Artifact and Reflection Form

Name: Tiffany Embry

Artifact number: 1

Title of artifact: Participation Checklist *see attached*

*This artifact has been transcribed into Excel for comparison. Original copy available upon
request*

Course number and name: MAT 728 Engaging Learners with Brain Compatible Teaching

Type of artifact: Teacher Checklist

Write a brief description of the artifact

The teacher checklist was created so that I could keep track of student participation during the
program. The checklist was used to document participation and absences and/or reason for non-
participation. From this checklist, percentages were calculated to determine the percentage of
days spent engaged in the program.

Professional and/or Learner Outcomes Represented by this Artifact

Relate this artifact to your listed professional and/or learner outcomes.

Professional Outcomes
1. Teacher will use music to aid in the memorization of multiplication facts.
Success Criterion: Teacher will purchase the program Smart Shorties. Teacher will teach the
lyrics and participate in the singing of the program. Teacher will also create assessment (verbal
and written) opportunities to assess learning.

2. Teacher will set up real world situations for students to practice/extend learning.
Success Criterion: Teacher will participate and evaluate through observation students abilities to
use learning from outcome 1.

Learner Outcomes
1. Students will use song lyrics/melody to learn multiplication facts.
Success Criterion: Students will actively participate in Smart Shorties program.
2. Students will be able to recite multiplication facts from memory on-demand as well as in real
world situations (i.e. games, problem solving, etc.)
Success Criterion: 4 of 4 students will be able to successfully recite via written as well as verbal
3’s multiples. (If time, they will also be able to recite 4’s multiples.

The checklist connects to all outcomes because it documents the participation and learning of
student work. It allowed me to analyze work/performance and connect to the desired
professional and learner outcomes.
Report of Outcomes Attainment
After analyzing the checklist I came to the following conclusions:
• Student participation due to absences and/or behavioral concerns was very high. The
program was implemented for 12 days. The % of participation is as follows:

Student Participation Percentage

Russ 9/12 75%

Tyrone 9/12 75%

Alex 6/12 50%

Jacob 8/12 67%

• Most of the students enjoyed the music. Samples of the program can be found at the
following website: Smart Shorties Sample (Amazon)
• All of the students struggled with the lyrics.

Research Quotes
• “learning is more meaningful when students are given the opportunity to play with, apply,
manipulate, and assimilate new ideas into their own schema.” (Nunley, 2004).
• “help students retain more information and provide them with multiple modes or information
retrieval.” (Brewer).
• “…students are expected to master basic multiplication facts. In order to conquer higher
order mathematical problem solving, these basic facts should be recalled automatically
(Caron, 2007; Woodward, 2006; Lerner, 2003).
• “Our brains are structured to remember novel events are unexpected.” (Willis, 2006).

Reflection on the process

1. What does this artifact demonstrate as far as your learning?
 This artifact helped me to put things into perspective. I was very
discouraged toward the end of the unit when students were not performing to the
standards/goals I had set for them. Most of them still can not recite all of the
multiples of 3’s. At first, I was very discouraged and wondered if I had wasted my
money on this program. However, after analyzing the data from the checklist, I
noticed just how significant the absenteeism was in the classroom. If the students are
not at school, they can’t learn the song/facts. Two of the students had H1N1, and
even when they were in the classroom, they were not at 100%. This artifact was the
most valuable to me, because it allowed me to refocus, regroup, and come up with a
new game plan.
2. What does it represent in relation to the changes you have made in your classroom?
 As a special education teacher I have always found that keeping checklist
is the most efficient way for me to document student behavior as well as academic
performance. This artifact did not influence change in the classroom other than it
allowed me to reflect on and show the students a visual percentage of why they may
not have met the desired goal of 100%.
3. Describe why you chose this artifact.
 I chose this artifact because it showed the challenges and allowed me to
have hard data to reflect on why some students did not meet my goal of 100%
retention of 3’s multiplication facts. All of the students were absent more than one
day during the program. The highest percentage I documented of student
participation in the program was 75%. Due to the fact that my class is so small (4
students), it is very important to keep this type of data because if one student
performs poorly on the post-test, there are not enough students to raise the class
average, thus to the person looking solely at the class data, it looks as though
learning/retention did not occur.

4. Link the action research process, these results, the research you used to back your
decisions and the program and/or course outcomes.
 Candidates utilize measurements and evaluation accurately and
systematically to monitor and promote learning.
 Candidates demonstrate the ability to be reflective practitioners by
identifying a problem, examining research, advocating solutions, implementing a
plan, and measuring and evaluating outcomes.
Connection:
This artifact allowed me to evaluate and monitor student participation which relates to the
learning that occurred. I was able to reflect on the data and use that to plan effective
lessons to assist the needs of my students. It also allowed me to keep quick notes on
what I was observing.

5. What does this artifact demonstrate about you as a teacher? Link what you found to the
NBPTS Core Propositions?
 Proposition 1: Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning
 Proposition 3: Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning.
 The checklist allowed me to monitor student participation on a daily basis.
I was able to document and determine if re-teaching would be necessary
due to absences and/or behavioral concerns. Doing this, allowed me to
analyze the program. If the student was not successful, was it due to not
understanding the program or simply because the student was not present
to learn the songs/retain the content.
 References

Brewer, C. (n.d.). Music Memory Activities. Retrieved October 17, 2009, from

http://www.songsforteaching.com/brewer/memory.htm

Bruer, J. (1997). Education and the brain: a bridge too far. Educational Researcher, 28(8), 4-16.

Chipongian, L. (n.d.). BrainConnection.com - Education Connection - What is Brain Based

Learning?. Retrieved September 11, 2009, from

http://brainconnection.positscience.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-based

Chipongian, L. (n.d.). BrainConnection.com - Education Connection - What is Brain Based

Learning?. Retrieved September 10, 2009, from

http://brainconnection.positscience.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-based

Jensen, E. P. (n.d.). Kappan Magazine. Retrieved September 16, 2009, from

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v89/k0802jen.htm

Jensen, E. P. (2008). Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Corwin Press.

Kathie. (n.d.). Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators. Retrieved

September 16, 2009, from http://help4teachers.com/hands.htm

Nunley, K. F. (n.d.). Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators. Retrieved

September 16, 2009, from http://help4teachers.com/five.htm

Nunley, K. F. (n.d.). Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators. Retrieved

September 16, 2009, from http://help4teachers.com/grading.htm

Nunley, K. F. (n.d.). Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators. Retrieved
 September 19, 2009, from http://help4teachers.com/punishment.htm

Nunley, K. F. (n.d.). Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators. Retrieved

September 19, 2009, from http://help4teachers.com/why.htm

Willis, J. (2006). Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a

Neurologist and Classroom Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association For Supervision &

Curriculum Deve.