Artifact Commentaries

Artifact Summaries and Accompanying Goals and Standards

Artifact # 1 TE 808 Action Research
Goals: 1,2
Standards: 2, 4,5,6

My first artifact is an action research project centered around my initial concerns for encouraging critical thought in my new teaching setting at an international school in Indonesia.  I chose to use the Cold Call technique throughout the course of a literary unit and gauge its results.

I mapped the process of change according to The Cambridge Manual of Research Techniques (1994) and Ainscow, Hargreaves and Hopkins (1995) and generally found positive results, for example: with the use of the technique more students' thoughts were publicly expressed and hence represented, students did well with clear and consistent expectations for participation, and students appeared to comprehend more difficult elements of the text.

Unfortunately, students did not report valuing the array of opinions expressed by peers which seemingly undercuts aims for a welcoming atmosphere for collective critical thought. My field work, however, was also representative of some of the pros and cons of outside research. Furthermore, while new to the school, the project as a whole gave me the distinct privilege of canvassing colleagues for their wisdom and insight while simultaneously giving me the opportunity to share the sort of things I was learning from and doing in my classroom.

Artifact # 2 TE 892 Action Research HO
Goals: 1,2,3
Standards: 2,4,5,6

This action research reveals my attempt to bring about a comparative understanding of passive voice in Bahasa Indonesia (BI) and English, and the enclosed artifact is the information from the handout I created for presenting my project to colleagues and/or at a future conference. For the project, my students completed an initial diagnostic, followed by a subsequent task where they were prompted to look specifically for passive voice structures, and concluded with a brief comparative construction and then later testing. In the process, I also consulted with fellow BI and English teachers; they served as sources for supplemental qualitative understanding, and it was great to have them involved.

The results were compared in a paired t-test. Students originally detected only 42% of passive voice cases; however, when told to look specifically for passive voice they found 81% of the cases. Then, after the intervention, they found around 94% of passive voice structures. The first gain was highly significant (at the .001 level) and gains after the intervention were significant (at the .10 level with a two-tailed test and .05 level with a one-tailed test.

After seeing quite positive results from this comparative look at my students' grammars, I was eager to share the results with my colleagues, especially with the teachers of BI and English languages and implement instructional changes in my teaching henceforth.

Artifact # 3 TE 848 “An Eight-Year-Old...”
Goals: 2
Standards: 2,4,5

Within my 848 class, we came to not only wrap our minds around the philosophical underpinnings of various modes of writing but also contribute our own work within these given modes. The following is my "in-the-moment" essay, a narrative of a past event but enlivened by the present tense.  The piece not only serves as a narrative example for class instruction while also connecting me, the instructor to the writing process. As a teacher of writing, I can show my students that I too am a writer. I chose this narrative because I've never written it down before. I never wrote it down because though school demands so much writing, it rarely affords a safe place (especially in fourth grade) to process or reflect on true struggles. Often, narrative writing assignments prompts students to trumpet their favorite classes, their best vacation, their heroes, and foods, fashions, and what-have-yous.

I was always in trouble in elementary school. And in the fourth grade, I spent nearly every noon writing lines. I regret that I have never written about or reflected on my horrendously mischievous past. But how could I? That would go against the whole institution. Not until I read the first pages of Lamott did I put my early school experiences to the page. I remember a lot. This particular story is about one of my worst days at school and only because of the natural consequence understood in empathetic epiphany. I was a jerk, and boy did I feel bad.

In addition to the personal satisfaction and accomplishment I gained from this piece, the success of this piece was cemented by my students' responses. Because since writing and sharing this piece with them they have openly shared their appreciation of my honesty, a chance for them to see their teacher as a human being.

Artifact # 4 TE 848 Argument
Goals: 2,3
Standards: 2

The following article is an argument for collectivism as a positive force in Indonesian society. Through the simple example of littering, I attempt to pose what sort of efforts it takes to make changes by highlighting the nation's garbage issues on a more grand scale.

Within my 848 class we examined various models for argumentation, and when doing similar work with my students, I want them to know that this is territory that I am able to successfully navigate as they engage in argumentation from anecdotes to zuegmas.

The exercise was very valuable for me. Ultimately, it helped me hone my own craft while simultaneously engaging me in the culture in which I taught and lived. Eventually, Dr. Juzwik approached me about using the piece as a model, and I also submitted the work to my local news outlet.


Artifact # 5 Hx of Ed TE 818
Goals: 2
Standards: 3,4,5

This is my culminating piece from TE 818, revealing my take on how our educational foundations have shaped our present educational landscape and how honest aims and fruitful ambitions have been warped or have yet to become successful.  

Admittedly, my historical understanding of US education was scant; however, through TE 818 and 823 I have begun to understand more readily the bearing theoretical perspectives and fixtures from the past have on our systems and beliefs of today as well as the moment by moment of classroom instruction.

I found communicating through the medium of poetry created a space for exploration of the topic and themes.  Furthermore, the writing process allowed me to hone my personal voice and theoretical framework. Since writing the piece, I have shared it with a number of colleagues and received helpful feedback. I also sent it in along with my resume and cover letter when searching for a job a year ago, hoping that whichever school would have me knew I was both a writer and thinker. I am now gainfully employed and grateful that I was hired knowing that my principal and department head knew a bit more about me and what I thought of the state of education.

Artifact # 6 TE 811 Critical Thinking
Goals: 1
Standards: 1,3,4

This piece is written in response to the prompt: “Think of a story from school in which some expression of critical thinking was met with a negative reaction.” in order to explore what it takes to be a critical thinker and how hurtful classroom exchanges can be, particularly when dominant commitment frameworks or worldviews take on an oppressive presence in learning communities. I have visited and revisited the provided accounts as they are some of the toughest moments I witnessed in school.

I have since found that such tense moments are most teachable moments because within them cognitive dissonance abounds. And, while driven by the passion of firm beliefs and their confrontation, students need a safe space in which they are able to refine their thoughts.  

Artifact # 7 TE 843 Slaveship to freedom road
Goals: 2
Standards: 3,4,5

The following poem was written in response to Lester Brown and ---'s "From Slaveship to Freedom Road." Within my 848 course in critical literacy I was challenge to evaluate texts' portrayals of sexuality, race, or roles or what assumptions were made either blatantly or latently; however, here--chilling as it may be for children--I attempt to explore what it's like when someone's literary approach is deserving of praise rather than critique as the author and artist alike provide an honest, balanced, glimpse of historical truths which prompts--and even demands--a thoughtful reader response.

The area of critical literacy, while interdisciplinary, is especially relevant for me as a teacher of literature, and this course and poem in particular allowed me to engage in a critical approach to texts which I was not fully utilizing in my classroom teaching.

I also found the approach, while not directly fitting for the assessments in the curriculum I teach, enlivened classroom discussions because it confronts and sharpens our convictions. And, this connection and evaluation to the texts seems to the the sort of thing on which I wish my curriculum was centered but is nonetheless invaluable because it maintains student interest and thought in and about the content.