Edu 693 - Portfolio - V
Edu 693 - Portfolio - V
Edu 693 - Portfolio - V
Medaille College
______________________________
Dr. Susan Dunkle
Project Director
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 2
Table of Contents
References ……………………………………………………………………………….
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 3
Introduction
Often times educators are known to help our future leaders succeed and hopefully do so
by maintaining a positive attitude to positively impact their students. When you think about
teachers, we often wonder what encompasses a skilled, capable and knowledgeable educator?
For me, I believe in order to make someone a great educator we need to be able to connect with
our students and be able to adapt to any changes that occur. Throughout our journey at Medaille
we have been told by many of our professors that you must be able to adapt to any changes that
happen, this is either how your class responds to a lesson or activity, or your ability to work with
This portfolio was created to encompass all of my work that I have accomplished as an
educator. Through this portfolio I hope to showcase my organization, passion, and dedication to
become the best educator I could possibly be for my students. I also hope this portfolio provides
insight into where I can grow, and the accomplishes I have made so far. Throughout this
portfolio you will see many examples of how I would thrive as an educator through lessons,
different activities and assessments that I look to conduct in order to ensure that my students are
You will also see how I am able to use different mediums of teaching as well as using my
strengths in technology to adapt with our ever-changing learning and teaching environments. I
think it’s important to remember a quote that I have come across and that we as educators should
keep this in mind. “What we learn becomes part of who we are.” – Kathy R Jeffords, I think this
is important not only to keep in mind that we are examples for our students, but we also have a
great responsibility in how we impact each of their lives. Another thing I encourage us all to
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remember that we will not be able to reach all of our students but if we are able to help one than
we have done a good job, you can see this through “The Star Thrower” by Loren Eiseley.
Often times you wonder why portfolios are created, and this is to showcase what you
have accomplished and provides an indication of your own skills and ability to succeed in your
future. I also think that a portfolio is a great reflection piece for you to reference in your future to
see where to improve or how far you have come. For me since I do not have a lot of experience
in the classroom putting this portfolio together to showcase what I have accomplished at
Medaille and through hours of volunteer is a great reminder that I have chosen the right
profession. I can achieve my life long goal of becoming an educator and helping the students in
our lives with a meaningful impact, how some of my teachers have shaped mine. In addition to
the skills that I have acquired and developed I hope that this portfolio will highlight the
differences that I have in my teaching styles and will allow me to expand and improve in the
future.
Portfolio Development
This portfolio is comprised of six sections that will be able to give you as the reader a
better understanding of the teacher that I am right now and what I hope to be in the future.
Section one is what we are going through right now which includes a brief introduction of who I
am, my beliefs, philosophies and theorists that I hope to incorporate in my teaching styles. In
addition to these key components I also hope to draw connections to how I see myself using
these theorists and display the hard work, dedication and organization that I will be showing in
the future.
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section you will be able to see how I have used the skills in working from a management position
at a financial company, to the experience I have from volunteering with children, observing and
working in a classroom and through my experience with the Saturday academy in Buffalo. All of
these skills will be used to make me a better teacher in the future and will help me prepare to the
best of my ability. I will be presenting artifacts that include my resume, the educational
experience I have cultivated with examples of teachers, both good and bad that have pushed me
Section three will take an in depth look into all of my work and accomplishments that I
have done thus far and will further highlight my capabilities as a teacher. I hope that through
these artifacts you will see my ability to plan, instruct, model and asses my students with great
will be achieved through examples of my technology course and setting up a website which will
be showcased later. Each of the artifacts that I present will work along side theorists and
professional standards set out by New York State as well as the Ontario College of Teachers. I
hope that these artifacts will be able to show you the dedication, confidence and organization that
Section four examines my work and the ability for me to Align this with the Curriculum
and Professional standard whether through New York State or the Ontario College of Teachers.
Throughout my artifacts I will ensure to include Ontario Ethical Teach Standard, New York
State Common Core Learning Standard, and Ontario Ministry of Education Expectations. In
demonstrating the use of these standards you will see my ability to make proper connections to
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what I would like to teach. I hope to consider all of the students that I work with and display this
Section five includes a more extensive reflection of this experience in portfolio writing
and compiling all of my strengths. This portfolio and other capabilities through this program, are
all important in developing a better understanding of how each of these experiences has shaped
me. I will be able to highlight the connections I have made in the financial world, and skills I
have acquired there to my work with students in the future. With my sociology and political
science background I find that the work I completed then and the theories we looked at in
Section six being the final part of my portfolio provides a Teacher Interview where I am
able to showcase my ability to make connections, and to showcase how I would be an effective
teacher. I will showcase this through the video attached along with the summary I have provided
for this interview. This interview will not only prepare me for a real life scenario but also
provide reflection on where I can improve in a real life and where I can ask my mentors or peers
for constructive feedback. Throughout this entire portfolio I feel that this will be the most
During my time here at Medaille I have been very thankful to be exposed to many
theorists that I was not aware how deeply they effect how we teach and assess. Throughout my
education I assumed that a lot of how we are taught was dependent on theory, I was just unsure
what theory affected us. For me, the most influential theorists that I have worked with and
shaped my lessons and teaching style would be the following, Vygotsk’s Zone of Proximal
With Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978) and the rendering of
skills that increase in difficulty I try to incorporate an increase in difficult through each lesson.
Having the range of skills increase through the lessons or learning segments provides a challenge
for your students and will help you inform your lesson on whether all students understood or not.
There is a connection between how we lead our instruction and how we challenge our students,
“The teacher targets those functions that are ready to develop within the learner (or the less
capable person) with the appropriate support and guidance” (Eun, 2019, p.23). Throughout each
of my lesson I provide support to my students whether they are ELL students, students with an
IEP or those who may find the work either challenging or easy to work with. Having Vygotsky’s
Zone of Proximal development, (Vygotsky, 1978) is a reminder that we need to challenge our
students but also ensure that they are developing through levels appropriately without being left
behind. As educators we must avoid instruction that does not benefit our students,
“developmentally inappropriate instruction (i.e. instruction that lags behind the potential of the
learner) may lead to regression (Lloyd & Fernyhough, 1999), rather than, progression in the
Another theorist that has had a positive impact on my instruction and planning would be
Piaget with his constructivism theory. When I look to incorporate Piaget’s Constructivism
Theory (Piaget, 1954) through my lessons I am often looking at the different learning styles, and
how each of my students will have different means of learning and doing their activities.
I ensure that my students are able to piece together the lessons we are working on by
reviewing each previous lesson, our key skills that we learned this to be able to tie it back to the
main strategy that we are working on. Piaget put the onus on our students and that for the
majority they will learn by doing and not by being told what to do. This can also be tied to group
work, and individual assessments, as the students work together they are practicing their skills
Lastly, one of the most used theorists that we refer back to especially when looking at
how we are going to set up our objective’s would be Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). Bloom
was probably one of the first theorists that I remember working with at Medaille in our first term.
From that point we were prepared to set up our objectives by using the verbs that are tied to the
Not only am I trying to have my students progress through the different levels of thinking and to
promote a growth mindset I am also trying to include technology where possible. I believe
Bloom’s hierarchy of learning is a great indication of how your students’ progress, where they
Conclusion
Hopefully through my portfolio you will be able to see that I am going to make a very
well-balanced educator who is there to support her students, provide a safe and comfortable
learning environment, and only wants the best for them. I have been very fortunate to work in the
financial world for over nine years and am very happy to be returning to my true passion, which
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is to be working with children. Through my many years in different levels of education I have
been fortunate to have worked with amazing teachers, some of which have been hugely
impactful at Medaille.
Unfortunately, with the good teachers, I have also had my fair share of bad teacher
experiences, I found with these teachers they often lacked passion, the ability to connect with
their students and had preconceived notions of their students. It is my goal to be an aware
educator, who always strives for her best and is not afraid to ask for support from my peers and
mentors. Through this portfolio I hope you are able to see my passion through my artifacts, my
where possible. Ultimately, I think this portfolio will be an amazingly reflective piece of work
Introduction
My genuine love and passion for children and any nurturing that I exhibit from what I
was told started at a very young age. My parents were always told from my teachers that when I
was in kindergarten, I made sure that all of my other classmates were comfortable and sleeping
before nap time. This further translates to being a highly aware empath that has transformed into
my ability to truly interact and be aware of peoples’ emotions. Of my many tools that I have
acquired over my years I find that my ability to make connections with people will be the most
beneficial to my educational career. It is funny enough that I did not start my path as an educator,
while it was always in the back of my mind, I have had many educational and career struggles to
Through the first section of my portfolio I was able to introduce you to some theorists
that I identified with and could see myself using in my classroom. I also highlighted how I
wanted to shape the lives of my students. While I realize I may not be able to reach every single
student, I am hoping that the impact some of my prior educators have had on me will be passed
which has had great impact on me today and is why I want to be an educator, my work
I will also be exploring the philosophy I have developed on education and my resume to
hopefully provide you with a high-level summary of my accomplishments. I want to note that
although my current job is not directly related to teaching or students I have amassed a lot of
great skills that I hope to apply to my classroom, working with my peers, other faculty members
and administration.
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For this portion of section two I would like to highlight many key teachers that had a
deep impact on me, I will be covering both the good and bad through my educational career. I
feel that not only by covering the good and bad I will be reflective on how I would like to teach
and my impact and awareness on the lives of my students. While these experiences may not have
been pleasant at the time, they change how we look at things. As Julius Caesar said, “Experience
is the teacher of all things,” which I believe we can all apply as we grow and learn through
different experiences. Each paragraph below will look at my experiences from elementary, high
caring and thoughtful my first grade teacher was, to the point that she pushed me to want to be a
teacher. I referred to her as my shining light, with her caring, generous, and charismatic heart,
she shaped me to be a caring individual as well. To say that she has left a great impact on me
would be an understatement, she was able to diffuse any situation that would arise in class, able
to offer support and a caring hug when we needed it and was always fair to us if there were ever
any arguments. Although I was very young in the first grade she made sure to always keep tabs
on her students and check in on us as we progressed through school, she was even at our
graduation in grade eight for support. Remembering distinctly how proud she was of each of us
Sadly, like how amazing this experience was, there are often times negative ones that also
stick out. For me this instance did not impact me directly, but instead impacted my sister when
my parents went to her fourth grade teacher conference and her teacher at the time, Mrs. S told
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them that my sister would always remain a C level student. While she was not there at the time,
they came home to tell me and she later found out from my parents and her teacher the following
day. Not only do I find that saying this to be very discouraging and can destroy a student’s
confidence but it has also shown me that I am to be very mindful of what I say and how I say it.
Instead of saying that she would always remain a C student she should have asked if there were
struggles she was facing, if there was any extra support she could provide or to help my parents
in anyway. Instead we did our own research, got her into tutoring and I can proudly say that she
is no longer a C student. She has graduated with Honors in high school, has finished a diploma
with Honors and a Bachelor as well in Honors. To say that I am proud that she did not listen to
what her grade four teacher said to her is an understatement. I remember the outrage that I felt
when this happened and at the time I was thinking of being a teacher and how I would vow never
to make anyone feel like this regardless of what they are going through.
A quote that I found helped me to keep this perspective was, “Because my teacher
believed in me, I never gave up. Now I am flying towards my dreams” by Heidi McDonald, no
For my secondary education experiences I have had generally more positive experiences,
I had Mr. S through grade nine and grade ten math that ensured that each of his students
understood difficult concepts. He was able to work with our different learning styles, explain it
to each of us in order for us to make connections and is the reason I genuinely love and have fun
with math. The passion he shared for math and his charismatic personality are all things I hope to
encompass and pass on to my students. The things that I learnt in his class are still what I use
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today either with math or changing my approach on learning and teaching. He always taught us
would be my tough love, brutally honest, most authentic English teacher Mr. H. Mr. H was the
most genuine (THANK YOU FOR THIS CORRECTION, often times my brain gets stuck aha J)
teacher that a student could have in high school, treating you with mutual respect and as an adult
when you are in high school was such a blessing. With the respect he showed us we showed him
back tenfold, especially when we are at a point in our lives where we are being treated as an
adult and child at the same time it was a refreshing experience. Mr. H’s honest behaviour in how
he treated our work and our ability to participate in class motivated us to show up, take him
seriously, and be better people. Not only were we better students because of him, we also
Throughout my undergraduate degree I was able to connect with one teacher who was
able to show us that we all aren’t just a number and one that held her biases on for an entire
semester and was unhelpful to our education. Mr. B from my first year political science class
came to our class of over a thousand students and tried to make a point to get to know us through
his office hours. He was able to schedule one on one introduction hours with us so we could get
to know him and he us. This dedication and passion to try and connect with students that have
just left a smaller community of education was such a great experience. He was the most
charismatic, thorough and thoughtful teacher I remember through our undergrad. I was very
thankful to have Mr. B again towards the end of my undergraduate degree and was able to work
with him in a smaller class setting where he continued to bring that passion to all of us.
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kept to her biases and preferential treatment to the opposite gender. We were also told to adapt to
her writing style and could not stick to our own. I found this to be an interesting approach to
teaching but also just assumed that she was a tough professor and we had to cater to her
approach. I learned more so that it is possible for us to hold our biases unknowingly. While I do
not fault my professor for this it does remind me that we are human, and hold biases that may
Of all my education experiences this is to be the most recent and most impactful thus far,
not only are we learning from educators how to be educators but we are seeing the different
styles and approaches at a more mature level. As I have had various life experiences happen in
the past five years of not being in school, you often fall back into the swing of things almost as if
you are riding a bike. Here at Medaille, I have had great experience and not so great experiences
unfortunately. From the beginning of our classes at Medaille many have teachers have told us
that often what you plan for will change, and to prepare for everything to be thrown out the
window. That is so true the more I get the opportunity to speak to educators and even finding out
that what works one year is not likely to work the following.
Of our experiences at Medaille I believe our cohort has faced some challenges, but as a
group we will come out more resilient and with different perspectives on how we want to teach.
Ms. X in our first term was a caring, thoughtful teacher that stressed that we do not need to
reinvent the wheel. She also told us that some days you will not know what is wrong with your
students, or sometimes you will have a bad day but to remember that you are with your students
for eight hours a day and often their only support system. Throughout our first term our cohort
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experienced amazing teaching and also teaching that did not feel up to par. Our second professor
that we had for term one was unable to connect with the younger portion of our group, expressed
biases and different attitudes to those who she connected with which was felt by all. Through her
attempt to scaffold our learning in activities as suggest by Vygotsky we really could not do much
with this instruction. Our professor’s disorganization and leaving us to teach each other lessons,
how to write our lesson plans with minimal guidance and to work through some of my peers own
unfortunate that by the end of term we seemed to be able to make connections. Ultimately our
first term was a great learning experience and taught us a lot about teaching, whether how to
teach, the varied approaches and how to try to make connections where possible.
While my work experience has no connection to students or younger children I feel that
by working in the financial industry with a multitude of personalities, and learning types has
prepared me to be an educator. Along my way I have been fortunate to work in other areas where
I have been able to acquire many transferable skills that I am hoping to be able to use in my
In high school, I was able to visit and work in low-income areas and provide support and
comfort to those seeking free medical advice, and services provided through the community.
While I was in university I was exposed to not only the teaching styles of my professors and was
taught how to engage people but I was also shown how I can interact with students on different
levels, either engaging them in groups or one on one. Since I have left university I have been
working at a rating agency. I started off as a Junior Operations Associate and within three years I
became the Office Manager. With this job I have faced many challenges, such as being judged
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and not taken seriously as a young adult in a managerial position especially within the corporate
world. My general working experience has been a positive one in that I have had to deal with
many different people of all different walks of life; I have also been brought into different
environments traveling for work and being exposed to the different personalities and attitudes
people may have. This is similar to the various personalities and attitudes that students come to
One of the many important skills that I have developed over the years, while working
within the corporate world, have been to always know your audience and who you are working
with. With knowing your audience, you are able to communicate to those who need to
understand you properly and are able to convey the right message. This self-awareness and
understanding is helpful when taking into consideration your audience in a classroom. These
days, every classroom is made up of many children who are of varied needs. Some may have
learning disabilities, some may have physical disabilities, but your job as the teacher is to always
try and create an inclusive learning environment where all children are able to learn… they may
Conflict resolution and problem solving are other skills that have played a key role in my
office managerial tasks and would be an important skill to transfer into my teaching. There will
be many days where students will have conflicts inside or outside of the classroom and as the
teacher, one will need to be able to listen, help and understand their problems. Similar to dealing
with conflicts at work I will be able to mediate the discussion of what happened and make sure
that all stories are heard. I also want to make note that by having a positive response to many
conflicts and working through issues I was unknowingly working with B. F. Skinner’s
behaviourism theory. The patience that I have developed not only from volunteering but from
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working with people in high stress jobs will help me to manage my responses to conflicts that
may arise.
While I do not have a lot of experience being in a classroom I have enjoyed the past
couple years volunteering at an elementary school. I was able to assess situations calmly and
logically in order to execute strategies that worked for both the whole group and then executed
other strategies that helped to differentiate the same lesson for other individual students. One
thing that I have recognized is that not all students learn in the same way and that what may
work for one student does not necessarily work for another. There is no one “cookie cutter”
approach to teaching. I have learned it is a complex process and note that some students learn by
doing as Piaget’s theory of constructivism stated. This was very evident when I was I was given
the opportunity to work with some students’ with various special needs (students with ADHD,
mental health, learning disabilities etc.). Teaching is not just about the academics but it is also
about imparting essential life skills such as how to effectively relate and work with other people
I hope to continue to be mindful of each and everyone’s learning needs and know that
having an open and honest dialogue with each student will help. I have been able to develop
more experiences through the fieldwork program at Medaille and have had such eye opening
experiences working with families in need and of different socioeconomic backgrounds with
children who still have a passion for learning. Seeing their experiences reaffirms my passion and
Philosophy of Education
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Below I will be able to provide you with some insight on my ever changing philosophy of
Education, the reason it is ever changing is due to my ability to learn something new every day.
The School
It is my belief that the mission of a school should encompass a school’s values, this
includes the values of their teachers, administration staff and how they can apply this to
educating students. When looking at a school’s mission statement there should be a clear picture
to anyone who reads it of what that school is currently and what they hope to achieve. This
mission should also be fluid and ever changing in nature, we must be able to evolve with
whatever happens around us. We must all work together to achieve greatness.
Schools affect our societies by providing education to all that need it no matter the age,
culture, race, socioeconomic status, gender or religion. Not only does school provide a social
aspect to our students, it provides power to our students to be able to put themselves in a position
The Curriculum
I think through school our students should be able to engage in analytical skills that teach
them to question their surroundings and to challenge a growth mindset. To the best of our
abilities our curriculum should encourage mindfulness, the ability to develop social skills to the
best of our ability and to develop skills that we will use in our life later on.
I believe there are many things of the hidden curriculum that could be included such as
our body language and how we treat our administration, this is observed by our students. There
are also organizational aspects in the playground that students may gravitate to different groups,
or groups that they relate to. I think as educators we should remain mindful and to maintain a
safe and inclusive environment to avoid any negatives that could arise form a hidden curriculum.
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Learning
Albeit I have not been exposed to every educational theorist that is out there my two
favourite theorists in addition to Bloom, Vygotsky, and Piaget would be Bruner and B.F.
Skinner. I think that Bruner’s view on each students ability to tackle challenges in age
appropriate ways is great to keep in mind to make not of where our students are and to also be
able to push our students as needed. For B. F. Skinner’s behaviorism theory highlighting positive
and negative reinforcement is crucial for how we interact with our students and how we also
provide feedback to them. I think often times although our students are hung up on the grades
that they are getting I am not sure if the responses certain teachers have to students is
appropriate.
I am thankful that we have evolved our learning styles from the yelling and punishment
for not wanting to speak up in class, a more nurturing and understanding response with positive
feedback would be extremely beneficial for all. I believe that when we instruct some educators
either do not take the appropriate amount of time or provide multiple ways of instruction to meet
each learner’s learning style. Technology in the classroom has evolved so quickly within the last
ten years that our students now grow up with a Chromebook more so than a pencil and paper.
Ultimately this is an amazing advancement but I believe we should still be reminded of how far
we have come, and stick to some traditions of reading a hard copy of a book. I think with
technology we are able to be assistive and provide many opportunities to all of our students.
The Learner
I would like to work with the grade 3 age range, approximately 8-9 years of age as they
express a sense of independence and are able to distinguish between right and wrong. I would
also like to foster their independence and provide a bit more independent work with group work
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to provide collaboration. The responsibility of students increases through each year, and I find
Developmentally our students are also learning how better to express themselves and their
emotions and what they truly are interested or what they need. They are becoming more
Assessment
I think students should be assessed both formally and informally. I believe a lot more
students are developing test anxiety and to be mindful of such we can remove that stress by
providing different assessment tools. Formal or informal assessments can include but are not
limited to: quizzes, assignments, unit tests, or an exit ticket, thumbs up or down, Kahoot, and
graphic organizers. Our assessments are not only to see where are students are but also how we
may need to change and adapt to how we are teaching. Our assessments should reflect our lesson
Classroom Management
establish respect and order in your classroom to provide a safe environment to teach. Not only
will you be able to effectively teach you will also have a great working environment for all your
students through a calm, well managed environment. I think the most effective technique for
classroom management begins with mutual respect between a teach and their students. Other key
components include organization, clear communication with your students, positive motivation
The Teacher
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In order for us to have effective teachers I believe the necessary education that is needed
to be effective would be a hands on approach that incorporates theory and anecdotal evidence.
We have learned a lot from other experiences and have been fortunate to reference in real time.
After taking a personality test and identifying as the colour blue I feel there are a lot of character
traits that good teachers should embody. These character traits include a nature that is calm,
tranquil, peaceful, confident, intelligent, trustworthy, authentic, driven, reliable and respectful.
All of these character traits are great things that I can identify in a lot of my previous educators
Resume
Below is the most update version of my current resume, this depicts my current and
are small pieces that have lead me to where I am today and have also impacted me to move
Victoria Brancalion
2332 Overfield Road
Oakville ON L6M 3V3
Assisted with the office build out projects and renovations. Worked closely with the
trades as well as our general contractor to make sure all project related items were on
track.
Aided in forecasting the budget for a build out of a space in our New York Office.
Coordinated with senior management to prepare employees for a movement.
Liaised with landlords and local authorities for matters that came up around the office
during the moves.
Managed different team members globally while being remote and provided back up
support for the team.
Accounts Payable
Updated Vendor accounts on General Ledger System, liaised with vendors in both
Canada and United States to obtain information to comply with tax regulations.
Conversion of vendor payments from a manual cheque process to electronic payments
which required liaison with vendors in both Canada and USA to obtain banking
information and maintained and tracked responses.
Off-site storage – organized and logged all storage boxes to be sent off-site for Accounts
Payable.
Accounts Receivable
Contacted clients to convert from cheque banking profiles to electronic payment to
streamline collection process.
Corresponded with clients on collection of aged Accounts Receivables that were past
due.
Filing of Client Invoices in designated Accounts Receivable files.
Reception coverage duties as assigned.
Reception
Reception Coverage for Summer Vacations in the department.
Assisted with set up of special meetings in board rooms and training rooms as assigned.
Organized and assisted with the maintenance off-site storage for Finance.
Clerical
Glen Oaks Memorial Gardens, Oakville 2006-2011 (Occasional, as required)
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EDUCATION
Sheridan College, Oakville, Jan 2018 to Present
French Conversational Proficiency – learning French fundamentals and reinforcing
comprehension through oral and written exercises.
Certificate in Conversational French – Completed by August 2020
McMaster University, Hamilton, 2011 to 2015
Bachelor of Arts – Political Science
King’s Christian Collegiate, Oakville, 2009 to 2011
Successful completion of OSSD.
SKILLS
Knowledge of and practical skills in using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Knowledge of VLOOKUPs and Pivot Tables.
A self-starter, self-motivated and a quick learner
Strong organization skills
Excellent verbal communication and business writing skills
A customer service mindset with strong interpersonal skills and able to build
relationships.
Ability to demonstrate critical thinking, judgment, decision making, and problem solving.
Ability to work both independently and in a team environment
Ability to multi-task while managing competing priorities. Effective time management
skills.
Ability and adaptability to work with a multi-discipline workload in a constantly
changing environment.
Hands on, approachable individual with a professional manner able to communicate at all
levels of management and oversee core operations for the smooth running of the day to
day business critical services.
SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS
INTERESTS
Swimming, Reading, Music
LANGUAGES
REFERENCES
Conclusion
As I have completed section two of my portfolio I have already learned so much and was
will provide you with a little bit of background information on why I would like to be an
educator and how my previous experiences have shaped me as a person. By further looking at
my philosophy of education, which I am sure will change I hope to always remain reflective,
honest, caring and passionate. Since we have had a look at my work experience through my
anecdotal stories and my resume I hope to showcase the work that I have put forth here at
Medaille in Section three. Through Section three of the portfolio you will have an opportunity to
see the artifacts that I have curated and various ways I hope to excel as an educator.
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 26
During section three of this portfolio we will be exploring the artifacts that I have created
and curated during my time here at Medaille. These artifacts will showcase the skills and
knowledge that I have developed and continue to work on in order to be an effective, engaging
This section makes reference to both the New York State and Ontario Ministry of
Education curriculum standards for both ELA and Math/Science and how they relate to the
upcoming artifacts. In addition I will also be applying the Interstate New Teacher Assessment
Support Consortium Standards (ISTASC), NYS Code of Ethics for Educators, Teacher
(TEAC/CAEP). In addition these standards will also apply, International Society for Technology
Education for Teachers and Students (ISTE), the Council for Exceptional Children (ECE), and
lastly the International Literacy Association (ILA). Throughout our teaching it is important that
we recognize and apply these standards throughout our career. As teachers we are held to these
standards through our teaching and must adhere in order to maintain consistency, and to ensure
Through the artifacts below I hope to show you my ability to plan, instruct and assess.
These will be evident through my learning segment I have written to teach story structure in a
Grade 3 class. This learning segment also has connections to learner accommodations for my
students with Level 4 language needs and a student with visual impairment. I have also included
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 27
a math lesson plan that will showcase my ability to teach the appropriate math concept and
subject matter to engage my students. I have also included my Pecha Kucha presentation that
was prepared to gain a better understanding of students who have an intellectual disability. In
addition to this presentation I have also included an IEP analysis. This IEP Analysis is crucial for
teachers to be able to understand any accommodations that are made for their respective students
who are in need of support. I have also included my Child Abuse / SAVE certification as this is
an important part of our ability to help our students and report where we need to.
Further to our study of other educational systems and developing on our philosophy, I
have also included a Case Study of the educations system that was completed for Singapore.
Here we were able to look at how the education system is organized, their curriculum, how they
instruct and any changes that came about. To tie into this artifact I have also included my
philosophy of education and get a better understanding of how I see school, the curriculum,
learning, learner, assessment, classroom management, and lastly the teacher. I am hoping this
Lastly given the environment that we are currently in during our time with COVID-19, I
have added a few of my technological artifacts that will showcase my passion for incorporating
technology in the classroom and my ability to adapt. Of these artifacts I have included my
cybersafety presentation which is important to educate our students on. I have also included my
Weebly website which was created for a Grade 3 classroom that showcases many resources and
which was quite interesting to complete through being in an online learning environment myself.
This classroom will showcase my ability to use everything that I have learned through my
Below you will find copies of my artifacts which were completed by me and will
showcase a variety of skills that I have acquired. These artifacts are a variety of my work, from
lesson plans, to an IEP analysis, and a close look at cybersafety and the advances we have made
in the technology work for education. I hope that this variety will give you an idea on my ability
Below you will find a learning segment that contains three English lessons centered
around teaching story structure, with a focus on the elements that make up a story. This artifact is
to showcase my ability of planning, incorporating lessons that gradually build upon the content
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
Principle 1: Nurture the intellectual, Principle 2: Create and Support, Principle 3: Commit to
New York State Standards: NY 3R7: Explain how specific illustrations or text features
1.7 – Identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the meaning of the
texts
Standard #1: Foundational Knowledge, Standard #2: Curriculum Instruction, Standard #3:
CEC Standards
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 31
Standard #1: Challenging exceptions, Standard #2: High level of Professional competence,
Lesson Plan 1 of 3
Where is the school where you are teaching located? City: _______ Suburb: _______ Town:_______ Rural: ______
Students
The central focus of this learning segment is to identify story structures using story elements and key details.
What do you know about your students’ personal, cultural, and/or community assets as they relate to the central focus? (edTPA Handbook,
Task 1, Prompt 2b)
I know that the school area that I work in has students from families who are in a higher socioeconomic standing. I also know a lot of
my students have pets and sibling.
Since I know a few of my students have siblings, and I do as well. I will share a story of a time where my sister and I fought over playing
a video game together. I will highlight that to help us resolve our problems we decided to share and take turns. I will show this in a story
map.
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
Since I know some of my students have siblings. I can use this information to compare any conflicts that arise to their life with small
fights or arguments they get into with their siblings. This can also be tied to any of their favourite movies or TV shows.
I will use this to inform my instruction by always being mindful of what is going on in their lives. I will also make sure to connect what
we are learning to their interests to keep them engaged in class. Students will likely run into problems at school and identifying them is a
good place to start. Highlighting a solution that they may have some up with on their own will help them to make these connections. An
example I can use for them would be the Disney movie Mulan (or any other Disney movie) I will highlight the conflict that appeared
within their family when Mulan wanted to serve in the military. Solution being she did what she wanted and in the end made her family
proud.
I will also know that a part of the final assessment for this learning segment will be to create their own stories, I know they will have to
understand all the key terms so I will get them to define and use a graphic organizer for their reference.
Curriculum Standards
New York State Standards: NY 3R7: Explain how specific illustrations or text features contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a text.
Ontario Grade 3 Standards: 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important idea s and some supporting details.
1.7 – Identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the meaning of the texts
Key words and phrases students need students will need to understand vocabulary by filling our an anchor chart with the
to be able to understand and use to use are, characters, setting, definitions of a story’s elements, and include examples for
problem, and solution. them to reference.
Syntax - I will provide my students with the Rollercoaster Graphic
Describe ways in which students will My students will use syntax by Organizer which will help them to visualize the ups and
organize language (symbols, words, structuring their responses in a downs of the story. This structure provided will help them
phrases) to convey meaning. group while supporting their outline what has happened in a story and highlight key
findings with evidence from the components.
story.
Discourse Throughout the lesson my - I will support my students to use discourse by modeling
How members of a discipline talk, students will be able to identify examples of how I identify the story’s characters, setting,
write, and participate in knowledge story elements by saying the and encourage my students to think of the problem and
construction and communicate their names of characters with solution in small groups.
understanding of the concepts support, and highlighting
problems and solutions in the
story with support as well. They
can communicate their
understanding by using Think-
Pair-Share with their peers. (in
groups, students will be able to
discuss what is going on in the
story.)
Instructional Process Accommodations and/or Modifications
and/or Supports
Anticipatory Set/Motivator For my Visually Impaired student and ELL
- I will start our lesson by going over what we have covered through stories, that there is a Level 4 student the following
beginning, middle, and end. For today’s lesson we will be focusing on what makes a story accommodations will be made throughout
a story, the elements of this story include characters, a setting, problem and solution. the lesson.
- Since I know a few of my students have siblings, and I do as well. I will share a story of a VI - Accommodations include handouts
time where my sister and I fought over playing a video game together in our basement. I created with Tahoma Bold font size 18,
will highlight that to help us resolve our problems we decided to share and take turns. I extended time on in class testing and
will show this in a story map. I will fill out the story map with my students? exams, directions read and clarified
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 37
the information, and get to know the characters. Once we get to the top we are at the
exciting part or maybe the problem it’s interesting. When you are coming down the
rollercoaster it is almost like the solution to the problem you just had before and that is
when the story slows down.
- As you can see on our worksheet there is a beginning, middle and end, the story elements
can show up at different times.
- Now as a class we will go through and read A Bad Case of Stripes.
- Say this to the students “The graphic organizer that you will fill out give you all the
important information from the story, known as the story elements.” You can also model
for them in your graphic organizer through the document scanner.
- Stop at Page 4 and Model, “Who would be the main Character of this story?”
- Stop at Page 5 and Model, “What do you think she is feeling? Are we supposed to laugh at
our friends?”
- Stop at Page 7 and Model, “What do you think is happening, what could the problem be?
Who likes Lima beans? I love Lima beans!”
- Stop at Page 10 and Model, “What happens to Camilla after the doctors came? Did the
pills work?”
- Stop at Page 12 with reporters and Model, “How do you think Camilla is feeling now?”
- Stop at Page 13 with the environmental therapist and Model, “Oh my goodness, what
happened now?”
- Stop at Page 15 with the kind old women, “What did she give to Camilla?, Yes they are
regular Lima beans, Weren’t those Camilla’s favourite? Why was she afraid to admit it?
Has this happened to anyone? Was she being laughed at for eating the Lima beans?”
- Stop at Page 17 and Model, “So what happened with Camilla? Yes she ate the beans, and
did that solve her problem of the bad case of stripes? IT did right! What else happened?
Yes she stopped caring and ate her favourite beans!”
- Camilla learned that being different and liking Lima beans is okay because that’s what
makes us who we are.
Closure
Bring students back together at the end by re-capping what their learning was from today on
making story elements, tying in the importance of character, setting, problems and solutions..
Tomorrow we will be breaking off into small groups and you will be reading a few of the stories
from our class library and filling out your own roller coaster worksheet.
List all materials and/or technology tools required for the lesson.
Key instructional materials must be attached. These materials might include such items as class handouts, assignments, slides, and interactive
white-board images.
- Anchor Chart with Key Words for Story Elements (link and photo below)
- Roller Coaster Graphic Organizer (Photo and link attached)
- Book: A Bad Case of Stripe by David Shannon (Library)
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 40
- Story Map to fill in with class while they complete their graphic organizer (photo and link below)
ANCHOR CHART
https://pin.it/eNLFiEd
https://pin.it/3cXeSMw
ROLLERCOASTER WORKSHEET
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 42
https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/story-structure-rollercoaster/
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 43
Lesson Plan 2 of 3
Where is the school where you are teaching located? City: _______ Suburb: ___x____ Town:_______ Rural: ______
The central focus of this learning segment is to identify story structures using story elements and key details.
- In addition to what they have learned in Grade 2, we have also worked through identifying story structure in our previous lesson. Since
we worked through story structure as a class, the Students were provided with the Roller Coaster Graphic Organizer that they can use
as a reference. Students will also have access to the Anchor Chart that is posted in the classroom that defines: setting, characters,
problems, and solutions. All of these resources should be used by my students to help them with their upcoming group work for this
lesson.
- This will help my instruction because I will be able to see if my students understood the activity of outlining the story structure in our
previous lesson. I will look for them to fill out the roller coaster worksheet with their respective books information.
I know that the school area that I work in has students from families who are in a higher socioeconomic standing. I also know a lot of
my students have pets and sibling.
Since I know a few of my students have siblings, and I do as well. I wil remind them of the story that I shared in our previous lesson
about the time where my sister and I fought over playing a video game together. I will highlight to them again that to help us resolve our
problems we decided to share and take turns. I will show this in the story map I created previously.
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
Since I know some of my students have siblings. I can use this information to compare any conflicts that arise to their life with small
fights or arguments they get into with their siblings. This can also be tied to any of their favourite movies or TV shows.
I will use this to inform my instruction by always being mindful of what is going on in their lives. I will also make sure to connect what
we are learning to their interests to keep them engaged in class. Students will likely run into problems at school and identifying them is a
good place to start. Highlighting a solution that they may have come up with on their own will help them to make these connections.
An example I can highlight again for them would be the Disney movie Mulan (or any other Disney movie) I will highlight the conflict
that appeared within their family when Mulan wanted to serve in the military. Solution being she did what she wanted and in the end
made her family proud.
I will also know that a part of the final assessment for this learning segment (our next lesson) will be to create their own stories, I know
they will have to understand all the key terms so I will get them to define and use a graphic organizer for their reference.
Curriculum Standards
New York State Standards: NY 3R7: Explain how specific illustrations or text features contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a text.
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 46
Ontario Grade 3 Standards: 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details.
1.7 – Identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the meaning of the texts
problems and solutions in the review what we have previously done and in addition to
story with support as well. filling out the rollercoaster worksheet with the story for
They can communicate their Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco.
understanding by using Think-
Pair-Share with their group
members. (in groups, students
will be able to discuss what is
going on in the story.)
- I will be walking around the room to ensure that my students are on the right track.
- I will also ask them for examples and support of why they pick things
- I will check in on my students with visual impairments in the class to ensure they are able
to read everything and can participate
- I will check for comprehension with my ELL learner by ensuring they understand the
story, depending on the story they pick I can have visual aids for them as well as, provide
any translation as needed. We can also look into including a dictionary for them to
translate words.
Closure
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 51
- Bringing back the students by saying, “Alright everyone we are going to get back together
as a class, please return to your seats.”
- So everyone lets go over what we covered today – Can anyone tell me what the main story
structure is made up of?
- Yes that is great, Characters. Next?
- Yup – Settings, and what is a setting?
- Next, We have?
- Problems, that is correct. And with problems what else do we have?
- Solutions, that is correct ! Well done everyone.
List all materials and/or technology tools required for the lesson.
Key instructional materials must be attached. These materials might include such items as class handouts, assignments, slides, and interactive
white-board images.
- Anchor Chart with Key Words for Story Elements (Link and photo below)
- Roller Coaster Graphic Organizer (Photo and link attached)
- Book: A Bad Case of Stripe by David Shannon (Library)
- Book: Thank you, Mr. Falker (Library)
- Roller Coaster Graphic Filled Out for Thank you, Mr. Falker (Photo below)
- Roles for Group Reading – Attached Below – these are posted in the class & my students are familiar with their roles
- Story Map: A Bad Case of Stripes (Visual Aid in the Class)
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 52
ANCHOR CHART
https://pin.it/eNLFiEd
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 53
https://pin.it/3cXeSMw
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 55
Lesson Plan 3 of 3
Where is the school where you are teaching located? City: _______ Suburb: ___x____ Town:_______ Rural: ______
The central focus of this learning segment is to identify story structures using story elements and key details.
Understanding – of a text by retelling the story or restating information from the text, with the inclusion of a few interesting details and
1.7 – identify the main idea and some additional elements of texts.
- In our previous lesson we covered Thank You, Mr. Falker and as a class I prompted my students by asking them who the remember the
characters were, or settings, any problem and solutions that also occurred with Thank You, Mr. Falker.
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
- In addition to what they have learned in Grade 2, we have also worked through identifying story structure in our previous lesson. Since
we worked through story structure as a class, the Students were provided with the Roller Coaster Graphic Organizer that they can use
as a reference. Students will also have access to the Anchor Chart that is posted in the classroom that defines: setting, characters,
problems, and solutions. All of these resources should be used by my students to help them with their upcoming group work for this
lesson.
- This will help my instruction because I will be able to see if my students understood the activity before they complete their individual
pieces of work. I will also make sure to go through each key vocabulary word that they should all be familiar with at this point, but I
want to make sure there is no confusion before they head into their individual assignments.
I know that the school area that I work in has students from families who are in a higher socioeconomic standing. I also know a lot of
my students have pets and sibling.
Since I know a few of my students have siblings, and I do as well. I will remind them of the story that I shared in our previous lesson
about the time where my sister and I fought over playing a video game together. I will highlight to them again that to help us resolve our
problems we decided to share and take turns. I will show this in the story map I created previously.
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
Since I know some of my students have siblings. I can use this information to compare any conflicts that arise to their life with small
fights or arguments they get into with their siblings. This can also be tied to any of their favourite movies or TV shows.
I will use this to inform my instruction by always being mindful of what is going on in their lives. I will also make sure to connect what
we are learning to their interests to keep them engaged in class. Students will likely run into problems at school and identifying them is a
good place to start. Highlighting a solution that they may have come up with on their own will help them to make these connections.
An example I can highlight again for them would be the Disney movie Mulan (or any other Disney movie) I will highlight the conflict
that appeared within their family when Mulan wanted to serve in the military. Solution being she did what she wanted and in the end
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 59
Curriculum Standards
New York State Standards: NY 3R7: Explain how specific illustrations or text features contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a text.
Ontario Grade 3 Standards: 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details.
1.7 – Identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the meaning of the texts
How members of a discipline talk, students will be able to identify examples of how I identify the story’s characters, setting,
write, and participate in knowledge story elements by saying the and encourage my students to think of the problem and
construction and communicate their names of characters with solution that are outlined in the anchor chart posted in the
understanding of the concepts support, and highlighting class.
problems and solutions in the - I will show this in the beginning of the lesson when we
story with support as well. review what we have previously done and review the Story
Map that we filled out for A Bad Case of Stripe by David
They will be able to demonstrate Shannon.
discourse when they discuss story
elements using key vocabulary
such as characters, setting,
problem, and solutions and are
able to ask me questions using
these words.
Instructional Process Accommodations and/or Modifications
and/or Supports
Anticipatory Set/Motivator For my Visually Impaired student and ELL
- I will start our lesson by going over what we covered in our previous lesson, this includes Level 4 student the following
the graphic organizer that we completed for A Bad Case of Stripe by David Shannon, the accommodations will be made throughout
Rollercoaster Graphic organize we completed as a class for Thank you, Mr. Falker. the lesson.
- I will also remind the students that the group work that they completed is similar to what VI - Accommodations include handouts
they will be doing today but they will be completing this work individually. created with Tahoma Bold font size 18,
- For today’s lesson we will be using what we learned in our previous lesson about what extended time on in class testing and
makes a story a story, the elements of this story include characters, a setting, problem and exams, directions read and clarified
solution. Level 4 - Accommodations include
- “Can someone tell me who a character is in a story?” visuals with text, translator dictionary,
- I anticipate they will say the person or animal in a story – I will ask how they know that provide concept maps when appropriate,
they are the character, and I anticipate they will say that the story is about them. clarify vocabulary and language concepts
- “Can someone tell me what the setting of the story is?” in first language when possible.
- I anticipate they will say the setting is where the story took place – I will also remind them
Whole Class Support – I will check in on
that the setting also includes “when the story took place”
understanding of the content and to ensure
- “Can someone tell me how do you know there is a problem in the story?”
that the students are following a long with
- I anticipate that they will say that the problem in the story is when something has gone
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 62
wrong. I will make sure to highlight that their own stories. I will also look for facial
- “Can someone tell me what the solution of this story is? How do you know it’s the expressions of confusion (if present) to see
solution?” if I need to explain anything as I am asking
- I anticipate they will say the solution was when the problem got solved, and I will questions.
emphasize that some of the characters may have helped solve this problem.
- I am using the above language, and prompts to encourage them to get in the mindset of I will also be walking around while they
thinking this way before they work on their graphic organizers. are reading and writing in their graphic
organizers to make sure they are okay. I
will also remind them
remind my students to please put their names on the paper or they will not get marked.
- Once each person gets their worksheet they will be able to go to our class library and select
from our main 5 books, there are multiple copies for you to read.
- I will be walking around the room to ensure that my students are on the right track.
- I will also ask them for examples and support of why they pick things – if they need help
and guidance while they fill out the worksheet.
- I will check in on my students with visual impairments in the class to ensure they are able
to read everything and can participate.
- I will check for comprehension with my ELL learner by ensuring they understand the
story, depending on the story they pick I can have visual aids for them as well as, provide
any translation as needed. We can also look into including a dictionary for them to
translate words.
- I will collect the individual work and assess to see whether or not each student was able to
identify the story structures from the books they read.
Closure
- Bringing back the students by saying, “Alright everyone we are going to get back together
as a class, please return to your seats.”
- So everyone lets go over what we covered today – Can anyone tell me what the main story
structure is made up of?
- Yes that is great, Characters. Next?
- Yup – Settings, and what is a setting?
- Next, We have?
- Problems, that is correct. And with problems what else do we have?
- Solutions, that is correct ! Well done everyone.
ANCHOR CHART
https://pin.it/eNLFiEd
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 66
https://pin.it/3cXeSMw
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 68
ROLLERCOASTER WORKSHEEThttps://www.education.com/lesson-plan/story-structure-rollercoaster/
Below you will find a math lesson plan that was created to explore fractions in a Grade 3
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
Principle 1: Nurture the intellectual, Principle 2: Create and Support, Principle 3: Commit to
perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear and area measures.
Ontario – Grade 3: Measurement: estimate, measure, and record the perimeter of two-dimensional
Standard #1: Foundational Knowledge, Standard #2: Curriculum Instruction, Standard #3:
CEC Standards
Standard #1: Challenging exceptions, Standard #2: High level of Professional competence,
Where is the school where you are teaching located? City: _______ Suburb: ___x____ Town:_______ Rural: ______
Subject and Lesson Topic: Math – Find the Perimeter: Real Life
the curriculum that is the purpose of the instruction of the learning segment (Making Good Choices, 2016).
The central focus of this learning segment is to find the perimeter of various shapes.
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
- The above information will help inform my instruction by seeing whether or not we have a good baseline and understanding of measurement before we go on
to figuring out the perimeter.
- I will also provide them with the anchor chart attached below of “Perimeter is…can…look like…”
How will you use this knowledge to inform your instruction? (edTPA Handbook, Task 1, Prompt 3a)
- I will use this to inform my instruction by making connections to their home, asking them if they want to measure anything around. Ask if they are curious
about why they need to learn this?
Curriculum Standards
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 74
Common Core / NYS: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.D.8/ NY-3.MD.8 Geometric measurement: recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane
figures and distinguish between linear and area measures.
Ontario – Grade 3: Measurement: estimate, measure, and record the perimeter of two-dimensional shapes, through investigation using standard
units.
Vocabulary The vocabulary words that my - I will support my students to understand and use the vocabulary by
Key words and phrases students need to be students will need to keeping the anchor chart posted in the class with the examples of
able to understand and use understand to use are, perimeter
perimeter, length, border, - I will also support my students by ensuring they understand the
shape. definition of length, border, and shape, especially for my ELL
student and VI student
Syntax My students will use syntax by - I will provide my students with the Geometry Basics: Perimeter that
Describe ways in which students will structuring their responses we will complete as a class as well as Let’s Go Around worksheet
organize language (symbols, words, through adding the sides to find and Presenting Perimeter worksheets. These worksheets have
phrases) to convey meaning. examples of how to calculate the perimeter. This is for students to
the perimeter.
be able to follow and reference.
- The structure of these answers stems will help students visualize
how to write out how to answer perimeter questions.
Discourse Throughout the lesson my - I will support my students to use discourse by modeling examples
How members of a discipline talk, write, students will be able to work of how I am calculating perimeter, talking about how we add up the
and participate in knowledge construction through different perimeters, sides, how they are borders and we calculate the length around and
and communicate their understanding of identified the perimeter.
the concepts
identifying the perimeter by
discussing the adding of sides of - I will show this in the beginning of the lesson when we review the
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 76
shapes. anchor chart, I will ask questions on what they think the border is
They will communicate their called?
understanding by answering
the perimeter questions on
each worksheet.
Instructional Procedures/ Guided Practice (30 minutes) VI – All handouts will be in the above specified
Once we have completed that activity, I will get them all to go back to their seats where we will get into font, and support will be provided, it is also
my modeling of how to find the perimeter of a few common shapes. recommended that the student remain in their
I will draw a rectangle with 4 sides labeling each side, as well as a triangle with all their measurements. seat at the front of the class
I will ask my students what they think the perimeter is and give them a few minutes to work this out
on their individual white boards. Level 4 – Visuals with text will be provided and
I will check for understanding by getting them to tell me what perimeter is, how can we find it and get a translation of the elements of perimeter
a thumbs up or down for if we are good or need more information before we proceed.
I will be completing the Let’s Go Around worksheet with the class, we will go through the definition of In order to support my visual learners I
perimeter again and figure out the perimeter by adding the length of all the sides. (Docu Cam) Asking wanted to incorporate a drawing aspect
students to help me with figuring out the perimeter for those that wanted to. They could
Once this is complete, I will complete another informal assessment asking if the students understood outline and draw shapes as well and
what we covered (thumbs up or down) calculate for practice.
They will all then be split up into groups to work on the Geometry Basics: Perimeter worksheet
together. I will outline that they have 5 questions with shapes and 2 short answer questions. I will also For any enrichment activities I
remind them that they can draw out a sketch on the side if they need to help themselves visualize the will get my students to draw
word problem. polygons and use a ruler to
If time is permitted, I will get my students to work on completing the Presenting Perimeter worksheet, measure the sides, and swap with
this will be taken for formal assessment. If time does not permit, they can take this home to work on their elbow buddies. They can
and submit for our next lesson. solve for the perimeter for their
respective shapes.
Closure
Now that we have finished up the lesson, I will bring all my students back together.
I will go over the KWL chart and ask what they have learned from our perimeter lesson and add that
into the column as well
Ask students to help you plan for figuring out how much border you need to cover a bulletin board in the
classroom. Have them turn and talk to a partner and instruct them to write down three steps that you
should follow.
Have students share out their plans and collect student answers to create a list of three steps that you
could follow to find the perimeter of an area in the classroom.
Remind students that finding the perimeter is an important mathematical skill in which you find the length
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List all materials and/or technology tools required for the lesson.
Key instructional materials must be attached. These materials might include such items as class handouts, assignments, slides, and
interactive white-board images.
Anchor Chart - Perimeter
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For my class centered around teaching students in special education we were asked to
create a Pecha Kucha presentation centered around a specific learning disability. Below you will
find a movie file of the presentation that showcases an historical look and analysis of intellectual
disabilities. In addition to the general information provided about intellectual disabilities I have
also included parent and teacher resources as well as many books to be used in the classroom.
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
N/A
N/A
CEC Standards
Standard #1: Challenging exceptions, Standard #2: High level of Professional competence,
retardation, although the last term is rarely used, is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder
characterized by significantly impaired intellectual and adaptive functioning (which is our ability
to get along in our environment with the least amount of conflict and completing
our everyday skills or tasks)
childhood and involves a deficits in a child’s mental abilities, social skills, and their ability to
complete activities of daily living when those with Intellectual disabilities are compared to peers
Slide 3- There are many early signs that can identify whether or not your child has an intellectual
disability. These appear in a variety of ways and range in their severity. Some of the early signs
include: delays in reaching or failure to achieve motor skill milestones (sitting, crawling,
walking), slowness learning to talk, difficulty with self-help (this includes getting dressed or
feeding)
Slide 4 - Other indications of an Intellectual Disability include poor problem solving abilities,
which as teachers we may witness. It also include behavioural and social problems, a failure to
grow intellectually and at this point they may maintain a child like behaviour. There may be
problems in their ability to keep up in school, may be unable to adapt to changes and follow
social rules.
Slide 5 - History of ID - Intellectual disabilities have been documented through many names
during our history, a lot of which are now seen as offensive and do not get used as often
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(Thankfully). It is an unfortunate fact that throughout history humans that may have had an
intellectual disability were often seen as a burdens to their families and barely human beings.
Unfortunately through time the treatment of those with an intellectual disability was not kind,
and this was clearly evident in the Willow brook documentary we watched in the beginning of
the term.
Slide 6 - Diagnosis - In order for one of our students to be diagnosed with an intellectual
disability, a child must have both a significantly low IQ and a considerable amount of problems
in everyday tasks in order to be diagnosed. IQ tests are usually performed on children around the
ages of 4 to 6. In order to determine whether or not a child is able to complete daily tasks they
Slide 7 - Diagnosis continued. When children with an ID are compared to their peers we are
looking at whether or not they have the ability to take care of their personal care, whether
they are able to have conversations, how strong their school skills are, and whether or not they
feel safe. Children with an ID are often asking for help with these daily tasks.
delays in cognitive, social, and adaptive behavior skills as previously mentioned, especially
within typical classroom settings. Often when they are in different settings, these same
Slide 9- Learning characteristics relevant to teachers and the Impact - With the appropriate
supports in place, students with intellectual disabilities can achieve a high quality of life in many
different aspects. Curriculum and instruction must be carefully modified to help these students
reach their potential in both academics and other functional areas such as independent living.
While these students will have limitations in many adaptive behaviors, these limitations will co-
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exist alongside strengths in other areas within the individual. Independence and self-reliance
should always be primary goals of all instructional strategies employed with students with
intellectual disabilities.
Slide 10 - Teaching Strategies - Useful strategies for teaching students with intellectual
disabilities include, but are not limited to, the following techniques:
▪Use physical and verbal prompting to guide correct responses, and provide specific verbal
technologies can be a key component for helping our students with additional assistance. There
are a number of existing software packages designed to support students with intellectual
disabilities in the classroom. One promising approach in literacy software utilizes universal
design for learning principles. This approach combines reading for meaning with direct
instruction for decoding and understanding. The resulting software consists of an audio and
video based curriculum that can be adjusted by the teacher to meet the specific academic
disability have limited intellectual functioning. These limitations often create some commonly
observed difficulties. One such problem is impulse control. You may recall that people with ID
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have trouble connecting cause and effect. This in turn causes problems with impulse control And
decision making.
tolerance. When an impulse is inhibited, it requires the ability to tolerate a bit of frustration. This
comfortably endure the small frustrations of everyday life and they are able to problem solve.
Slide 14 - How are these behaviours relevant to teachers - These behaviours are relevant to
teachers because we need to be aware of our students with an intellectual disability as they will
be more likely to act on impulse and get frustrated in different scenarios. Another impact is on
their students self-esteem. We need to try to help all of our students increase their confidence and
sense of self, we need to ease any change that occurs in our classroom and reduce any stressors.
Slide 15- Educational Approach Suggestions for Teachers - One of the strategies that I found
online was to break down learning tasks into small steps. As this avoids overwhelming the
student. The second strategy I found is to modify the teaching approach. Lengthy verbal
directions and abstract lectures are ineffective. Most people are kinesthetic learners. And they
environment where visual aids are used. This might include charts, pictures, and graphs. Which
are useful for helping students to understand what behaviors are expected of them in the class. A
fourth teaching strategy is to provide direct and immediate feedback. This enables them to make
a connection between their behavior and the teacher's response. A delay in providing feedback
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makes it difficult to form connection between cause and effect. As a result, the learning point
may be missed.
Slide 17 - Student Support in the Classroom - How to support & the effects
When we have students who have an intellectual disability it is important to remember that we
are supposed to be there to provide a safe, comfortable environment. This applies to all of our
students. We can do this in our classroom by demonstrating patience, encouraging our students
to be independent, assign chores, give them positive feedback and make sure to include them in
Slide 18 - Introduce ID to your class include Picture book to open the discussion with your
students - There are so many ways we can include an introduction to intellectual disabilities in
the classroom and when I found an overwhelming number of children books online I was so
happy to see the amount of inclusion. This introduction should focus on being kind, and
including everyone no matter what. Some examples of books you can include in your class are
Two great websites that I found for supporting teachers who work with students who have an
intellectual disability include Do2Learn which outlines many academic strategies to implement
in your classroom as well as behaviour management. Another website I found was connected
with the Ontario Teachers’ Federations and had a huge list of resources and strategies in working
Websites that I found online that were supportive of parents are the ones listed in the slide.
Center for Parent Information & Resources is a great tool and connectors families with students
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who have an intellectual disability and it went through their stories and family supports that are
available when working with your child and their education needs.
class given a IEP to assess. The purpose of this assignment was to have more practice and
comfort when dealing with IEPs in the class and how to properly make accommodations or
recommendations where needed. With this assignment we were also able to reflect on how we
are able to work with our students no matter the support that we need to provide.
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
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N/A
N/A
N/A
CEC Standards
Standard #6: Using evidence and Research, Standard #7: Protecting and Supporting, Standard
#8: No harm to individuals with exceptionalities
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Victoria Brancalion
Medaille College
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Author Note
Student Introduction
During ESP 600 I have had the pleasure to analyze and apply a lot of what I learned
because of Cai Davis’ Individualized Education Program (IEP). With that being said I will
provide a very brief introduction to Cai and where he is currently situated for his IEP. Cai is a
health 8 year old boy, who is enrolled in a typical third grade classroom in New York state. He
currently has a disability classification of a learning disability and has been evaluated through
classroom observation. Below we will further investigate his strengths, challenges and how his
modifications have affected his educational needs. We will also be making any further
Cai’s Strengths
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Cai has many strengths through reading and math. He currently enjoys reading and
discussing stories in a classroom setting, and was able to orally recite key aspects of a story with
95% accuracy. He continues to comprehend reading material at the appropriate grade level. He
has also shown his proficiency in math and has a current average of 92% for homework
Cai’s Challenges
For Cai many of his challenges lie within writing, he has currently scored below level on
three separate tests that were conducted for the CORE Assessment measures. He also showcases
a delay in spelling and has serious delays in phonemic, orthographic and morphological
awareness.
Overall, Cai is an energetic student who maintains appropriate behaviour among his
teachers and peers. In light of Cai experiencing some difficulties in class he does not allow this
to affect his attitude and is positive through the school day and puts forth great effort and trying
his best to learn. He has received countless positive feedback from many of his teachers who
work with him. He has a very positive energy and maintains appropriate behaviour with his peers
and teachers. When it comes to writing, Cai needs to have a stronger grasp on spelling towards
his grade level on his assignments and quizzes that are administered in class. For Math there is
no concern here as he is quite strong in this subject. The only concern in terms of reading is his
ability to answer questions in written form, other than that he is reading at grade level.
When it comes to Cai’s social aspects, as previously mentioned he has a great, positive
attitude and puts forth a lot of effort to try his best in all of his activities. Overall he is developing
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well with appropriate social and emotional skills. Cai works well in small and large groups and is
a team player who is always willing to help any students who are struggling. He is able to
partake in a typical classroom and gets support when things are related to reading and writing
school assignments.
From a physical development perspective Cai is in good health and has met appropriate
physical expectations for his age. He demonstrates his physical capabilities by partaking in
When it comes to Cai, the modification, accommodations and programs that are put in place
align with his needs although I feel that there are other changes or additional resources that could
be added. Cai currently has someone checking with him for understanding and highlighting word
that are misspelled. In terms of material resources he also works with an electronic speller when
needed, specifically for his writing assignments. Cai still remains in his regular classroom which
allows for the least restrictive environment and can remain with his peers. With Cai he has
integrated co-teaching services 5 times a week in addition to checking for understanding and
highlighting any misspelled errors. I think these recommendations will help set up Cai for
success but would also recommend that he may also use the following:
- A dictation software so he is able to see the spelling of words he knows or at least knows
- I would also give him access to a keyboard to encourage him to type out his words or a
- I also think encouraging him to use a reading app to increase his confidence may also
I am hoping that these recommendations would better his learning experience and help him
improve in the future. I think that the tools that are currently in place align with his goals but I
find that any other additional recommendations that could be made would be great.
For reading, Cai’s goals are to correctly decode 10 words that are presented to him, from
reading narratives or a specific text he is familiar with. In addition to that he has writing goals
that are as follows, he will be able to spell 10 words from his reading or specific subjects to be
able to spell correctly upon request, and spell them correctly in writing assignments. In addition
to these two spelling goals, he will also use the writing processes of revising and editing to
evaluate and quantify the revision and editing process. I think that these are great goals to have
for Cai as it will increase his confidence in writing and will allow him to be more aware of any
errors that he may make while writing. My recommendations for Cai would be to also provide
writing prompts for him to practice writing with. I would include his electronic speller if needed
for him to get comfortable with writing. I think it is important for us as Cai’s team to keep up
with his goals to constantly evolve as needed. “There is interconnectedness to the elements
described of the goal development process for standards-based IEPs.” (Caruana, V., 2015, p.242)
It is important to remember that this IEP is a tool to be used on, “how special education services
assist students with disabilities to reach high educational standards” (Caruana, V., 2015, p. 243).
Reflection
It is important to remember that this IEP is a tool to be used on, “how special education
services assist students with disabilities to reach high educational standards” (Caruana, V., 2015,
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p. 243). Which I think often times some people who are not aware may forget this and think that
this is an advantage above other students. I think often times we may see these advantages over
IEPs should have a collaborative aspect when used properly as there is usually an entire team
behind one student’s IEP. Ultimately when we are working with an IEP we incorporate a lot of
theorists and their methods in fine tuning and embracing any changes that occur for that student.
With B.F. Skinner, we look at behaviourism and how the positive reinforcement can often times
strengthen behaviours and the likelihood of them occurring again. When we are looking at how
to incorporate an IEP for our students it is important to remember to engage this positive
reinforcement as it will likely have a positive effect. If we reward positive behaviour for tasks
and goals that are met our students will likely try to continue to perform well in order to have
this positive reinforcement again. Another theorist to look at would be Piaget and his
connections to constructivism. It is important to note that often times students will learn by
doing, rather than by being told to do something, this is the general idea behind constructivism.
This works when we are working with any of our students and even those of our students that are
on IEPs. I think that when we look at this theory it allows us to connect to our students and their
interests in order to promote something that they may be more engaged with working with their
work. This theory also requires collaboration and a lot of work to find a balance on getting to
where your students with IEPs will be able to engage with this effective teaching style. We can
do this by understanding our students idea of the world and how they work within it. If we are
able to adapt to how our students learn or at least try and work with them we may be able to help
Below you will find the certificates of completing our Child Abuse and SAVE seminars.
Being required to partake in topics that are often seen as uncomfortable and unimaginable was
shocking at first, but in reality this is a part of our role as educators. We will be the safe haven
for many of our students, and will also be providing them with support or assistance as needed.
These certificates signify the professional development that we have completed and should look
towards completing as much as possible to gain the most information from any of these topics.
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
N/A
N/A
N/A
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CEC Standards
Standard #6: Using evidence and Research, Standard #7: Protecting and Supporting, Standard
Below you will find a Prezi presentation that was completed for our Technology for
Elementary education classrooms, this presentation was prepared to educate our students on the
importance of cyber safety and the vulnerabilities that our students may face online. You will
also find great resources for parents and teachers to use to bring awareness to a very popular and
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
Principle 2: Create & Support, Principle 5: Collaborate with parents and community
N/A
N/A
CEC Standards
N/A
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https://youtu.be/HxySrSbSY7o
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Htg8V3eik
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technology skills that I am able to use in the classroom and to work under an online environment.
I hoped to create this page with resources that I have curated over my time at Medaille and my
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
Principle 2: Create & Support, Principle 5: Collaborate with parents and community
N/A
N/A
Standard #1: Foundational Knowledge, Standard #2: Curriculum Instruction, Standard #3:
CEC Standards
N/A
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technology skills that I am able to use in the classroom and to work well in an online
INTASC Standards
DOE Claims
CAEP Standards
Principle 1: Nurture potential of each student, Principle 2: Create & Support, Principle 5:
Collaborate with parents and community
N/A
N/A
Standard #1: Foundational Knowledge, Standard #2: Curriculum Instruction, Standard #3:
CEC Standards
N/A
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Conclusion
Overall, I found this to be a great exercise to complete for our portfolio, not only can we
see the work and dedication put through while we are getting our Masters in Elementary
education, but we see our progress. Not only has this been a great learning experience in terms of
getting a better understanding of the standards, but we are also able to collaborate and improve
where we may have had difficulties in the past. I think having a variety of our work including
lessons, research, presentations and technology components are key. I look forward to what is to
come through the rest of this portfolio but was thankful at looking back on all that I have
accomplished.
Introduction
Throughout my portfolio so far you are able to see how the experiences I have had,
through both my professional, and educational career have led me to this point today. You have
further seen this through my passion and effort I have put forth through each of my artifacts in
the previous section. With these artifacts we are relating them to educational standards that we
are all supposed to be able to work with and implement throughout our practice. It is important
for us to work with these standards and curriculums as they are key components to how we teach
Below you will see a chart that includes all of my artifacts that are mentioned above as
well as the standards, both professional and curriculum that can apply. While there is no clear
explanation of why I chose these standards, given the opportunity to explain myself I can clearly
identify my rational.
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INTASC NYS Code NYS DOE ISTE ILA CEC Ontario Ontario
Artifact Standards of Ethics P-12 Claims & Standards Internationa Standards Curriculum Teacher
Title Standards Common CAEP for l Literacy Standards Ethical
for Core Standards Teachers Association Standards
Educators Learning and/or Professional
Standards Students Standards
Artifact #1: Standard Principle 1: NY 3R7: Claim 1: Teacher: Standard #1: Standard Ontario Care and
#4: Content Nurture the Explain how Subject Foundational #1: Grade 3 Integrity
ELA Knowledge Intellectual specific matter Collaborat Knowledge Challengin Standards:
Learning illustrations or or, g 1.4
Segment Standard Principle 2: text features Claim 2: Designer Standard #2: exceptions Demonstrate
(Grade 3) #6: Create and contribute to Pedagogy and High level of understandin
Assessment Support what is Analyst Professional Standard g of a variety
conveyed by Claim 3: Competence #2: of texts by
Standard Principle 3: the words in a Caring Student: Curriculu identifying
#7: Commit to text. Educators Standard #3: m important
Planning their own Empowere Assessment Instruction idea s and
for learning CAEP d Learner and some
Instruction Standard Evaluation Standard supporting
#1: #3: details.
Standard Content Meaningfu 1.7 – Identify
#8: Knowledge l and specific
Instruction Inclusion elements of
al texts and
Strategies explain how
they
contribute to
the meaning
of the texts
Artifact #2: Standard Principle 1: Common Claim 1: Teacher: Standard #1: Standard Ontario – Care and
#4: Content Nurture the Core / NYS: Subject Foundational #1: Grade 3: Integrity
Math Lesson Knowledge Intellectual CCSS.MATH matter Collaborat Knowledge Challengin Measurement
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Artifact #4: Standard Principle 1: N/A Claim 1: Teacher: N/A Standard N/A Care and
#1: Nurture the Subject #6: Respect
IEP Analysis Learner Intellectual matter Collaborat Using
Developme or and evidence
nt Principle 2: Claim 2: Analyst and
Create and Pedagogy Research
Standard Support
#2: Claim 3: Standard
Learning Principle 3: Caring #7:
Differences Commit to Educators Protecting
their own and
Standard learning CAEP Supporting
#3: Standard
Learning #1: Standard
Environme Content #8:
nts Knowledge No harm
to
individuals
with
exceptiona
lities
Artifact #5: Standard Principle 4: N/A Claim 1: Teacher: N/A Standard N/A Respect and
#9: Educators Subject #6: Integrity
Child Abuse/ Professiona Collaborate matter Citizen Using
SAVE l Learning evidence
Seminar and Ethical Principle 5: Claim 2: and
Practices Collaborativ Pedagogy Research
e with
Standard Parents and Claim 3: Standard
#10: community Caring #7:
Leadership Educators Protecting
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and and
Collaborati CAEP Supporting
on Standard
#1: Standard
Content #8:
Knowledge No harm
to
individuals
with
exceptiona
lities
Artifact #6: Standard Principle 2: N/A Claim 1: Teacher: N/A N/A N/A Care and
#4: Content Create and Subject Integrity
Cybersafety Knowledge Support matter Designer
Presentation and
Principle 5: Claim 2: Facilitator
Collaborativ Pedagogy
e with Student:
parents and Claim 3:
community Caring Digital
Educators Citizen
CAEP
Standard
#1:
Content
Knowledge
Artifact #7: Standard Principle 2: N/A Claim 1: Teacher: Standard #1: N/A N/A Care and
#3: Create and Subject Foundational Integrity
Weebly Learning Support matter Learner, Knowledge
Website Environme Citizen,
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Artifact #8: Standard Principle 1: N/A Claim 1: Teacher: Standard #1: N/A N/A Care and
#3: Nurture Subject Foundational Integrity
Google Learning potential of matter Learner, Knowledge
Classroom Environme each student Citizen,
nts Claim 2: Designer Standard #2:
Principle 2: Pedagogy and High level of
Standard Create and Facilitator Professional
#10: Support Claim 3: Competence
Leadership Caring
and Principle 5: Educators Standard #3:
Collaborati Collaborate Student: Assessment
on with Parents CAEP and
and Standard Empowere Evaluation
community #1: d Learner,
Content Digital
Knowledge Citizen,
Global
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Collaborat
or
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Conclusion
As you can see from the above all of my artifacts are clearly tied to multiple curriculum
and educational standards. This was an important exercise as it gave a lot of us the opportunity to
truly understand and work with these standards. Before this part of our portfolio we were only
vaguely introduced to these standards. I felt it was important for us to be reminded of what we
are to include in our classroom and throughout our lessons. Often times we are used to the
curriculum standards throughout our lessons, but we in turn uphold a lot of our New York State
Code of Ethics as well as the Ontario Code of Ethics in our classrooms without realizing it.
Introduction
While we have had the opportunity to reflect on a lot of our work and experiences at
Medaille, and through our Master of Science in Elementary Education, there has been a lot of
growth in under a year. Throughout this section you will see the connections to my experiences
and this project that will prepare me to become a teacher. You will also see the connections that
can be made to our TEAC and CAEP Standards and how that they will work within my portfolio,
and further into my teaching career. In addition, to reflecting on my portfolio project and
different learning experiences I will express my thoughts on how ready I feel to become a
It has been my goal throughout this project to be better prepared to go into the teaching
profession, and I am finding that the smaller reflections we have completed throughout will help.
These reflections have allowed me to truly understand why we do what we do and how they
relate to teachers and the standards that we work with. Ultimately this experience has been a
learning curve that I was not anticipating in the beginning of our program, but eventually I have
Before I delve into topics that I have tied together for this portfolio, I would like to
further reflect on my experiences at Medaille through the course work. Looking back at the
growth I have experienced is shocking, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, my love for
helping others, empowering students, and constantly learning is what drove me. I imagine like
many of my colleagues we held a lot of self-doubt in our ability to teach and have our own
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classrooms. Now that I am near the end of my journey at Medaille my views have changed and
for the better. Not only have we changed for the better, but we continue to uphold the DOE
CAEP Claims that tie to us as Medaille graduates. We ensure that we know the subject matter,
we make sure that we are able to meet the needs of diverse learners, and that we are caring
educators as a whole.
One of the first courses that I would like to reflect on would be the EDU 500 The Core of
Education, this was a deep dive look into how and why we teach. This was also a sharp learning
curve in figuring out how to create a lesson, shockingly enough they were not preplanned as a lot
of my friends had previously though. I know shockingly you do not show up to a classroom
where everything is done for you, we have to work with our students, curriculum and how to
teach. In preparing through this course we started to gain the knowledge to teach in a classroom,
which closely ties to Standard 1 of the CAEP Standards where, we as “candidates develop a deep
understanding of the critical concepts and principles of their discipline and, by completion, are
able to use discipline-specific practices flexibly to advance the learning of all students toward
attainment of college- and career-readiness standards” (CAEP, n.d.). For the Core of Education, I
have found that this class was most helpful in truly understanding the fundamentals of what we
are to do as educators. I believe that as educators we should all take this course to provide us
with the tools and confidence, we need in order to thrive in our classrooms. Through EDU 500
the most helpful tools to me would have been our class content, the textbook we have and the
modules that we were to complete. I believe that we all have different strengths and weaknesses
to harness when we are learning, this can be applied in our classrooms we hope to be in one day
to what we are learning here at Medaille. When we were in class and partaking in discussions
and collaborating when we do the gallery walks of different scenarios, I found these to be most
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helpful. Since we collaborated as a class, I felt that we were all bring something different to the
table and each future teacher is different and unique in their own ways. We as a class are very
supportive of one another and are there to help everyone, the unity that we have as a class has
been so helpful for me especially since I am not currently in the educational field. Our unity has
continued to this day and has helped through our transition to an online platform, not only
I enjoyed The Core of Education; I think the content and collaboration that it fostered in
the classroom has made for a good learning experience. All of the ways we were able to tie this
information to our classrooms or any prior experience has been very useful. I have been able to
build upon this and tie it to the classes I have completed at Medaille through the later terms as
well. Finally, I would like to highlight the advances I have made through the lesson planning in
term 1, which is vastly different to my experience and content now. Since I had no prior
experience with the classroom nor planning on teaching this was probably the most challenging
handle on planning to the best of my ability so far, and can only improve at this point. Since I
was unsure of how to lead a class with the NY state formatted lesson plan, once I completed my
lesson plan demonstration, I was able to see how all the items tied together. I saw how you
would lead with your anticipatory set and go through the steps of the lesson plan nicely. I think
truly understanding each item and having them explained to me helped me put into perspective
Of all of the courses that I have taken at Medaille, I believe the one that has most
prepared me up until this point would have to be the EDU 503. This course which further delved
into Methods of Teaching of the Arts also very much prepared us for our edTPA. Not only did
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we get a clear review of what is expected of us through each section of the edTPA but we also
were able to go over a lot of aspects of our lesson writing to have us tie connections to our
edTPA. Since we did such a thorough explanation of why we write plans, how it related to the
edTPA and teaching in general I feel that I am the most prepared I can be. We were all given the
confidence and advice to better our lessons and in turn better prepare us for the classroom. Not
only were we concentrating on our plans we also were given many ways to teach difficult topics
in the arts such as history, economics, and civics. I think being in this course prepared us to
critically think on subjects that we aren’t typically comfortable working with. Further typing to
our CAEP Standard 1 we, “are able to use discipline-specific practices flexibility to advance the
learning of all students towards… career readiness standards” (CAEP, n.d.). As always, we were
told to prepare for the unexpected, and to expect your plans to go a different direction. I think
that not only have we witnessed this with our courses changing any given moment but
completing our master during a pandemic was definitely something that I believe none of us
were prepared for. Ultimately everything happens for a reason and we can see these
Below I will highlight a few things that I have observed through coursework, field
placement, and the general Medaille process. One thing that has remained true is expect the
unexpected, whether you learn something completely different in a class than what was planned
or for me working with many different students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds there
is always something to learn in these moments. I found even in a graduate class no matter how
much planning you have put towards your lesson, the organic nature of class and in class
discussion has the ability to throw a rut in your original plans. This I can still say we experience
while we are in an online platform, albeit not as seamless but we still get the opportunity to
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discuss, thankfully. The observations I have made through being a volunteer in a classroom or
Saturday academy has provided insight on how I would like to teach, to organize my classroom
and ways I would like to do things, as well as things I would not like to do. Working with
students with different need, intellectual disabilities and socioeconomic background has provided
an additional layer of understanding and applying what we have learned through our courses. I
find that this all relates back to the Medaille DOE Claims that we are to be caring educators
From the beginning I understood the importance of this project, although I was skeptical
on completion and how to approach this portfolio. To say that this portfolio was intimidating,
and overwhelming is very much an understatement, but ultimately a necessary assignment and a
very reflective one, which ties strongly with ensuring that we have developed an understanding
of what we are learning to be educators. This is outline through the CAEP Standard, “ensuring
that candidates apply content and pedagogical knowledge” (CAEP, n.d.). Taking this portfolio as
one step at a time was a very good approach and I would definitely recommend this approach to
all who are coming through this program, another piece of advice would be to save all of your
Throughout all of that we have completed at Medaille, through fieldwork and our classes,
I think that being able to put all that we have learned into practice has been the most insightful.
Quite frankly there are a lot of things that I have learned through Medaille, with hands on
experience that I likely would not have gotten at any other school. Lessons that I have learned
through this experience is that you are never too young or old to learn, I have had my learning
style change many times and have worked with different test taking techniques. These tools that I
have acquired have helped me prepare my portfolio, articulate where I was having difficulties
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and have shown me that I am ever evolving through these experiences. I think that my portfolio
overall not only explores my work, showcases my dedication to be a well-rounded educator but
also proves that I will try my best to evolve and better myself.
In complete honesty I genuinely wonder if we are ever able to truly be ready to teach,
but from what I have learned at Medaille and through this entire education process I feel
confident that I will be a great educator. Not only have we been put in a difficult position of
learning in the midst of a pandemic, but we have had many challenges from coming from
different learning backgrounds and professions. At the end of the day these challenges were only
put in front of us to make us better, stronger and more confident educators. My overall
my class and philosophy is constantly evolving and a great representation of our learning
experience.
Before I started pursuing a career in teaching, planning was always such a daunting idea
to me, I knew how important but couldn’t see the connections I could make. I am forever
thankful for learning to write a proper lesson plan and learning segment but also to connect what
we teach to other subjects. Now that we have gone through in extensive detail what it takes to
write a lesson plan, I see how each part of a plan works together to engage your students and
how to ensure they are truly understanding what they are learning and not solely memorizing. I
am grateful for my past experience through education which related heavily on memorization
versus retention and genuine understanding. Now I know how to employ the growth mindset and
have our students critically analyze what we are working on in the classroom. Another key
you fall of the horse you must get back on and continue to ride. Success does not happen
overnight you must constantly work at it and one day you will achieve that.
to having an organized, safe, and respected class. What I have learned throughout my degree is
that classroom management is crucial, there needs to be a mutual understanding and respect
between yourself and your students to be able to run your class smoothly. When you have an
organized, respectful classroom you have done the groundwork to engage your students and push
them towards learning and allows us to work to the best of our ability. If your room is not
managed well, you will have a lot of difficulty teaching and keeping your students engaged and
feeling safe. We learn this through Harry K. Wong that “The effective teachers spent time
organizing and structuring their classrooms, so the students knew what to do to succeed” (Wong,
H.K., Wong, R.T., & Seroyer, C. 2009). We have learned through B. F. Skinner that positive
reinforcement results in positive behaviour and negative reinforcement will likely result in
negative behaviour. We have learned that you can provide rewards, bonus points, treats or time
that your students will find valuable when they are all doing positive things in the class. Harry K.
Wong also highlights that “The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline; it is the
lack of procedures and routines” (Wong, H.K., Wong, R.T., & Seroyer, C. 2009). I think at the
end of the day the beginning of a great teacher lies within their classroom management, and it is
what I strive to achieve in my classroom, a safe and structures class for my students.
Lastly, I will explore the integration of technology and the importance of ensuring that
this is included in my classroom. Just like how we learn and teach has evolved since I have been
in school so has our technology. We once went from projectors with film to now a document
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camera, and I can’t wait to incorporate this into my classroom. In our technology class we have
learned to integrate a lot of different technologies into our classroom, with an integration of
classroom. The added layer of complexity for us to be learning these through an online platform
versus an in class but has been rewarding given that if we are to experience this situation again. I
think my ability to adapt to our learning environments and surroundings is crucial. You are able
to see that I have put forth what I learned in our technology classroom through the artifacts that I
have posted.
Conclusion
While this was one of the more difficult and daunting tasks through our program, I do
believe it has prepared us for the better. Not only did this exercise prepare us for reflection, and
showed us our growth, it allowed us to realize that we are ready to be teachers. This was a great
experience for me being a person that is not currently in a school setting, it allowed me to realize
that I am ready to work in a classroom of my own. I know that I do not have a lot of experience
in the class, but what I can gain will come with time and practice and from this point on I can
only get better. The portfolio writing process has been a great learning experience which I now
get to explore in the final section of my portfolio in section 6 which is the virtual interview. This
interview will showcase my confidence in putting forth all that I have learned through my Master
of Science in Elementary Education. You will see this through drawing on my fieldwork and
class experience and by also applying all the theorists that we have covered while upkeeping our
ethical standards and adhering to curriculum. Another theorist who concentrated on positive
Welcome to the final portion of my portfolio completed here at Medaille college, and
probably the most fun to complete while also learning a lot in the process. While this entire
experience has provided many learning opportunities preparing for this Teacher Candidate
Interview Video has probably provided the most growth. I feel that this section of our portfolio
was the most important as it allows us to personally explain how we are as educators and why we
Weebly: https://victoriabmedaille.weebly.com
Screencastomatic: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYirfFEFce
Arriving on the final component for our portfolio has been rewarding and challenging at
the same time, although I feel that the majority of challenges have prepared us for the better. The
interview that I have attached above will give you an insight to why I wanted to become a
teacher, what I have learned, how I would conduct lessons and how this all helps me stay
informed as an educator. Ultimately, the end goal of this section is to showcase why I would be a
great candidate to hire compared to other applicants. Below you will find the questions posed to
1. Briefly share a little about your background experiences that have led you to choose a career
in education?
Usually when I share this part of my story people are quite surprised but from an early
age I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. From the start of my kindergarten class I always
made sure all of my classmates were included and made sure we all went down for nap before
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me. This story is one that my parents share to this day to highlight my nurturing side. As I made
my way through school, I bounced around many ideas of what I wanted to be when I was older, I
have always gravitated towards children and have enjoyed spending time and helping. This is
why I am where I am today and have started this path to becoming an educator.
When I finally made my way to university, I put that dream on hold, got a bachelor’s
degree in Political Science and wanted to become a lawyer. In actuality I realized quickly that
the environment, culture and day to day activities was something I was not passionate about. I
loved the quick pace and ever changing but in the back of my mind that was not for me. Having
been in the corporate world for over 9 years I made the decision to go back to my true passion
and pursue a career in education. While I have learned a lot and will be able to apply a lot of
what I learned in the corporate world to my career in education, I am very much looking forward
2. What have you learned in your teacher training program that will make you an excellent
educator that will differentiate myself from other is my overall adaptability. Not only did we start
this degree while still having a full-time job and balancing life, and whatever else came my way
but also to complete almost half of our degree through a global pandemic and online shows
perseverance. We have learned that there will always be changes in what you are planning and
what works one year, one week or one day ago may not work today. The adaptability I have
managed to harness has been incredible to work with and truly show case that being an educator
is never really a dull moment. I think my ability to collaborate, support and work with my
colleagues through both in class and online work has prepared me to collaborate with my
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colleagues and also collaborate with my class. I think often times educators may forget that they
can ask for the opinion of their students and how we can improve.
3. Provide us with an example of a lesson you taught. How did you integrate it with other
curriculum areas, address the CCLS, technology, student engagement and motivation? What
While I have not had the opportunity to teach this lesson to a class full of students, I have
had the ability to showcase this in front of my peers. I was fortunate enough to teach this lesson
on inference in my first term at Medaille and have had the ability to adapt and modify as I got a
deeper understanding of lessons and planning. In addition to this, I have had to adapt to an online
learning environment and modified and brought this to my Google classroom, here I
incorporated different engagement videos, worksheets, and other graphic organizers for my
students to work on. Over all the results of this lesson through my first term at Medaille were
great, I got a lot of positive feedback and feedback for improvement. For the modifications I
have made to an online learning platform I could not be happier with the results.
4. How will your knowledge of the current trends in education inform you as an educator in our
district/board/school?
I think the current trends in education are a little thrown off at the moment, we went from
a climate of our premiers wanting to increase class sized and have up to 30 students in a class.
Whereas now coming to a post-pandemic world and a lot of shifts to how we teach whether
online, in class or a hybrid, and placing a limit on the amounts of students in that class, our
environment is an ever changing one. I feel that to be a teacher you must be able to adapt in
order to overcome and these past few months have been a true testament to that.
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Another area that I am familiar with and quite passionate about is our increase in
technology usage, and its ever-changing nature. Not only do we see the over growing use of
technology, we are also witnessing more mental health issues, and have to be more aware and
educated on the subject matter. I was fortunate enough to take a Mental Health First Aid course
for working with Youth and found that more students are being subjected to bullying, anxiety
and depression at a young age and even more societal pressures. I think these trends are also very
important as educators to keep up on, by trying to be the most informed we will be better suited
5. Why should we hire you instead of the other applicants we have interviewed?
What makes me different from other applicants is my driven passion to strive to be the
best educator, while I believe we can never be the best we can come close. I have been able to
adapt and learn a lot in my years in the corporate world that I can bring to the table in becoming
an educator. I have a fierce goal to try and reach every student in one way or another, and if I can
have a positive impact on just one than I have done my job. I want to be the educators that
strive for excellence and improvement to do better is always there. I have been put in many
difficult situations throughout my career and working through these problems with problem
solving and critical thinking skills has benefited me greatly. I try to surround myself with people
I can learn from, ask for guidance and in turn provide support and advice as needed. I think this
is important, we should all strive to do better and be better for our students.
Conclusion
In completing section six of our portfolio it is quite shocking to see how far we have
come in such a short period of time. Recording this interview and showcasing my Weebly
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highlights the passion that I have to become an educator and shows my love for technology and
being adaptable with our times. I think overall this portfolio project has been eye opening and I
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. (n.d.). Introduction - Council for
http://caepnet.org/standards/introduction
Caruana, V. (2015). Accessing the Common Core Standards for Students with
Crompton, H., Burke, D., & Lin, Y.-C. (2019). Mobile Learning and Student Cognition:
Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child. (M. Cook, Trans.). Basic Books.
Schcolnik, M., Kol, S., & Abarbanel, J. (2016). Constructivism in Theory and in Practice.
Wong, H. K., Wong, R. T., & Seroyer, C. (2009). The first days of school: How to be