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Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction

Section five I will reflect on what I have completed in terms of this portfolio project, my

experiences at Medaille College, and prior experiences related to the field of education. I will

specifically identify my core competencies; planning, instructional pedagogy, assessments, best

teaching practices, learner accommodations, culturally responsive teaching, classroom

management, professional collaboration, and curriculum standards.

Along with this, I will continually and throughout this section, will be making references

to the Teacher Education Accreditation Council/Council for Accreditation for Educator

Preparation (TEAC/CAEP) claims. Claim 1: Medaille College graduates know the subject

matter in their certification area(s). Claim 2: Medaille College graduates meet the needs of

diverse learners through effective pedagogy and best teaching practices. Claim 3:

Medaille College graduates are caring educators.

This section has four components to it, within it, it has the introduction, portfolio

project/teacher education learning experiences, readiness to become a teacher, and the

conclusion. The introduction introduces the section and what you can expect as the reader. The

portfolio project/teacher education learning experiences will outline what I have done thus far

from this portfolio to this program, M.S. Ed at Medaille College. I will be reflecting on the

various experiences throughout the program from the school observations to the work I have

compiled together such as and not limited to the artifacts listed in section three. Readiness to

become a teacher will outline what makes me ready to become a teacher today and into the

future. I will explain further with my artifacts assisting me to persuade to you that I am ready to
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make that leap to become a professional teacher. The conclusion will close up section five and

introduce section six of this portfolio project.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

I never thought I would be here right now, in the M.S Ed program at Medaille College

preparing myself to be a professional teacher. As mentioned in section two, my family are all

teachers and I felt like I needed to do something else and took a different route. Ten years later, I

have come to realize that my calling is to become a teacher. My passion is to teach. I have

always loved that aspect of my job where I am currently working. Teaching fulfils me and gives

me a joy that I am educating individuals and spreading knowledge.

After deciding to make the leap to teaching, I applied to Medaille College and started out

on another journey. Medaille College and their professors have instilled in me and enabled me

with the tools and knowledge to teach. They did not just teach me to teach but in a culturally

responsive way that promotes healthy learning and interactive and engaging environments

(TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best

practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

Before I embarked on this portfolio project, I had started to accumulate my artifacts

starting with my very first course, Early Field Experience, which brought me to the classroom to

make observations and to learn about the many theorists that have had a great impact on the field

of education in the past to present. I have found, since the beginning of my journey at Medaille

College, that each professor and teacher I have come across knew their content, ensured their

best practices were used, and they conducted themselves in a caring way towards us. These
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qualities aligned with what TEAC/CAEP stands for (TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of

subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

After completing my observations in the classrooms in Ontario, I found that my passion

for teaching continues to grow. The students I have come into contact with have the desire to

learn and the sparkle in their eyes when you teach a new concept or work on an experiment

cannot be replaced with anything. The teachers have a way with themselves from

professionalism to carefree spirit engages the students will to learn. I have not seen a teacher that

could not get their students to learn one way or another. These teachers know their content,

applied best practice, and care about their students (TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject

matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

Prior to my observations, I have taught at my agency where we have a school on site for

the clients we have that could not attend school for any numbers of reasons. Although it was not

direct curriculum and more of a home school style type education, the clients were nonetheless

engaged as would they have been in a normal school classroom. These clients responded to the

same practices and were just as engaged. If you teach them in a manner that showed you cared

about them while applying best practices, the clients would want to learn and be excited about

learning. I was surprised that I had applied the TEAC/CAEP claims without knowing

(TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best

practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

Throughout my classes with consistency, professors have expressed culturally responsive

teaching. Culturally responsive teaching is when the teacher considers all of the students

regarding their culture, race, ethnicity, sex, and background within the lessons being taught.

Teachers are to incorporate students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning. Being taught
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this and having applied this to all lesson plans I have made including the math unit to which I

have included as an artifact shows that I have directly applied the TEAC.CAEP claims

(TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best

practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

As a Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Instructor, I had to know my content before I

was allowed to teach my staff. I had to find what out for myself what would work and what I

needed to teach to maximize the staffs’ learning so they can take the learning and apply it to the

clients we worked with. Once content was established and the best practice was ironed out, I

taught my staff on how we are to deal with our clients. One way was to be caring. When the

clients feel like they are being heard and respected, they typically respond better. This applies to

all situations such as when they are doing well to when situations are difficult. Being a caring

staff will go a long way. Being a CPI instructor, I have touched on the TEAC/CAEP claims

(TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best

practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

Section two I mentioned that prior to coming to Medaille College, I had learned how to

multi-task and time management. At Medaille College, I have honed in and enhanced these skills

because this program is a Master’s degree which require significant work to get assignments

completed for each class. I work full time, have a family that rely on me, and attend school.

Multi-tasking and time management are skills required that have helped me keep on task and get

things done.

Section three highlights my strengths within this portfolio project. I chose the best eight

artifacts that I have felt meant something to me and showcases that I possess what it takes to

become a professional teacher. Each artifact demonstrates that I have an understanding of the
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standards I need to follow as a teacher. These standards are the Interstate New Teacher

Assessment Support Consortium (INTASC Standards), NYS Code of Ethics Standards for

Educators, NYS P-12 Common Core Learning Standards, NYS Learning Standards, DOE

Claims & CAEP Standards, International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) Standards

for Teachers and/or Students, ILA International Literacy Association Professional Standards,

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Standards, Ontario Curriculum Standards, and Ontario

Teacher Ethical Standards.

The one artifact I want to touch on a bit more is the math lesson unit. The math lesson

unit has four separate lessons touching on skip counting as its primary and reverse skip counting

as a secondary. The first lesson is the foundation and the lessons after builds on what was learned

from the first lesson working towards easy whole numbers to skip count by to more difficult

whole numbers to skip count by. I would assess the students in each lesson and have an

accumulative assessment in lesson three. After the assessment, I would plan to reteach the

struggling students that did not understand it the first time.

This math lesson unit touches on eight of the ten standards. They are the Interstate New

Teacher Assessment Support Consortium (INTASC Standards), NYS Code of Ethics Standards

for Educators, NYS P-12 Common Core Learning Standards, NYS Learning Standards, DOE

Claims & CAEP Standards, International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) Standards

for Teachers and/or Students, Ontario Curriculum Standards, and Ontario Teacher Ethical

Standards. I also want to stress that this math lesson unit not only touches on these standards but

also shows that I have nailed each TEAC/CAEP claim (TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of

subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).
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Readiness to Become a Teacher

As I continue to reflect on my accomplishments prior to the M.S. Ed program at Medaille

College, M.S. Ed program at Medaille College itself, and the portfolio project. I have come to

realize that what I have done have all lead to the teaching profession. As mentioned in section

one of this portfolio project, this portfolio will demonstrate my abilities, preparedness, and

readiness to become a professional teacher.

Section two I explained that I didn’t expect to be a teacher as my family are all teachers.

Instead, I became a social worker. But after ten years and enjoying the teaching aspect of my job,

I realized that teaching is in my blood and so researched the best path to getting my teachers

certificate. I found Medaille College and started my journey towards my goal, to be a

professional teacher. I made the best decision because I have learned so much from the

professors I have come into contact with and the cohort I have been assigned with are all positive

and want the same thing. This M.S. ED program at Medaille College has prepared me to be a

professional teacher and have also given me and mentored the skills and competencies required

to be an effective teacher. These competencies are planning, instructional pedagogy,

assessments, best teaching practices, learner accommodations, culturally responsive teaching,

classroom management, professional collaboration, and curriculum standards.

Section three is a show of my accomplishments at Medaille College in their M.S. Ed

program. Although these eight artifacts are only a small portion of what I was able to add to this

portfolio, these artifacts show my preparedness and readiness to become a professional teacher.

If asked today to cover for a teacher tomorrow, I would be able to work and excel because I have

the knowledge in the content I would have to deliver, the best practices learned at Medaille

College would be applied for an effective learning environment for the students, and the care I
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would show to the students so they can effectively learn their content. Medaille College instilled

in me the TEAC/CAEP claims that I will never forget to apply to my future classroom

(TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: knowledge of subject matter, Claim 2: effective pedagogy and best

practices, and Claim 3: caring educator).

Section four gives a breakdown for you as the reader how the artifacts aligned with the

standards I would have to follow. Section four shows that I am able to articulate why each

artifact belongs to the standards. As a professional teacher, you are guided by the standards and

how you teach and conduct yourself. Without such guidance, you are lost and there would be no

order and the students would also be lost. This would do them a dis-service because children

deserve an education that is meaningful so they can be prepared for the future. Section four also

served another purpose. That purpose is to show you, the read that everything I do must align to

a standard. As a professional teacher, I cannot create a lesson plan and it does not match, align to

the grade level, or is off track because students need direction in their learning. The teacher is the

guidance as the standards is the guidance for the teacher.

Section five is a reflection of myself and where I am now. Medaille College and the

faculty of education provided me with an education to not only teach me how to teach the

students but to also better myself. Education is about learning. The field of education always and

continues to evolve, we need to keep up or be lost. For example, technology. Most teachers today

are worried about it but they need to incorporate it because the students are living in the digital

world and teachers need to open the world to them so they can succeed. Teachers need to

continue their learning so when new material or changes in the curriculum occurs, we can be

prepared. This preparedness will help teach the students of tomorrow.

As section five concludes, I continue to reflect on what teaching means to me and how I

can make connections to the TEAC/CAEP claims not only when in the classroom, but also in my

day to day life. These claims are not just for education but can be applied to almost every aspect

of the working sector. This experience at Medaille College and this portfolio project has taught

me that I have only scratched the surface in my learning. I can only improve and build on what I

know to better myself so my future students can benefit from. Although this portfolio is almost at

its end, I hope that you as the reader found that, throughout the sections, I am prepared and ready

to take that step to become a professional teacher.

Section six is the last section in this portfolio and will contain the introduction, a video of

myself answering potential questions that could be asked by an employer, the interview question

and responses, and the conclusion.

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