Julie’s Portfolio Table of Contents Teaching Philosophy…………………………………………………………..….…3 Standard 1: Engaging and Supporting Student Learning…………………………………………………………………………..… 4 Reflection…………………………………………………………………....….5 1.1 ………………………………………………………………………………6 1.2…………………………………………………………………………….…7 1.5…………………………………………………………………………….…8 Standard 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Learning Environments……………………………………………………………………9 Reflection……………………………………………………………………....10 2.2………………………………………………………………………….…..11 2.3………………………………………………………………………….…..12 Standard 3: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning…………………………………………………………………………..…13 Reflection………………………………………………………………………14 3.2……………………………………………………………………………...15 3.3……………………………………………………………………..….……16 3.5…………………………………………………………………………..….17 Standard 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for all Students…………………………….…………………………………..…..…18 Reflection………………………………………………………………..….…19 4.1 …….…………………………………………………………………….…20 4.2……………………………………………………………………………...21 4.5………………………………………………………………………….…..22 Standard 5: Assessing Student Learning Reflection…………………………………………………………….……….23 5.1……………………………………………………………………………..24 5.3……………………………………………………………………………..25 5.4……………………………………………………………………………..26 5.5……………………………………………………………………………..27 Standard 6: Developing as a Professional Educator………………………………………….………………………….28 Reflection……………………………………………………………………29 6.3……………………………………………………………………………30 6.4……………………………………………………………………………31 Julie _________________________________________________________________________________ Philosophy of Education I believe that I can change the world with my own two hands. The work I do as a teacher will touch the lives of people that I will never know. Just as the ripples in a pond expand outwardly, the students I touch will be well informed, knowledge seeking, and compassionate individuals who will go out into the world, touch others, and therefore, change the world with their own two hands. I believe that every child has the right learn. I know that every student is an individual with unique talents and challenges. Children learn best in a learning environment that supports all learning styles. The classroom should reflect a constructivist environment that encourages students to learn with hands on experience and through different modalities that support all students. I believe that every child, no matter what culture, should feel safe and comfortable. The class should support and love each other like a family. It is my goal to use team-building exercises to help the students appreciate one another’s differences and discover similarities. I will also implement multicultural education into the classroom to give children a better understanding of their classmates. My hope is that in turn they will treat each other with respect and kindness no matter what culture or background they come from. I believe the children learn best in an environment that has routines and procedures that they know and participate in. My goal is to create a classroom that runs smoothly so that the learning can become the first priority. When problems do arise between students I will implement peaceful problem solving techniques that focus on compromise and looking forward to the future. I hope to give my students the skills to peacefully solve conflicts that arise in the classroom and prepare them to be peaceful problem solver as they go through life. I believe that the community should be a part of the classroom. Students can open their minds and hearts to serving their community through service learning projects. My hope is not to simply teach good citizenship, but to provide my students with the opportunity to live as good citizens. My goal in doing service learning is that it will create a strong team that includes families, students, and school facility. I commit myself to be a model of educational excellence. I will continue to seek new knowledge, in hopes that my students will do the same. I will exemplify that learning is not a chore but a joy that can continue throughout life. back Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning The students think about what this Native American basket was used for. Where I started… I started out knowing all the right things to say about engaging and supporting all students in learning. I knew that it was important to engage students in learning that was meaningful and purposeful, but I did not know what that really looked like. Where I am now… I now know that to be a teacher that truly engages students and supports learning I must create lessons that use as many learning modalities as possible. By doing this I will be able to reach more students and help them learn to the best of their ability. I can now say that I have taught lessons that used bodily kinesthetic, linguist, logical mathematical, interpersonal, spatial, and intrapersonal learning modalities. I also know that it is important to connect to prior knowledge because the brain likes patterns. I will work to create learners that are self-directed critical thinkers by involving them in the discovery process. Where I am going… Knowing that it truly is a challenge to engage students I will meet this challenge by learning more strategies to engage students. I will do this by going to professional development conferences and reading literature available that gives strategies for engaging and supporting student learning. I will collaborate with more experienced teachers and look to my BITAS provider for ideas and feedback. 1.1 Connecting students’ prior knowledge, life experience, and interest with learning goals Using a KWL Chart is an effective way to connect to students prior knowledge and discover student interest. The students put up stick notes about what they knew about snails and what they wanted to know. 1.2 Using a variety of instructional strategies and resources to respond to students’ diverse needs. In this lesson I used… • Local Literature • Group work • Art • Realia 1.5 Promoting self-directed, reflective learning for all students These two charts show a genre inquiry study my third graders and I did on “pourquoi tales”. During this study we read a varity of “pourquoi tales”and developed a rubric for our own “pourquoi tales.” Table of Contents Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student learning Student looks at books about seeds and flowers that my team teachers and I provided, while he also looks at the seeds on the table. Where I started… I once believed that to create and maintain effective environments for student learn all that I would need to do was have a clean orderly classroom and a clear set of rules. Although I now know that this is part of meeting this standard, now I also know that there is more. Where I am now… I know that it is important to create an environment that promotes peripheral learning. This means that I will put up charts that we create as a class so that even when children are not listening to me they will be able to learn from what is around them. I also plan to develop a classroom community or family atmosphere. I will do this by using team-building activities at the beginning of the year. Also, with in our community we will develop a set of standards together that will promote social development and responsibility. We will practice our procedures so that they become routine and so that we can use instructional time effectively. Where I am going… I will always to looking for ways to create and maintain an effective learning environment for all of my students. I will go to conferences on classroom management. I will read books and articles. I also will continue my education by taking classes at the university to help me with ideas and strategies to best meet the needs of my students. 2.2 Establishing a climate that promotes fairness and respect This is a set of classroom rules developed by the students and the teacher. Allowing the students to help create rules makes them meaningful. 2.3 Promoting Social development and group responsibility Consensus Group Rules (Look to the cloud if you forget what to do!) 1.Only the group leader talks. 2.The members of the group thumbs up if they agree with the answer and thumbs down if they disagree. 3.If there is a disagreement the leader gets a whiteboard and shows how he or she worked the problem. 4.Group members respect your group leader. 5.Group leader respect your group members. This shows the rules my class uses for consensus groups. Consensus groups are a way for students to not only learn math concepts from each other but learn how to lead and follow in controlled group situation. Table of Contents Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning Where I started… I used to think that it was enough to have knowledge of how children develop and then create activities around that. I also thought that I would be given textbooks and teachers guides that I could use for those activities. Where I am now… I know now that having knowledge of how children develop is an important part of developing lessons. If I know what developmental stage they are in I can give them the correct support they need. I also know that I must not just rely on the textbook for knowledge of subject matter. To be a good teacher I must have knowledge about the subject that goes beyond the textbook. Granted I will learn new information as I teach, but it is important to have solid understanding of what I will be teaching. Having this clear understanding will help me create units of study that fit together and reach across the curriculum. Then, I will be able to collect the materials, like realia and technology, needed to give the students a deep understanding of the subject mater. Where I am going… I plan to be a teacher researcher! There are sources of information in books, on the Internet, and from other teachers that I can use to become teacher that researches subject matter and organizes it in a manner that creates success for students. I plan to use all of these resources to keep growing as a teacher. 3.2 Organizing curriculum to support student understanding of subject matter. This pictures shows how I taught paragraph writing to my third graders using the sandwich model. 3.3 Interrelating Ideas and Information Within and Across Subject Matter Areas. In this lesson students used websites that I had designated to research a type of bat. (Link to websites) The students then wrote an “I poem” using the information from their research and made a water color and silhouette to show their bat’s habitat. 3.5 Using Materials, resources, and technologies to make subject matter accessible to students Above I use the smart board to draw a picture on a Power Point slide to make make the problem clear to the students. Table of Contents Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students Students inquire about what these Native American artifacts are for. Where I started… I knew all students have different backgrounds and different needs and that a teacher must plan lessons that meet the needs of all students. Goals may be individualized and lessons my need to be modified. Where I am… I now know strategies to learn about student backgrounds and interests for example KWL charts and student interest surveys. I have also taken a class on teaching diverse students that helped me learn about some of the cultures in the valley and their language discourse patterns. I value the stage of development that a child is in and plan lessons accordingly. I will meet the needs of these students by writing lessons that include modifications. I have also seen the importance of stating the objective at the beginning of each lesson. If students know the objective they are more successful because they know the goal that they are working toward. In my studies I have learned how to plan mini-lessons as well as units in a sequence that helps the students see patterns, apply what they have learned, and use realia and manipulative to give students a more concrete understanding of the concept. Where I am going… In the future I plan to continue to study the cultural groups of The Central Valley to have a better understanding of how my students learn best. I also plan to continue to study the child development and how to meet children’s need at each stage. I want to keep up on the latest research based practices for teaching by continuing my education, attending conferences, and collaborating with my peers. 4.1 Drawing on and valuing students backgrounds, interests, and developmental learning needs. Most of my kindergarteners were EL students and had little background knowledge of the Statue of Liberty. I dressed up to give them a better understanding. Students were interested in art, so they made their own Statue of Liberty. 4.2 Establishing and articulating goals for student learning For each math lesson students write the objective in their math journal. 4.5 Modifying instructional plans to adjust student needs Adaptations/Modifications for Focus Student: Focus student has attention/behavior issues. He is often speaking out during the lesson and while other people are talking. To help this student I will instate the rule that he may only speak when he has the speaking ball. Adaptations/Modifications for Focus Student: Focus student typically does not finish his work on time. Work will be broken into smaller parts and a timer will be set to help this student stay on task and use his time wisely. This is what I have at the end of each lesson plan. I think of a student that may need extra support and provide modifications. Table of Contents Assessing Student Learning Questioning throughout the lesson checks for understanding. Where I started… I used to think that assessing student learning referred to the big test at the end of each unit. I knew that these test where to show the teacher how well the students were doing and in many cases to give the student a grade. Where I am… I now know that assessment is on going. Teachers assess every minute of the day by asking questions, giving independent practice, by using KWL charts, by formal assessments. My view of assessment before is quite different they my view now. I see assessment now as a guide for my teaching. Therefore, I should be assessing in multiply ways every chance I get. I should also let the students be a part of the assessment process by letting them take part in developing a rubric or by letting them do a self-evaluation. All of this process needs to be communicated with the families of the students so that they may be involved in supporting their child. Where I am going… Now that I know how important assessment is I hope to become an expert at informally assessing throughout the day and formally assessing at the end of units of study. The best way to learn these strategies is by watching and talking to other experienced teachers. In doing this I will learn effective way to find out the areas my students need extra my support. 5.1 Establishing and communicating learning goals for all students. 5.3 Involving and guiding all students in assessing their own learning. Students help create their own rubric and use it to grade their own writing. 5.4 Using the results of assessments to guide instruction. Learning Outcome A 10 9 8 7 Test Scores 6 5 4 PreTest 3 PostTe st 2 1 19 20 * 18 16 17 ^ 14 15 * 13 * 11 12 ^ 9 10 8 6 7* 5 4 3 2 1 0 *Exceptionally Gifted Students ^Off Task Students This is example of an Excel chart I made to show pre and post assessment results. 5.5 Communicating with students families, and other audiences about student progress. This is filled out and sent home each week to keep families informed of their child’s progress. Table of Contents Developing as a Professional Educator Where I started… I once thought that when I finished the credential program I would have learned all I needed to know to be a teacher. Would start my classroom and know exactly the best way to teach each subject. Where I am now… Now that I have finished the credential program, I know that I do not know everything there is to know about being a great a great teacher. I do know that even teachers who have being teachers for fifteen years do not know everything. Teaching is much like being a doctor. There are always new and better ways to teach. I constantly reflect on my teaching to see if I can find a better way to teach. I have attended professional development conferences like Dr. Hal Urban’s conference of classroom management. I have also continued my college education. For example this last semester I took a course on teaching diverse students. I also continue to grow in this area by collaborating with my colleagues. During my student teaching I often went to my peers for suggestions and ideas. I also shared Ideas that I had with them. Where I am going… I will be a life long learner. Will always be looking to improve my teaching so that I can give students the best possible education. I will work more on collaborating with the community to improve my professional practice. I will also continue take classes and go to conferences. I will continue to collaborate with my colleges. I will work each day to be the best teacher I can possibly be. 6.2 Establishing professional goals and pursuing opportunities to grow professionally Dr. Hal Urban;s conference gave me strategies for class room management. 6.4 Working with families to improve professional practice This is a letter of introduction to the families of my Table of Contents students.