School of Education Portfolio

University of Wisconsin Platteville

Artifact Reflection
Title of Experience/Artifact:

SHI Project and Pre-Student Teaching

Date Experience Completed:

Spring and Fall of 2014

Describe your educational experience/artifact:

During the first half of Environmental and Community Health Seminar, my group and I
worked together to create a grant proposal for the Reedsburg Area School District. I was in
charge of writing both the needs assessment and the significance of funds sections in the
proposal. I had never written or seen a grant proposal before so I was a bit confused about what
to do at the start. After seeing multiple examples and getting my first draft back I became aware
of what I had to include. Although it was initially a challenge creating this, I do value the
experience that I gained and hope to put it to the test in the future.
During the fall of 2014, I acquired my pre-student teaching hours at Westview
Elementary where I worked with students on a treadmill. I had the ability to teach multiple
activities with the students as long as it is on the treadmill so there is not much collaborating with
my cooperating teacher going on. I do however try to have a short conversation with Scott
Woodworth (cooperating teacher) at least once a week to just talk about what I am doing in the
program and or to get advice on teaching. The best piece of advice I have gotten from Scott has
been to just have fun with it even if it isnt the most fun thing to teach because if you show
interest in the topic then the students are more likely to enjoy it. I have enjoyed working with my
students in the treadmill program and have learned a lot as a teacher candidate.
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment

I believe this artifact best aligns with WSTDL 10- Collaboration- Teachers are
connected with other teachers and the community.
In order to create a successful grant proposal, I must be able to connect with my
fellow colleagues in order to get their help with this proposal. It is very important to
include the community too so that they know what is going on at their local school as
well as be able to get their feedback on what we may or may not need. During this project
I worked with 4 of my fellow peers from class. We worked pretty well with each other
and were able to get a grant proposal put together to present to our class.
In order to be a successful teacher in the future, it is important to talk to as many
teachers as I can and collaborate with them on ways to become a better educator.
Teachers have many different opinions, techniques, and strategies when it comes to
teaching students. If I can pick out what works best for me from the advice I get from
them or by observing them in the field then I should turn out to be a great teacher. Also
since I am new to this type of program, collaboration was crucial in order to plan good
and purposeful lessons. This goes for any program or unit that I will lead as a future
teacher.

UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions Alignment

I believe this artifact best aligns with KSD4.D- Contributes to the school and district.
Through creating a grant proposal, I am strongly contributing to not only my school but
my entire district. I am able to attain grant money to go towards improving the school
district. Through collaborating with my cooperating teacher, I am able to plan a better
lesson that will allow the students to be successful on the treadmills which in turn will
help them stay focused in classes and will make their teachers jobs that much easier. In
the classroom, these students have extra energy that keeps them from sitting still and
focused for long periods of time. The treadmills will expend this extra energy helping
them be able to sit still and stay focused. We do different activities as well where the
students must focus on what they are doing while remaining in continuous motion at all
times. So this helps improve their focus when more than one distraction is going on all
around them.
Explain what you learned about teaching/learning from this experience:

Through this experience, I was able to learn how to receive a grant. I am now
knowledgeable on writing a needs assessment as well as a significance of funds. I have an idea of
how to write up a budget statement and a narrative. I still have a lot more to learn when it comes
to creating a grant proposal and that will come with practice. I was also able to be educated on
the Reedsburg school district and their school health index. I have gotten a sense on what it is
like to work with other teachers who have more experience than me. I can take their advice and
trust that it will work. I can then create a lesson that has a bit of their teaching philosophy mixed
in with my philosophy in order to make a better lesson.
Explain what you learned about yourself as a prospective educator as a result of this
experience/artifact:

As a prospective educator, I have learned through this experience that I can truly make a
difference in my school district and community. I plan on creating a strong multicultural health
program in both my school and the district where my students will gain and implement valuable
knowledge and life skills that they will be able to use for the remainder of their lives. As a
teacher in general, I plan on collaborating with all of my co-workers to help make not only my
lessons better but help with theirs as well.