Artifact and Resource List

Artifact
Number

Source

Artifact

CE 894

TE 818

Field

Field

Field

TE 808

Reading
Assessment
Visual
Ethnograph
y
Assignment
Curriculum
Plan
Reading
Intervention
Planning
Sheet
NCEA
Presentation
Literature
Review

Program
Goals and
Standards
Goal 1
Standard 1
Goals 1 & 2
Standards 1
&2
Goal 2
Standard 2
Goal 2
Standard 2

Goal 3
Standard 6
Goal 3
Standard 6

Artifact Number 1: Diagnostic Reading Assessment for Leigh

Program Goals: 1
Program Standard: 1
In the field of education you will often hear rhetoric surrounding differentiated
instruction. The essential need for differentiated learning is critical to the success of
all students. Regardless if the student is struggling or high achieving the truth is
their learning must be meaningful for them. The following artifact is enclosed for a
few reasons. The first is this artifact details how struggling readers need to be
assessed in all areas of reading development. The purpose of this method of
screening is to formulate an appropriate and differentiated reading plan for this
student. In Annas case her oral reading fluency and phonetic achievement was low,
however, her retell was proportionately higher. She also was able to readily
memorize high frequency words. Her ability to memorize key facts and details orally
helped develop her reading strategy skills, word decoding skills, and overall her
reading fluency.

This assessment offered me an insight into Annas strengths and weaknesses. It is

possible to differentiate instruction for all students when you are able to motivate
them from an area of strength improving an area of weakness. More than raw data,
this assessment exemplifies for meaningful assessments that direct and inform
curricular decisions-reaching the needs of all learners.

Artifact Number 2: Visual Ethnography Assignment

Program Goals: 1 & 2
Program Standard: 1 & 2
The Visual Ethnography assignment was one of the more intriguing and
enlightening assignments I have undertaken during my MSU graduate coursework. I
had, until the TE 818 class, concerned myself with assessment, curriculum
selection, methods and methodologies of instruction-however I never analyzed the
hidden curriculum I was teaching. The insights gleaned from this assignment
assisted two-fold. From this assignment I clearly saw what was implied to my
students via room arrangement, rules/expectations, and classroom management. As
a principal I am now able to walk into a room and assist a teacher who may be
struggling with a particular students achievement or the class ability to work
together simply by assessing the existence of the classrooms hidden curriculum.
Most of us have heard the saying, Its not what you said but how you said it. This
statement is true for a very real reason, we have all experienced someone say,
Nice job and wonder at the true meaning of those simple words. With this visual
ethnography assignment I was able to take a step back and see, as a student sees,
the classroom environment. To be able to sit back and look upon items,
arrangements, and other stimuli with fresh discerning eyes better taught me how to
not only look at the formal and informal assessments, but to hold a place of primacy
for the hidden underlying curriculum in a classroom.
Artifact Number 3: Curriculum Plan
Program Goals: 2
Program Standard: 2
My schools curriculum improvement plan is also included within this artifact list as
it pertains to the systematic and sequential nature essential for academic
achievement. Throughout my professional career it has been both my practice and
the provided professional development that have led me to value differentiated
instruction. The problem I encountered, when I took over as principal at my current
school, was a lack of a cohesive curricular framework. All of the teachers in the
building were committed to differentiated instruction. All were dedicated to the
mission of meeting a child where they were and growing them a full year.
However, the lack of synergy between first and second grade left me, as a teacher,
unsure of my adjusted goals and expectations.

Each classroom used their own text and materials to teach what those materials
taught. Simply put, they were not necessarily teaching common standards with
whatever differentiated texts, they were differentiated what was taught based on
the texts used. In K/1 (Kindergarten/First grade) I never utilized the Basil Reader
program from MacMillan McGraw Hill. I felt that it failed to cultivate the phonemic
and phonetic awareness needed for fluent reading. However, I was unsure of what
standards we were supposed to teach since our diocese was in the middle
redesigning the curricular standards. Most of the teachers simply opened the boxed
curriculum and taught what was in it-cover to cover. The problem was these
materials were about 12 years old and were no longer relevant to current academic
standards.
How can this curricular problem be solved? In part, I designed a curriculum that is
aligned to the sequential nature of learning and selected common curricular texts
that would allow for both the freedom of individual instruction and the adaptive
abilities of the teacher. The result was clearly articulated content expectations
utilizing materials that can be adapted to the individual needs of all learners.
Artifact Number 4: Reading Intervention Planning Sheet
Program Goals: 2
Program Standard: 2
After assessing a students reading benchmark the process of planning
differentiated instruction begins. This process is sequential and systematic. The
lessons learned in my CE courses as well as my TE 846 Accommodating Differences
in Literacy course impressed upon me the sequential nature of reading instruction.
Differentiated instruction does not mean it is acceptable practice to rearrange the
sequence of how reading is taught. For example it is first important to develop an
oral language vocabulary in order to produce a rich vocabulary. This rich vocabulary
base helps lay the foundation for sound substitution, blending, text meaning, and
comprehension. Teaching phonetic rules outside of a story or out of sequence would
be counterproductive. You must learn about short vowel sounds before long vowel
sounds. You must learn about initial blends before final or medial blends. Since our
language does follow a sequential pattern of development it is also important that
our reading instruction follows a known and reliable pattern of development.
I designed this planning sheet to accommodate all of my various reading
intervention students. After conducting a CORE Phonics Survey, Dolch sight word
inventory, and Oral Reading fluency check I was able to begin a 15-20 minute 4 day
a week personalized reading intervention. The design of this intervention is a direct
result of my MSU coursework where I was instructed by Dr. Englert and her required
readings associated with the MSU ACCEL project. Upon laying a firm foundation in
reading fundamentals I began following a sequential instructional process through
text structures in both fiction and non-fiction texts.

Differentiated instruction is a specialized and yet methodical process of academic

instruction. In order to reach all of our learners we must be both flexible in our
approach but consistent with delivery.

Artifact Number 5: NCEA PowerPoint Presentation

Program Goals: 3
Program Standard: 6
My predecessor was impressed with the reading intervention program I built and
wanted to share it at the National Catholic Educators Association conference in the
spring of 2015. I was very hesitant to share my findings for the simple reason I
thought it was too simple and too straightforward to be of any assistance. I
reluctantly agreed to co-present and I am thankful for his encouragement and
leadership. This project was a collaborative initiative designed to inform and
educate other professionals and to also solicit their ideas for improving literacy
instruction.
Throughout my time at MSU I have been challenged to improve not only my
methods of classroom instruction, professional leadership, but to take a chance and
share my experiences with others in order to promote teacher leadership and
further developments within the field of education. Professionally speaking my
career as an educator will always be dynamic. Change and challenge are present
each and every day for both my staff members and for my colleagues. In gratitude
for the coursework of MSU I now have an abiding understanding that it is important
to become an active agent for change-growing the effective practices within the
field of education.

Artifact Number 6: TE 808 Literature Review

Program Goals: 3
Program Standard: 6

In my last semester at MSU I have been afforded a wonderful professional

opportunity, enrollment in TE 808 Teacher Inquiry. This class answered the question,
how can I conduct meaningful research that will assist my teachers and
administration? We all question how to better reach and teach our students. If you
are an administrator there is a constant need to inform community partners,
stakeholders, educators and parents about the quality of your school and programs
that you offer. All of this requires up-to-date research that can be disseminated and
disbursed to your community members.
For this project I specifically focused on how classroom management impacts
student behavior. In short, even when there is a recognized best practice classroom

management system in place, why are some students still off task and refusing to
learn? This research project provided meaningful insights into the development of
students social and emotional intelligence.
The results from this project included a deeper insight into the development of early
elementary children, a communication tool to share with lead teachers, and a focus
on what sorts of professional development opportunities are needed for my staff.
The ability to improve curricular decisions concerning when and what we teach, as
well as the other soft skills required from our students will impact what curricular
decisions are made. Since I have actively participated in creating a literature review
I am now better equipped to handle the questions that arise in my school.