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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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students.