Education Administration Artifact Reflection

Artifact Title: The House Project

Date: Annually: spring 2007-2014
Artifact Description
This project was first developed and used
while teaching at Senior High School for use
in Consumer Math. After leaving Senior High
School I adapted this project to better fit the
curriculum of the Math for technology class
offered at Southwestern High School. Both of
these classes were offered juniors and seniors
In non college post graduation goals. The
house project was designed to provide an
application based project in relation to area,
scale and cost estimating. Students designed a
house, created a scale drawing of the house in
quarter inch scale and then calculated finishing
cost for paint and flooring in their house.

Wisconsin Administrator Standard Alignment

The House Project best aligns with the Administrative Standard 1-1 content and curriculum
which states: The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures
of the discipline he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these
aspects of subject matter meaningful to students.
This artifact best aligns with Standard 1.1 because it demonstrates an understanding of the
concepts of scale, area and cost calculations in high school mathematics.This project requires
students to apply previous knowledge built in this class and previous classes to complete a
holistic task related to common life events. Students must apply their ability to calculate
areas of different shapes, create drawings to scale and finally estimate a final cost to remodel
a house. These skills can be utilized in both a professional setting or that of a future
homeowner.
This project demonstrates my competency to create and apply classroom activities with a
direct relation to life skills that are meaningful to students. This project encourages students
to see, question and interpret ideas from different members of their group during the design
portion as well as while choosing materials to be used in the house. It is also an
interdisciplinary experience tying together skills from drafting and art classes as well as
previous math classes in order to create a successful finished house design on a budget.

What I learned about teaching from this experience:

This artifact has helped me to learn the importance of providing meaningful assessments for
student learning. These assessments allow students to creativity and apply stills from many
academic disciplines. They also allow students to draw connects between the classroom and the
world outside the school walls. My students were able to build on prior knowledge an apply to
future events in their lives which fosters a greater understanding and desire to learn.

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

As an administrator I believe strongly in creating an environment that fosters students current
skill set while building skills in other areas. Projects such as this allow students to learn and
demonstrate skills in ways that may not be traditional assessments. It helps to create a love of
learning by connecting to what happens in life rather than just inside of four walls. There are
many ways to demonstrate a knowledge base and by offering a variety of opportunities to
demonstrate skills in multiple disciplines students can find pathways within a school to show and
grow their skills.