School of Education Portfolio University of Wisconsin Platteville Artifact Reflection Title of Experience/Artifact: Date Experience Completed: Reproductive Health

h WebQuest Fall 2013

Describe your educational experience/artifact:

My artifact included in this standard focuses on Health Education. In my health methods class I created a unit plan on reproductive health for high school students. Within my unit I created a WebQuest on reproductive health and specifically HIV AIDS. This WebQuest was designed to help my students understand the impact of HIV AIDS in Africa compared to the United States and compared to the world. Charts and data were included within the WebQuest to help with comparing the research. This WebQuest also informed my students on different content vocabulary and many different numbers and percentages dealing with HIV AIDS. This WebQuest allows the students to incorporate technology into their health class.
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment

I believe this artifact best aligns with Standard Four: Instructional Strategies; Teachers know how to teach. The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage childrens development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance of skills. I believe this artifact best aligns with this standard because the use of a WebQuest is an instructional strategy that is not used in the everyday classroom. Using WebQuests benefits students because it allows them to do their own research. Using a variety of teaching strategies keeps my students actively engaged. Keeping my students interested is crucial to benefiting my students in a knowledgeable way. My artifact also shows that I can develop a WebQuest that is appropriate to the age group I am teaching. These artifacts demonstrate competency in this standard because it demonstrates my ability to use several tools available to me to plan new lessons, which will provide a positive learning environment and get students engaged in different ways. Not only is it differentiated, but students can also go back to the WebQuest to look over any notes and resources that they would like to review.
UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions Alignment

I believe this artifact best aligns with KS1.d.: Demonstrates Knowledge of Resources; The candidate actively seeks materials and resources to enhance instruction by utilizing school and district resources as well as other resources available outside the school/district. This artifact best aligns with this KSD because using my resources can help me find many different instructional strategies. This demonstrates my ability to find the appropriate resources that will be most beneficial to my students. Making sure I use these different instructional strategies encourages the implementation of technology in the classroom as well. This helps my students develop their use of researching on their own. Secondary KSD alignment includes KS3.b.: Uses Questioning and Discussion Techniques; The candidate's questioning techniques and instructional strategies are of uniformly high quality with special attention given to available time for student response, varied levels of questions, and adequate student involvement in the discussion/instructional process.
Explain what you learned about teaching/learning from this experience:

From this experience I have learned that all students have a specific instructional strategy as their most beneficial way of learning. Using many different instructional strategies will help me find which one of my students will learn best. Finding the appropriate resources will help me decipher which strategies work best in my classroom. One great instructional strategy is the use of technology in the classroom. WebQuests can teach my students to find appropriate resources to find answers on their own.
Explain what you learned about yourself as a prospective educator as a result of this experience/artifact:

As a future educator I have learned that finding the necessary resources is important to benefit my students development. There are many different instructional strategies and students will react to every one of them in different ways. Using these different instructional strategies, however, will keep my students engaged and on their toes. I will be able to find which strategies work best for each student through the process of using many different ones.