Section II: Pre-Instructional Student Assessment and Elaboration

Artifact 2: Student Identity Survey

TESOL Domain & Standard:
- Domain 2: Culture. Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, principles,
theories, and research related to the nature and role of culture and cultural groups to
construct learning environments that support ESOL students cultural identities, language
and literacy development, and content-area achievement.
o Standard 2.b. Cultural Groups and Identity. Candidates know, understand, and use
knowledge of how cultural groups and students cultural identities affect language
learning and school achievement.

Artifact 2 of Section 2 was a Student Identity Survey and this artifact provided me from
many insights into one of my CLD students background. One major insight I gained from this
artifact was the fact that my student acted as the primary translator for their family. This student
is constantly switching between their L1 (Chinese) and their L2 (English) throughout the day. Not
long after this student completed this survey, we had parent-student-teacher conferences and I
saw this translation process in action when meeting with this student and their father. This
student would listen to what I had to say in English, then translate it to Chinese for their dad,
then listen to their dad say something in Chinese, and then translate that back into English for
me. Although this student has been out of the schools ESL program for two years now, this
student could still benefit from having their L1 represented in the classroom materials as an
extra support since they are constantly having to switch between the two languages.
Another insight that I gained that tied to the students background knowledge was that
their most important cultural beliefs were based on the Chinese philosophers thoughts on how
to live a better and more meaningful life. This insight could be used in the classroom, especially
with the 6th grade curriculum, because that curriculum includes the study of different ancient
philosophers and their beliefs, which means that I could make lessons that tie in this students
cultural beliefs. Finally, a third major insight I gained from this survey was that even though this
student has been in the districts Gifted program since 4th grade, they are not confident in their
academic abilities (which they had listed as an academic weakness). I thought that this was
interesting because this student is one of the top students academically in their grade, so this
lack of confidence is not evident in the work they are producing in the classroom. A way I could
support this student as they make connections between the known and unknown is to guide
them through multiple routes to an end goal, so that if one way doesnt succeed, they still have
other options to reach the end goal (showing that they do have the abilities to be academically
successful). Another way I can support this connection is by showing the student how much they
have already learned and accomplished through activities that require them to utilize their past
knowledge to identify new vocabulary and content in a new unit or lesson.
This artifact aligns with what I wrote in section two of my portfolio platform because in
section two I discussed how integrating CLD students individual biography when creating lesson
plans and pre-assessment activities is key for creating meaningful connections between the CLD
students and the new content knowledge. Student Identity Surveys provide teachers with key

Section 2 Artifact 2 Caption 1

details about a students personal background through the eyes of the student, not through
teacher observations or assessments. The teacher can then use this information to form pre-
assessments and other lesson activities that tap into the CLD students personal backgrounds.

CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy

After reviewing my artifact, I feel that it closely aligns with the Challenging Activities
aspect of the CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy. I would rate myself as enacting on the
Standards Performance Continuum because I am providing frequent accommodations based on
this students linguistic and academic levels, but I could still do more to provide accommodations
based on the linguistic needs of this student. I also would rate myself as enacting because I
provide this student with meaningful feedback on their academic performance, and I provide
challenging but clear standards/expectations that are both verbalized and written.
In the future, I would like to utilize the Student Identity Survey with all of my CLD
Students and even my other students in the class. I feel that having more background knowledge
on all my students can help me create more meaningful lessons and assessments for the entire
class. I also would like to share this information with my colleagues because there have been
many instances of important information about our CLD students not being shared. For example,
during my first year of teaching, I didnt even know I had a CLD student in one of my classes who
was receiving ESL services until 4 months into the school year. I had no idea that they were not
native English language speakers, but the struggles they had in class made more sense once I
was aware that they were a ESOL student. If information gathered from a Student Identity
Survey or a Student Biography Card were shared with other teachers who have that student,
then those teachers could work together to create meaningful lessons and assessments that
align with the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of those students.

Section 2 Artifact 2 Caption 2