Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction

This section of my project portfolio, Section 5: Teacher Reflection, gives me the

opportunity to reflect on the process I have been through in creating my overall portfolio, as well

as the process of collecting artifacts that I feel align with my teaching goals. This portfolio has

been difficult in the fact that there were so many artifacts that I wanted to use in order to

showcase my teaching skills and personal accomplishments so far in my journey to become an

educator. It was difficult to narrow it down to the eight choices that I made to represent my

overall expertise as well as the skills I have acquired that will make me a competent elementary

teacher. My overall experience in creating this portfolio was very much a learning experience in

itself. I feel that the importance of this project was to not only provide myself with a resource to

use in my future interviews, but to also give me the opportunity to look back at all the

accomplishments I have made, and the progression I have gone through when completing my

MSED program. This has been a great learning experience in how to put together a portfolio

showcasing all my skills and abilities, as well as helped me to understand the importance of the

assignments and professional development I have completed in order to become a successful

elementary teacher.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

Throughout my portfolio project I have included eight artifacts that I feel align with my

philosophy of education, as well as demonstrate my abilities to become an effective elementary

teacher. I have also aligned each of the artifacts that I have showcased with the appropriate

CAEP claims in order to provide evidence of my ability to meet the needs of the students as well

as fulfill the requirements to become a successful elementary teacher. I have also included how
these artifacts align with other standards that are important as well as curriculum standards from

both NYS as well as Ontario. I think it is important to make sure that the artifacts that I am

choosing to use as a representation of my skills, align with standards and curriculum that I am

now familiar with and are relevant in the teaching field.

The lesson plans that I have created, for English, Geography and Math, while studying

for my MSED, show that I am successfully able to align my teaching with those standards

pertaining to particular subject matter (CAEP Standard #1). I also feel that the lesson plans I

have included as artifacts, as well as the literacy assessment that I have also included in the

above sections of this portfolio, showcase my ability to meet the needs of the learner and adapt

my teaching to the abilities of the students. I have also taken personal development courses

through my MSED program, pertaining to child abuse and safety which align with the same

standards (CAEP Standard #2).

This process has also brought out my skills in becoming a caring and competent educator.

After completing the above sections of this portfolio, I was able to see the personal development

that I have gone through and the courses that I have completed in order to better myself and

increase my growth mindset. The DASA test as well as the SAVE workshop, have really helped

me to understand how I can help students in need and what I can do as an educator to make the

learning environment safe and welcoming for students (CAEP Standard #3). I enjoyed these

experiences that I have had participating in and these personal development activities. They have

helped me to better myself in ways that will make me a more educated person as well as enhance

my teaching abilities. It is important to make sure to work on personal growth and development

in order to stay aligned with the most recent teaching standards and practices. I have also learned
through this process, that it is important to work on my own self growth in order to help me

become a better educator in the future.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this process in getting to go back and look at artifacts I

have created from my first semester, to those I have completed in my second and third semesters.

I was able to see my growth as my abilities and skill increase more and more. The experiences I

have had over the course of my program completing my MSED at Medaille have helped me to

become a better educator, as well as bring out my strengths when it comes to teaching. Before

completing this portfolio and the overall MSED program, I was not aware that I had the skills in

technology, that I was able to express through this project. I didn’t realize how many different

activities I have created as well as the variety of technology tools I have used and created with. I

also learned a lot of new resources that I will use in my future teaching practices. I am grateful

for this opportunity to be able to complete this project and have this portfolio to use during future

interviews, as well as to refence when I am teaching in the elementary setting.

Reediness to Become a Teacher

Through the artifacts that I have discussed within the previous sections of my portfolio,

as well as the experiences I have had completing my MSED program at Medaille, I have learned

a lot about myself as well as what I want to achieve as a future educator. I think this process is

such an important part of becoming an elementary teacher. It is crucial to reflect on the

experiences I have had in order to better myself as an educator, as well as see the process I have

been through and the lessons I have learned, that I will take with me in my future career as a

teacher. My professional development and the tasks I have completed within my MSED

program, have helped me to see the areas in which I need to improve, as well as see where my

strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to educating students. Through this process I was
able to go through the assignments, lesson plans and professional development activities I have

completed and use these as a way of developing my philosophy of education, as well as shaping

my future teaching practices. I have learned a lot about myself as well as the importance of

having artifacts that showcase my teaching abilities. I feel that this process has given me the

opportunity to show the skills I have acquired in regards to planning, instruction, assessment,

classroom management and my abilities to conduct research projects that align with my teaching

goals.

The process I have just completed in creating this portfolio was a very informative way

of getting prepared for the use of the standards I will have to align my teaching practices with in

the future. I feel that through this process of collecting artifacts and creating this portfolio I have

been able to see that I have met the needs of the students as well as integrated a variety of forms

of learning throughout my lesson plans. The use of technology is very prominent in my lessons.

With our future becoming so much online and technology based, I feel that this is such an

important part of education. There are many ways in which technology can be used for learning

as long as it does not become dependent upon. It is also important to make sure students are able

to understand the importance of not relying on technology, however still being able to use it to

support their learning needs. It is evident that I have been inclusive of culturally responsive

teaching in my lesson plans as well as throughout the other artifacts that I showcased for my

portfolio.

Through some of the artifacts I have include such as, my NYS Report Card Review and

my literacy assessment paper, I have shown how the use of research can be important in making

connections to aspects of student learning as well as showcase the needs of particular students.

All students are different in the ways they learn and therefore researching multiple ways of
teaching is such an important way to include all students and to make sure to meet a multitude of

learning styles. Within my lesson plans I have also made sure to take into consideration the need

of all the students, as well as include as many different ways of teaching as possible in order to

meet the needs of a variety of learning styles.

Conclusion

To conclude this section of my portfolio I think it is important to make note of the fact

that this process has been not only an exceptional learning experience, but it has also given me

the opportunity to put together my most valuable assignments and professional development into

one document for use in my future interviews and career. I will use this portfolio when I am

interviewing for a teaching position in the future as a way of expressing my abilities as well as

my skills in the teaching field. I think it is important to make sure that as a future educator I am

completely prepared for this career. This portfolio so far has showcased my abilities to become a

successful and competent educator in an elementary setting.

The next section of this portfolio Section 6: Teacher Interview Video, will display my

work and make connections to an interview stimulation, where I will answer specific questions

that may be asked during a job interview. I will also include my portfolio as well as my

simulation interview in my Weebly Website in order to highlight my skills in an interesting way

as well as demonstrate my skills in technology, which will be useful in my future teaching

practices.

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