Artifact Reflection

Title of Artifact ____Parent Video__________ Date Completed __9/10/05____

This video was created for parents attending Open House early in the school year to assist in understanding what the Technology Education class their child is taking entails. In the video I list the technologies each student will be studying throughout the year, and describe the grading and expectations of each student as he or she progresses through a rotation.

This artifact primarily addresses Standard 10: Collaboration of the WSTDL Standards. Through the use of the video, I am able to effectively communicate to my students' families the nature and content of the class.

This artifact secondarily addresses Standard 6: Communication. With the assistance of this supportive media, I am able to foster an understanding of the class content, and illustrate the students' understanding of the class expectations through the personal interaction provided between the student and myself within the video.

Competency in this state standard is demonstrated by the creation and use of this effective communication media. With planning and purpose, the video details the units of technology, the sequence of a modular rotation, and the grading process and expectations of the student. By having the students themselves answer my questions on the video on how they are evaluated, parents can see that the expectations have been clearly identified.

I believe this artifact best aligns with UWP's KSD Statement KSD4.b in the 4th Domain: Professional Responsibilities by providing an illustration of one of the ways in which communication with families is fostered within my Tech Ed program. A clear overview of what today's Technology Education class is at Marshall Middle School is provided.

The idea for the video came as a result of needing to overcome the frustration involved in the sporadic arrival of parents in an otherwise scheduled event of the parents arriving to each of their student's classes in a reduced time schedule of 10 minute classes. There were no bells separating class periods, and parents were arriving from different team areas at different times. Some were in my classroom for the whole 10 minutes, some even arriving a little early, while others were still arriving with only a minute or two left in the scheduled allotment of time. I decided the answer was to prepare a video that the parents could play at will and watch within their own altered mock schedule. Otherwise, they were leaving knowing little more about the Tech Ed class than they knew before they came in.

I learned that parents became especially pleased to see their own children working within the classroom setting. I showed the same video again this year, and comments were notably absent of the glee parents exuberated the year before as they recognized their own children and their child's peers.

I learned also that having a prepared illustration offered me time to mingle with parents while they watched the video. I was able to get the complete intended message to them through the prepared activity and still develop some interpersonal relationships with the one-on-one discussions I was afforded as a result of the taped message freeing up my time.