WTS 4 & 6

Instructional Technology Advancing Student Achievement

Jordan Schave
Saint Marys University of Minnesota
Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs
Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standards 4 & 6
EDUW 692 Technology and Communications
Bob Anderson, Instructor
December 11, 2016

Page 1 of 9

WTS 4 & 6

Page 2 of 9

Selected Wisconsin Teacher Standard Descriptors

Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 4: Teachers know how to teach
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of
technology, to encourage children's development of critical thinking, problem solving, and
performance skills.

Knowledge. The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide
variety of materials as well as human and technological resources (e. g. computers, audio-visual
technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts,
reference books, literature, and other print resources).
Dispositions. The teacher values flexibility and reciprocity in the teaching process as
necessary for adapting instruction to student responses, ideas, and needs.
Performances. The teacher develops a variety of clear, accurate presentations and
representations of concepts, using alternative explanations to assist students understanding and
presenting diverse perspectives to encourage critical thinking.

WTS 4 & 6

Page 3 of 9

Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 6: Teachers communicate well

The teacher uses effective verbal and nonverbal communication techniques as well as
instructional media and technology to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive
interaction in the classroom.

Knowledge. The teacher understands and can use effective verbal, nonverbal, and media
communication techniques.
Dispositions. The teacher is a thoughtful and responsive listener.
Performances. The teacher knows how to use a variety of media communication tools,
including audiovisual aids and computers, to enrich learning opportunities.

WTS 4 & 6

Danielson Domains
Domain 1: Planning and Preparation
Component 1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
Component 1b: Demonstrating Knowledge of Students
Component 1c: Selecting Instructional Goals
Component 1d: Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources
Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction
Component 1f: Assessing Student Learning
Domain 3: Instruction
Component 3a: Communicating Clearly and Accurately
Component 3c: Engaging Students in Learning
Component 3d: Providing Feedback to Students
Component 3e: Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness

Page 4 of 9

WTS 4 & 6

Page 5 of 9

Pre-assessments
Self-Reflection Assessment of Student Performance and Learning Environment
I chose to select all of my students for this lesson because this is a skill that will be
required of them moving forward. The skill being taught to my students is learning how to to
count and make tallies. My classroom is composed of 22 kindergarten students, 11 males and 11
females. All of my students have great behaviors. Some of the students are working on self
control, blurting out the answer and not being able to sit still are two skills that we are working
on perfecting. Since this was a whole group activity, I chose to use the SMARTBoard as my
instructional technology for the lesson. Using the SMARTBoard to teach my math lesson will
teach students the proper way to make and count tallies, raising the scores on the student's
post-assessment.
To gather data on my students prior knowledge about tallies, I asked my students to
complete a worksheet that asked the students to count the tallies and represent it with a number.
Overall, the majority of students had no problem completing the counting component. It also
asked the students to use a number and represent it with the appropriate number of tallies. This
process is where the students had a hard time. The students got sloppy when they were making
their tallies, creating an extra challenge for themselves of not being able to correctly read the
number of tallies they have made. A lot of students had the understanding that tallies are a
vertical lines, but the bulk of the class didnt make the fifth line digianal. This was then marked
incorrect because the tallies weren't made correctly. Three of my students answered all of the
questions correctly.

WTS 4 & 6

Page 6 of 9

Technology Selection and Instructional Strategies to Guide Learning Process and Growth
The main target of my lesson is to teach students how to count and to represent a number
of tallies from a given number. The lesson also aligns to the Common Core State,
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.1: count to 100 by ones and tens,
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.3: write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects
with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects), and
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4: Understand the relationship between numbers and
quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
In utilizing the SMARTBoard for my instruction, I was trying to meet the multiple needs
of my students. The SMARTBoard allows the teacher to meet the needs of auditory learners and
visual learners with ease. It also allows me to meet the needs of a select number of kinesthetic
learners by allowing them to move and draw on the board.
To open the lesson I started with a youtube song, counting by five. The rationale behind
this was to get the students to practice counting by fives because we would be working with
groups of five with the tallies. To open the Notebook lesson, I asked students to think of ways to
draw three sets of five. I was shocked when I called on the first student to come to the board
because he perfectly drew the tallies in three sets of five. This surprised me because on the
pretest the student correctly answered three questions, I also expected the first student to draw
three groups of five shapes. Next, the students were given the opportunity to use the
SMARTBoard to model the correct number of tallies for all the students to see. If a student made
a mistake we were able to correct it as a class. To keep the students engaged on the carpet while
one student was working on the SMARTBoard I had them draw the tallies in the air with their

WTS 4 & 6

Page 7 of 9

finger. When the student was done modeling on the board we assessed the students work by
giving it a thumbs up or thumbs down to see if it was correct. If we agreed it wasnt correct then
we explored how to correct it.
Post-assessments
Comparison of Student Performance Related to Targeted Student Learning Objective(s)
Following the lesson the students were given the post assessment that asked the students
to complete the same two tasks that they were asked to do on the pretest, count the number of
tallies and make the correct number of tallies. The numbers on the post test were recreated so
they varied from the pretest.
The results from the post-assessment were exceptional, my class averaged a growth of
three less errors. I had three students grow by over six to seven reading levels. I had six of my 22
students correctly answer all of the questions up from three students during the preassessment.
The errors included students incorrectly making the correct number of tallies, leaving the
question unanswered, and writing the number in the area where they needed to make the tallies
in-which they didnt make any tallies. I had two students that made more errors than what they
scored on their pretest. One student made two errors; they left one answer blank along with not
counting the number of tallies but reproducing the tallies. The other student made one error and
left an answer blank.
My hypothesis was Using the SMARTBoard to teach my math lesson will teach
students the proper way to make and count tallies, raising the scores on the student's
post-assessment. I found that the incorporating this piece of technology into my teaching raised

WTS 4 & 6

Page 8 of 9

the scores on the student's post assessment. From the knowledge of the two students that
produced a lower score, I know that they could have scored higher than what their results were.
Reflection of Entire Learning Process
What Worked and Why
1. The counting by fives youtube song got the students in the mindset of working with
groups of five.
2. The overall lesson was successful, being that almost all of the students did better on the
post test.
3. The vocabulary included in the lesson was very limited, but I feel that the students did a
good job using the word tally and diagonal. Their conversations and questions during the
lesson were appropriate for the simplicity of the lesson.
What did Not Work and Why
1. Having the students draw tallies in the air wasnt as beneficial as I was hoping it was
going to be.
My Next Steps
1. If I was to repeat this lesson, the first thing that I would change would be to have the
students sitting on the carpet with a whiteboard and dry erase marker. By doing this all of
the students would be participating. I had a few students that did not draw the tallies in
the air. I also had a few students that when they were drawing the tallies in the air hands
were flying all over the place. The idea was good to have students engaged during the
wait time but the accuracy of the writing in the air wasn't perfect.

WTS 4 & 6

Page 9 of 9

2. The video allowed me to see all of the students that went able to sit still. On a positive
note the students that were moving around didnt look to be distracting other students, but
I would like them to be more focused on the lesson. I will be looking to incorporate
movement into my lesson to allow the students to move around and then have some sit
and listen time.