Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Introduction, Overview and Rationale

A passion for teaching and education comes to each and every one of us in different

ways. Some of us feel as if we are born to teach, and see the gift of knowledge as the most

precious thing to share with another person. Others may see it as a necessary task, as if it were

their duty to impart the knowledge they have acquired onto others. My passion for education was

an unexpected revelation, one that I discovered while experiencing the joy that is derived from

seeing a student succeed through the guidance and mentorship that you have provided.

Regardless of what first sparks that passion in a prospective educator, we all share similar

experiences as we complete the journey towards becoming professional educators. We are all

unique in our own ways, and while we bring that uniqueness to the classroom, it is important that

we also learn the fundamental skills required to effectively teach and educate our students. This

portfolio aims to illustrate how I have developed the fundamental skills required to be an

effective educator while also demonstrating the unique attributes I can bring to the classroom to

ensure students are engaged in their education. An effective educator is someone who is invested

in the success of their students and aims to give them ample opportunity to take charge of their

learning and thrive in the classroom. I have made every effort to include a diverse array of

artifacts within my portfolio that demonstrates my proficiency in the core components of

planning, instruction and assessment while also highlighting my ability to engage in culturally

responsive teaching, effective classroom management and well executed learner accommodation.

I hope this portfolio provides you the reader with the opportunity to experience my journey as a

developing educator as well as understand my passion for education and mentoring.

This portfolio consists of six individual sections that are designed to provide the reader

with insight into the skills, passion and mindset that I hope to bring to my future classrooms.

Section One, Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project, is the current

section you are reading. It serves to introduce the Portfolio Project to the reader both; both the

portfolio’s purpose and the key elements that will be found within the Portfolio Project.

Section Two, Teacher Candidate Background Experiences, serves to provide the reader

with an introduction to myself, including both professional and academic experience. Section

two will provide the reader with insight into the experience that I will bring to the classroom, my

overall philosophy of education and an overview of the journey I have embarked on to become a

prospective educator and mentor.

Section Three, Teacher Candidate Artifact, provides the reader with the deliverables of

my professional and academic experience. A variety of artifacts will be provided as part of

section three, each of which, help to show the various pedagogical skills that I have developed

over the course of my academic and in class journey. These chosen artifacts relate to the many

key competencies of the teaching profession; primarily, planning, instruction and assessment

along with how those are executed to ensure the success of the students in my classroom.

Section Four, Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards, is a section that aims

to demonstrate how I will incorporate curriculum and professional standards into my day to day

responsibilities as a teacher. It will show how the artifacts provided in Section Three align with
both the curriculum and the professional standards that I will aim to bring into the classroom on

a daily basis. Section Four will illustrate alignment of my artifacts to: New York State P-6

Common Core Curriculum, The New York State Learning Standards, the Curriculum

Expectations of Ontario and its learning standards, Ethical Codes and Standards for both New

York State and Ontario and The International Society for Technology in Education.

Section Five, Teacher Candidate Reflection, is where I will provide the reader with a

reflection on my overall journey towards becoming a prospective teacher. This section will

include a reflection on the process of planning for and developing the Portfolio. It will also

include a reflection of my academic experience and all of the valuable lessons that I have learned

throughout the process. Most importantly, the reflection will outline my overall readiness to

becoming a teacher including why I feel that I am ready to take on this important role, along with

the various skills that I will need to develop further in order to become an effective educator.

Section Six, Teacher Candidate Interview Video, is the final section of the portfolio and

will encompass a simulated interview video. The interview portion will include my answers to

potential interview questions that are common in teacher interviews. The interview will serve to

showcase the knowledge I have acquired, and will allow me to make connections between the

skills that I have developed and the key competencies required to be an effective teacher.

Overall, the portfolio will provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of my

journey towards becoming a prospective teacher. The various sections of the portfolio aim to

showcase different aspects of that journey and how they have contributed to my readiness to

enter the field of education. This journey and the portfolio that reviews it includes, the
knowledge that has been acquired, the skills that have been developed and the experiences that

have prepared me to become an effective and dedicated educator.

Theories, Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

My desire to enter the field of teaching and begin my journey towards becoming a future

educator was proceeded by a realization that I have a passion for mentoring and fostering

learning in others. Therefore, the initiation of this journey was sudden and unexpected, and I

therefore had very little experience regarding the theories within education and the theorists and

experts who have contributed significantly to the knowledge we use and apply on a daily basis in

the classroom. While all of these theories come into play when we look to effectively engage and

educate our students some of key theorists that come to mind are: John M. Keller’s Model of

Instructional Design, Nancy K. Schlossberg’s concepts of Marginality and Mattering in an

educational setting and finally Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education.

As my inaugural lesson into the importance of educational theories and the experts who

pioneered them, my introduction to Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education was an

extremely educational experience. It is foundational knowledge that all teachers can employ in

their lesson planning, instruction and assessment. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a hierarchical

model to classify the learning objectives 1(Bloom et al., 1956). These objectives are quite broad

and can be applied across multiple different subjects and disciplines. Their hierarchical structure

is an effective tool when planning for segments, units or any prolonged teaching endeavor where

students are expected to progress through increasingly complex degrees of understanding. These

objectives range from the vary basic objective of the student demonstrating knowledge of a

subject all the way to the more complex creation objective where students must use what they
learn and understand to create content. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides teachers with a means to

develop clear, measurable and hierarchal goals that can be used to help a student grow and

progress through the various cognitive domains. These objectives are taken into consideration at

all steps, planning, instruction, assessment and re-instruction. Bloom’s Taxonomy is something

that I used consistently when planning for instruction and developing appropriate assessments for

any lessons I plan to deliver. It is a great framework for beginners and veterans and is something

that I envision will be a key part of teacher toolkit for many years to come.

Another important theorist who has influenced my work greatly is John M. Keller and his

ARCS Model of Instructional Design. This model is especially important as it is relevant to all

learners and addresses the importance of motivation with regards to learning. It is a simple and

easily applied framework that looks to create and sustain motivation in an educational setting. It

aims to guide instructors on the motivational aspects to consider when designing and executing a

lesson (Keller, 2008). While teachers are key to the process of facilitating learning in the

classroom, it is extremely difficult to do so when students do not desire to learn. This is true for

all types of students and therefore the ability to create an environment where students feel

motivated to participate and learn is a key skill for any effective teacher to have. The ARCS

Model of Instructional Design focuses on 4 categories of motivation and tactics: capturing the

attention of your audience, providing relevant content, promoting confidence in the learners and

ensuring that learners derive satisfaction for the lesson (Keller, 2008). By following this model

and employing the tactics provided by Keller for each of these categories, lessons can be

designed to promote and sustain motivation in your students which will create an overall

environment that is conducive to learning.

classroom and Keller has created a model to generate motivation, Nancy K. Schlossberg concept

of marginality and mattering aims to create an environment where students feel engaged and

empowered to be successful in their learning environment. Schlossberg felt that a student’s sense

of belonging in their learning environment played a significant role in their success within the

classroom (Schlossberg, 1989). This concept goes hand in hand with the principle of creating a

safe environment in the classroom and it is a concept that I hope to incorporate both in my

lessons, my classroom management approach and the overall classroom environment.

Scholssberg stated that there exists 5 aspects involved with the feeling of mattering and creating

a community that appeals to all 5 helps to encourage a sense of mattering. These 5 aspects are:

ensuring that your student has attention and feel noticed, provide an environment where the

student feels important both by the teacher and classroom, there needs to be a sense of ego-

extension where the individual feels a sense of community where successes are celebrated. An

environment of mattering also contains an element of dependence where individuals within the

group can depend one another and finally, there should be appreciation for the individuals where

feelings and efforts are acknowledged (Schlossberg, 1989). By creating an environment where

all 5 of these aspects exist and students feel a sense of ownership in creating the environment I

can create a safe space for my students to learn and play an active part in their educational

experience.

Conclusion

Overall, the portfolio and all of its contents serves to provide the reader with an overview

of my journey and transformation into a prospective teachers. This journey is outlined through
the description of personal, professional and academic experiences that have contributed to my

passion for teaching. It is seen in the artifacts that I will provide that demonstrate the lessons I

have learned as they pertain to key teaching competencies. My philosophy of education, and

ability to align my practice to both curriculum and professional standards will also be illustrated

in the following portfolio. Finally, self-reflection on this journey will show what I have learned

and how it has helped to transform me into an effective prospective educator.