WSTDL: #10 Collaboration

Title: Wisconsin Technology Educators Association, American Foundry Society, Skills USA,
Wisconsin Energy Efficient Vehicle Association
Date: Spring 2013 - Present
Artifact description

My first artifact is a schedule from Wisconsin Technology Educators Association (WTEA).

WTEA is a conference held once a year where technology education teachers from around
Wisconsin meet to discuss curriculum changes, present things their students are doing, tips
for new technology education teachers and many other technology education related
seminars. It was also a place to meet vendors who supply equipment, training and software
to the school systems around the state. It was an amazing place to catch up with some of my
high school teachers as well as meeting new teachers from all backgrounds and programs to
discuss what works, what doesn't, curriculum tips and many other things.

The second artifact is a thank you letter from a professor/advisory of the local American
Foundry Society chapter thanking me for my work on walnut plaques needed for awards. I
worked closely with the professor as well as the chapter president to produce these plaques
to their exacting specifications.

The third is a grading rubric from an event held at the Skills USA competition in the spring
of 2013. At this competition, I assessed students CO2 powered cars as well as spoke to
many fellow technology education teachers. I spoke them them about how to start a Skills
USA chapter at my school as well as why they thought having such a program was
important.

The final artifact are pictures of me volunteering at a competition for the Wisconsin Energy
Efficient Vehicle Association. At this competition, I helped clear non-moving vehicles from
the track as well at speaking to technology education teachers from around the state on why
they started WEEVA at their schools. I made a lot of connections with fellow teachers, and
they were nearly jumping at the opportunity to help other teachers start WEEVA at new
schools.

Alignment Reflection

My experience aligns with Wisconsin Standards Teacher Development and Licensure

number ten. Number ten is Collaboration and it states The teacher fosters relationships
with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support pupil
learning and well-being and acts with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.

My combine experiences align with this standard because each of these events or
projects have lead me to meet new people, teachers from different school districts,
and even vendors of major companies. They were all willing to help with curriculum
ideas, donate any extra materials they have (in the case of other schools), or willing
to work with you to start a new club or program. With these new contacts, I beieve
that I can support pupil learning in a more effective manner by reaching out to the
community, other teachers and vendors.

UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill, Disposition Alignment

My experience aligns with UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Alignment

KSD4.e. This standard- states The candidate is aware of opportunities for professional
development to improve content knowledge and pedagogical skill and can take an active
role in assisting other educators.

My experiences align with this KSD because I learned a lot about what goes into
curriculum from attending sessions at WTEA. I learned that in an environment such as
WTEA, while it's fairly laid back, you need to be professional because you are still
representing your school and the program/classes that you are teaching. By not looking
professional, you may lead other educators, vendors or sponsors to look elsewhere in
their support.

KSD4.f : The candidate has the ability to participate professionally in staff decision-making and be
highly proactive in serving students, working to assure that all students, particularly those

traditionally under-served, have an opportunity for success in school.

KSD3.a : The candidates spoken and written language are correct, expressive and clear,
with well-chosen vocabulary that enriches teaching and communicates thoughtfully,
responsively, and effectively for a wide range of student understanding and encourages
appropriate student language development.

Personal Reflection

What I learned about teaching/learning from this experience

I learned that being aware of professional development is key to improving content

knowledge and pedagogical skill used to run an effective classroom. It's also important
to cultivate relationships with students, parents, other teachers, the community and
vendors to offer a more well rounded curriculum to the students.

What I learned about myself as a prospective educator as a result of this experience/artifact:

From my experience I learned that fostering relationships with other teachers as well as
vendors is extremely important. Teachers can provide tips, tricks, and curriculum for
myself as a newer teachers. Vendors can provide better teaching tools and materials to
more easily convey content by learning in a hands on environment without a huge cost
to the school or program.