Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
InTASC Standard 4 Content Knowledge
The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the
discipline(s) she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of
the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content
(Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011).

Brief Description of Evidence:

Completed Spring 2014, Technology in Education
I created a technology rich project that could be used in my future classroom. It is an
Earth Science project that includes online research, working in pairs, game play,
presentation writing, and oral presentation delivery. Students will use computers to
access a variety of websites for research and to play games. They will also use power
point and a smart board to deliver their presentations.

Analysis of What I Learned:

I learned that familiar tools can be used in interesting ways to create valuable learning
experiences. By talking with current elementary teachers about this project, I learned
they do not often use these types of activities because extended projects are more
difficult to fit into allotted time windows. These teachers also believe such projects are
more difficult to assess. The teachers were big fans of my teacher guides, and said they
would use them for similar projects.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the

InTASC Standard:
My ability to compile many, and also specific Earth Science resources shows that I have
a good grasp of its concepts. I showed that I understand students can use the Internet,
games, each other, and me as important tools of inquiry. I also showed an
understanding of the branches of Earth science. This project mainly addresses resource
awareness and conservation, but there are many other areas such as plate tectonics,
weather, and rock formations.
My project will make content especially meaningful to students because they will get to:
use technology, explore with a partner, make independent choices, learn about local
connections, play games, and report about what they learned. I will increase the value
of this project by adapting it to other subjects and grade levels I teach in the future. I will
also add a checklist to help guide student research.