal and informal assessments. Standard #6 asks that
teachers not only make themselves aware of forms of assessment, but that they also
use them to guide their instruction.
Why the artifact was chosen & how it is an appropriate representation of standard
#6:
I choose this artifact to represent Standard #6 because it shows two types of
assessment I used in my fourth grade classroom. I am constantly assessing my
students both formally and informally which guides me in planning my instruction to best
meet the needs of each student. I engaged my learners in multiple ways of
demonstrating knowledge and skill as part of the assessment process by creating an
interactive review game for Unit 3 Lesson 11 on the smart board in our classroom.
While playing the review game, I was able to access my students throughout based on
their answers to the review questions and their participation with the class. When it was
needed, I was able to stop and reteach specific concepts or areas of the review.

The review game includes all areas that are also assessed on the test;
comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and decoding. This gives me the opportunity to
see students strengths and needs of the lesson. After reviewing, students get one more
night to study for the test. When administering the Unit 3 Lesson 11 test, students are
given the chance to have their test read aloud to them or to work on it silently at their
desk. Providing students with the opportunity to have their test read aloud to them is a
great way for me to effectively meet the needs of all students because many take
advantage of this and other prefer to work silently at their desk. As the teacher, I
prepared all learners for the demands of this particular assessment format and made
the appropriate accommodations.
How this artifact demonstrates my growth and development as a teacher:
This artifact demonstrates my development as a teacher because I was better
able to understand the range of types and multiple purposes of assessment and how to
design, adapt, or select appropriate assessments to address my specific learning goals
and individual differences within my classroom. Both the interactive review game and
the test with accommodations were ways in which I was able to assess my students
knowledge and skills gained from Unit 3 Lesson 13.