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Introduction to the Portfolio Project

Welcome to my Elementary Education Teaching Portfolio. Throughout this document

you will see my journey of becoming an educator and certified teacher in Canada and NYS in

USA. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” (Yeats, W. 2013). This

quote drives my motivation for how I operate as an educator and fuels the way I interact and

engage with my students and their learning. This portfolio was developed to highlight my

readiness in becoming a professional educator. It is my ultimate hope that when reading this

portfolio, you will see the passion and drive I possess when working with children and families

and igniting their educational goals. The artifacts included in my portfolio are a highlight of my

skills and abilities to create, plan and execute educational learning experiences that are

developmentally appropriate for students from Kindergarten to Grade twelve with varying skills,

abilities and learning styles.

Overview and Rationale

This portfolio is a presentation of my best work during my educational experience at

Medaille College in the Masters of Elementary Education program. In this portfolio, you will

examine a collection of assignments and projects that show my ability to construct lesson plans,

design curriculum and provide a variety of diverse assessment and learning methods. It will also

examine my personal involvement and passion for outdoor learning, mindfulness in the

classroom and the contribution of positive classroom management skills that help to build peer

relationships and positive interactions with students and educators. It documents my ability to
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integrate technology seamlessly into learning proficiencies to benefit all students and provide

virtual diverse innovative assessment methods ex. Kahoot. I possess strong principles and morals

that all children deserve an education, that works for them and their learning style. Thus, the

portfolio possesses extensive background teaching experience generating 2E programming for

children with exceptionalities and learning challenges as well as creating educational

programming for the community of gifted and homeschool groups as well as medically fragile

children.

Portfolio Development

As an educator who has worked extremely hard to get where I am and acquire the

knowledge, I currently possess it is important to document the extensive skill set that makes a

successful, kind and caring educator. This portfolio acts as a vessel of that information. Section

one, Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Education Portfolio Project outlines as

you have been reading, my journey of becoming an educator and my personal philosophy of

education that drives my inspiration and passion in becoming an educational leader in the field of

Elementary learning. Section two, Teacher Candidate Background and Experiences displays my

background experiences, field placements, internships and a diverse list of educational

institutions that involve my time employed in public school systems, private school systems,

homeschool educational settings and supporting medically fragile students in acute medical care

venues. These different experiences have made me the educator I am today and displays to you

the reader my ability to perform as a successful educator in any environmental setting. Also, it

confirms my dedication and desire I possess for educating all types of learners and students no

matter the barriers presented. It also possesses my resume and reference letters that displays my

employment record of working with children and families in diverse educational, medical and
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social emotional settings for over six years. Section three, Teacher Candidate Artifacts &

Rationales is a dense section of anectodical evidence of high-quality instructional planning and

execution of various educational methods. It involves my lesson plans that were constructed at

my time at Medaille College, aligned with New York State Standards and Ontario College of

Teachers Standards. They involve learner accommodations and culturally responsive teaching

methods to support all students from diverse learning communities. The Artifacts presented

involve and address different educational components that highlight student engagement,

professional development, literacy strategies, ELA standards and practices as well as social

emotional learning. My future goal in my classroom us to guide children to express and self-

regulate their emotions in a way that will support their future growth, academically and

emotionally. Section four, Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards involves my

educational curriculum and professional standards in the field of education. It states my

knowledge and fluency in New York States Code of Ethics for educators and Ontario College of

Teachers ethics. Being up to date and knowledgeable on educational standards that align with

your district’s standards is an important part of becoming an effective educator. It displays my

oath to produce high quality standard work in regard to learning standards and ministry stated

expectations. It sketches my initiative for self-directed acquired plans of additional resources

like, International Literacy Association (ILA) and International Society for Technology

Education (ISTE) and Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). These extra steps highlight my

desire to meet the learning needs of students and the ability to outsource additional support if

needed to overall support my student’s growth and development. Section five, Teacher

Candidate Reflection will sum up my learning gained throughout this portfolio and my time as

an Education Major at Medaille College in the Master of Science: Elementary Education

professional in Canadian and American education systems. Lastly, section six, Teacher

Candidate Teacher Interview is the final section of my portfolio and concludes a video

stimulating teacher interview experience. You will be able to display a video where I connect my

knowledge and experiences while answering questions you would be asked in a teacher

interview scenario. In this video, you will be able to view my teacher website that I created

virtually over the course of multiply months outlining my education, experience, philosophy,

artifacts and skill set needed to grow into a progressive educator.

My objective throughout this portfolio is that you learn more about me as a growing and

developing educator, see my beliefs of learning, the things that drive me, ignite my fires and

overall make me want to be the teacher I have always dreamed about.

Theories, Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

There are multiple influential and important theorists in the field of education that have

guided my inspiration and transformed my knowledge of teaching such as; Maria Montessori,

Lev Vygotsky, Robert Marzano and Jean Piaget. I have included these theorists in my portfolio

because I believe their prestigious work in education is reputable and their documented beliefs

and perspectives on education and child development align with my philosophy of education and

how children learn. Firstly, Maria Montessori believed children learn best through their senses

and pursuing their interests, this aligns with my standard of acquiring educational documentation

for students and finding interest through play and learning and then matching those interests

through their academic assessments. Evidence of this will be found in my artifacts section. Maria

also believed in a child led approach to learning, to get the teacher and adults out of the way of
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teaching rote memory-based instruction and transform learning experiences to have the students

engage and lead themselves in their construction of learning with all senses and movements.

Teacher framed; child led learning is the goal of most lesson building for me as an educator as it

is proven that the roots of accomplishing needs to be relevant to society or the students life

experiences, as an educator I have proven this by creating learning opportunities based on

student led interest. Secondly, Lev Vygotsky opened my eyes to the extreme benefits of hands on

learning and learning actively through hands on experience’s in students learning. By having the

option to experience hands on learning, students are better able to make connections with the

world around them. Vygotsky introduced me to the importance of the Zone of Proximal

Development (ZPD) and its emphasis in learning. He used the term “Zone of Proximal

Development or ZPD” to explain the range (adult guidance to independence) of a task that a

child is in the process of learning to master. He states interaction with skillful adults and peers is

essential for children, through interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into a

student’s understanding of the world. This is extremely important for teachers to understand

when constructing lesson plans and learning experience’s for students, as an educator if do not

understand where they lie within their zone of proximal development then you cannot

successfully create learning experiences where they are engaged, challenged and have developed

new information and knowledge. Thirdly, Robert Marzano is the master influencer of examining

the critical role of classroom management. Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in a

poorly managed classroom (Marzano, 2003) Robert Marzano suggests that just how students

learn in different ways they should be also be assessed in different ways. As educator, we need to

understand there is not a one size fits all learning style, we need to be aware of thorough relevant

method assessments like exit tickets, multiple choice options, written responses, verbal
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responses, skits, and drama plays are all a variety of ways we can assess students growth and

learning through a non-traditional lens that correlates with ever evolving student needs and

various learning methods. Lastly, Jean Piaget was a matriarch in education. His cognitive theory

emphasized the development of a person’s thought process and how their thought process

influenced how you understand and interact with the world around you. Piaget proposed the idea

that children think differently than adults, that children actively construct their understanding of

the world and experience is an important factor to learning new concepts and ideas. Piaget

believed that two major processes underline child and student development; those are the

influences of family, friends and culture. As a future teacher I stand on the shoulder of these

experts and their informative theories. I try to be extremely mindful to implement their principles

of learning into my classroom environment to benefit students socially, emotionally and

academically setting them up for success.

Conclusion

Being a successful educator takes time, experience, passion and drive. To your students,

your students’ families, your classroom environment, your colleagues/peers and to yourself.

Teachers spend more time with their students then the students do with their own families. Being

aware of what makes an effective educator and the skill sets needed to flourish in this profession

are essential to know to be successful and sustainable. A real teacher doesn’t just associate

education with school. Teachers need to be aware of current world views and topics, allowing for

learning experiences to happen at any time of the day. Teachers support their students in every

way we know how and when we have exhausted those avenues- we will always find another.
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References

Marzano, R., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003). Classroom Mangement That Works
Research- Based Strategies for every Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervison and Curriculum Developemnt .

W, Y. (2020, June 6). Retrieved from