One artifact of my teaching that aligns with TESS Domain 1: Planning and Preparations is a Google Form I used to get to know my students at the beginning of my spring semester internship. This artifact specifically demonstrates knowledge of students, a component of Domain 1, because the data that was collected informed me of my students’ interests, learning preferences, and aspirations after high school. The reason I have chosen this artifact as a representative of my strengths in teaching for Domain 1 is because the form proved to be an effective method of gathering knowledge of my students as individuals and as a class. For example, one of the questions I included at the end of my form was “is there anything else you would like me to know?” I intentionally left this last question open-ended to allow students a sense of freedom and choice to share information they felt was necessary for me to know. On this particular question, answering was optional for students. 

     One of my students used this as an opportunity to share a learning difficulty with me that I otherwise would not have known about. He explained how he is hearing impaired and might need to have instructions repeated. Another student shared she works better in a group. I also learned from an exchange student that she was still working on her English and struggled with reading and writing in English. Several students used this question as an opportunity to share personal hobbies, preferred names, and their cultural background. As the semester passed, I realized a small percentage of my students were willing to share personal information face to face, but the richest conversations I had actually happened through online, written assignments. I believe this platform gives students a heightened sense of trust and security, enabling them to share more with teachers. This is a practice I expect to continue as long as I am teaching, because it allows me to design my lessons around topics that are interesting to my students, adjust the delivery of my instruction to meet their needs, and form meaningful relationships through creative means of communication.