APPENDIX G Adapted from Emily Whittaker’s M401 Elementary OVERALL

REFLECTION

The first paragraph briefly summarizes what the reader should have seen and read about in this portfolio.
The following paragraph summarizes what this pre-service teacher sees as her strengths, how she knows
they are her strengths, and how she will use them to help her improve during student teaching.

This portfolio is documentation of my ability to effectively meet the INTASC Principles and
School of Education Themes of the IU East Education Department. Specifically, I have explained my
educational beliefs, instructional experiences, professional growth, and commitment to volunteering in
several communities. After reading this portfolio, the reader should have a sense of who I am as a future
educator and citizen.

In preparing this portfolio, I have made mental notes of my areas of strength, and it is my
intention to utilize these strengths during my student teaching experience. First, I provide instructional
experiences that are suitable for all learners. I have shown several times in this portfolio how I have
adapted my instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. Second, I have demonstrated my knowledge
of a variety of instructional strategies to facilitate student learning. It is my goal to continue to learn new
strategies and to implement them into my instruction. Third, I have shown my ability to use and
incorporate technology in the classroom. I am comfortable in using a variety of communication
techniques in enriching the learning opportunities of students. During student teaching, I plan to
capitalize on my ability to provide sound educational opportunities to all of my students.

The final paragraph outlines areas in which this student would like to focus during student teaching and
why these have become her targeted areas. She gives hints as to how she plans to achieve these goals.
During student teaching, I need practice in using assessments to plan my instruction. In my field
experiences, I have assessed the progress of my students, yet I have not used this information in planning
succeeding lessons. In addition, I need to make a stronger connection with parents and to communicate
with them more. I plan on achieving this through my writing of weekly newsletters, telephone
conversations, and conferences. Finally, I need to develop my ability in managing the classroom
environment. During my field experiences, I have managed the classroom for short durations of time;
therefore, I am unaware of what it is like to mage a classroom for a whole day. Overall, I need to
improve my ability to plan my instruction based upon assessment, foster relationships with parents, and
manage the classroom effectively. I am looking forward to the opportunity to achieve these professional
goals.
 APPENDIX G CAPSTONE Secondary OVERALL REFLECTION, Amber Lucas, English

Amber’s final reflection combines her original student teaching goals with her development as a
teacher in terms of the School of Education themes.

Portfolio Conclusion
As I entered into my student teaching experience, I was very focused on expanding my
instructional abilities. After observing my classroom for a week, I knew that there were at least three
areas in which I wanted to concentrate. I wanted to work on developing my capability of assisting and
monitoring students who disrupt the classroom, connecting cross-curricular content areas within the
classroom, and improving my classroom management skills. Throughout the entire student teaching
experience, I succeeded, failed, and sometimes, as Harry Wong says, just survived.
Throughout all of my struggles, advancements and letdowns, my ability as a reflective scholar
was my biggest asset. Every individual experience, whether positive or negative, contained so many
lessons to analyze and consider. Without the reflective skills that I gained in my methods classes, I would
have lost out on many learning opportunities. Through the use of my journal and bi-weekly meetings
with my cooperative teacher, I was able to gain a far greater level of educational comprehension in
regards to my successes and failures. I was able to analyze the most finite detail of lessons, student and
teacher interactions, classroom management techniques, and all other aspects of teaching. This was very
apparent when I spent several meetings with my cooperative teacher, other seventh grade teachers, and
outside resources considering the proper course of action with an extremely disruptive student. My
reflective skills assisted me through this trying time and allowed me to consider all of my options as well
as judge those that I had already tried. The strength of my reflective skills is what will guide me into
becoming a more considerate and successful teacher.
As I progressed further into my student teaching, it became more apparent to me that my
instructional leadership skills were strong but always in need of development. I have always believed that
the pursuit of content knowledge had to be accompanied with a pursuit for better classroom management
strategies as well. I experienced this need for more knowledge, when I enforced new classroom
management strategies, from Harry Wong. I took his research and implemented it into my own
classroom, which he encourages. It is this pursuit for knowledge that will lead me to becoming the head
of my department, the liaison to my teachers’ association, and to constantly test and use new classroom
management techniques.
The final aspect of teaching I felt confident about, but I knew that I needed real teaching
experience in order to prepare to implement my global citizen ideals. The global citizen part of teaching
too often gets pushed to the side. It was important to me, as a teacher, to take the time to plan and
implement educational opportunities that encouraged my students to consider their world from other
perspectives. I achieved this when I performed the “brown eye, blue eye” experiment. The children were
amazed at the reaction of the other students in the class and in their own as well. This effort to make
students see outside of their comfort zone was much more difficult to achieve than I had originally
thought. I realized that not only was it important to take the extra time to plan these very meaningful
activities, but to include time to allow the students to put a voice to their thoughts through discussion and
writing. Creating amazing global citizens should always be a part of the teaching process.

Her final paragraph leads the reader into Amber’s Professional Growth Plan, which follows this
conclusion and is the last artifact in her portfolio.

After completing my student teaching, I understand better the demands and tremendous benefits
of being a reflective scholar, instructional leader, and global citizen. Each theme is unique and yet they
all work together to construct a fantastic teacher. I want to be the teacher who continually maintains my
current level of security with these three division themes while at the same time excelling beyond my own
comfort. I want to continue my advancement in classroom management, through various resources and
simple trials. I want to continue in my education to achieve a reading license, become a department head,
and eventually a major voice in the politics of education. I am starting small with lofty goals, but I have
the tools and experience to succeed.