Trace

Sherry TE801-09

TRACE – Teacher Artifact Community Exhibit Description Teachers, as part of a professional community, share and evaluate their work with others. In this assignment, you will use various modes to document your practice, showing others why, how, and what you do. For instance, you might begin with a core belief, a preferred practice, or an interesting problem, and show how it plays out in your classroom using interviews, video of interactions with students, and student work samples. This may also help you prepare your professional portfolio.

Options/Possible questions Option 1 – From belief to practice How are your beliefs about teaching reflected in your work with students, in-class and out? Option 2 – From plan to product How do you meet standards, adapt instruction to particular students, and assess the results? Option 3 – From classroom to community How do you connect your classroom teaching to parents, colleagues, and the community? Option 4 – From expectations to implementation How do you set up and maintain routines in a classroom community? Option 5 – Your choice What is something that grabs your attention which you’d like to understand better?

Process 1. Look at models Websites like Carnegie’s Gallery of Teaching, NBPTS, and Apple’s Learning Interchange showcase teachers tracing their work along the lines above. 2. Provide context Set the scene by describing your school, your class, your students, and yourself: what will a reader need to know in order to understand what you do and why? 3. Collect classroom artifacts Get in the habit of saving handouts and student work, as well as documenting your practice with photos and video; save lots and choose the most interesting ones. 4. Organize and explain for an audience Why did you choose these artifacts? In what order do they make sense? What evidence do they provide for some point about your teaching? 5. Use professional sources to inform selections and explanations of artifacts What sources inspired or constrained your beliefs/plans/routines/interactions with students?

Sherry TE801-09

Assessment 4.0

All parts of the project are included and on time. Many telling details provided about context (e.g., school, students, standards, curriculum, etc.) and teacher (e.g., intentions, beliefs, routines). Several, varied, relevant artifacts illustrated by specific, thorough explanations are clearly connected to the background info and to each other in order to draw challenging, personal conclusions about teaching and learning.

3.0

All parts of the project are included and on time. Many general or few specific details provided about context (e.g., school, students, standards, curriculum, etc.) and teacher (e.g., intentions, beliefs, routines). Several relevant artifacts illustrated by specific explanations are connected to the background info and to each other in order to draw personal conclusions about teaching and learning.

2.0

All parts of the project are included and on time. Details provided about context (e.g., school, students, standards, curriculum, etc.) and teacher (e.g., intentions, beliefs, routines). Relevant artifacts illustrated by explanations are connected to the background info and to each other in order to draw conclusions about teaching and learning.

1.0

All parts of the project are included and on time. More details needed about context (e.g., school, students, standards, curriculum, etc.) and/or teacher (e.g., intentions, beliefs, routines). Artifacts seem unrelated to the topic or need further explanation, seem disconnected from the background info and/or each other, and allow limited conclusions about teaching and learning.

Criteria/Points Thoroughness Specificity Relevance Connectivity Personal challenge

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0