Artifacts

Below are some of the artifacts I feel best reflect my ability to compentently and professionally teach elementary school students. The artifacts also highlight my ability to integrate technology into the classroom.

Software Evaluation Form
I created a software evaluation form so I could quickly evaluate software based on research-designed principles. The elements of the evaluation focus on:

• Describing the software
• Detailing the usefulness of the software within educational contexts

To make the form easily re-usable, it appears in template format (meaning everytime it is opened it opens with a clean set of fields and prompting users to save the new document after adding information) and with form fields (providing a location for users to input information).
The downloadable form is available here.

Bracken Field Trip
On March 26, 2007, I had the opportunity to visit Bracken Magnet School of Mathematics and Science through Technology. While there, I learned of incredibly useful instructional tools including LeapFrog products, Danas, and AlphaSmarts, and I had the privilege to see students using these tools for educational purposes. In one case, I observed two students plaing "Battleship" with their Danas. Through the game, they were learning strategy they would later need when solving math problems. I also observed a student using Google Earth to find his home. He was able to tell me that he lives in Nevada and he told me the names of all the neighboring states. Below are some pictures from the field trip.



M&M Spreadsheets
I am excited about the use of spreadsheets in my classroom to teach students math and other content-related skills. In the example spreadsheet below, I show a spreadsheet I created that has students estimate the number of M&Ms in a tube of mini M&Ms and then they go through the scientific methodto prove or disprove their hypotheses. Click here to see the spreadsheet I made when doing this lesson with a group of first grade students at Garehime Elementary School.


Video Development
To assist my students in learning new technologies, I deliver many in-class demonstrations. Because I know that some students need more than one demonstration, or they prefer to work during the demonstration, I also provide them with online videos of those demonstrations. Below is a video I created to teach students how to create a blog-based e-portfolio website.