Portfolio Artifact Rationale Statement Take a Learner to Lunch Context and Connection to Educational Frameworks This paper was

written to fulfill an assignment in LTM 611 which examines the foundation for theory in education. The purpose of the assignment is to spend time with a learner that an educator-in-training is not professionally responsible for as a student. I had the opportunity to meet with a student who is a racial and ethnic minority in a suburban school district. The student has some exposure to a bi-cultural lifestyle as his biological father lives in a predominantly Latino neighborhood on the south side of Chicago and his biological mother lives in a predominantly white suburb of Milwaukee. My angle for the conversation was to see if the young student had any negative feelings about his racial and ethnic identity or if he had any negative feelings about education as a result of how he was treated because of his identity. The student reported largely a positive self-image in terms of his racial and ethnic identity as well as his experience as a learner. This assignment was largely informed by the work of Urie Bronfenbrenner and Carol Dweck. Bronfenbrenners work is important for understanding the ecology of human development. There are many influences on an individual learner and it is important for educators to keep that in mind as they respond to the needs of students. Dwecks work explores the role positive and negative mindset can have on a learner. The interview that took place with the young student gave some indication that having a number of positive influences and cultivating a positive mindset will likely allow for healthy academic development. Standard/Ability WTS #9 AEA Diagnosis Restate in your own words what this standard/ability means Teachers are reflective practitioners and seek professional development as a process of lifelong learning. Teachers make observations of each student as an individual and match each with appropriate strategies for learning. AEA Diagnosis While the interview and short research paper is incomplete in terms of diagnosing a student and identifying strategies, it does provide evidence that acquiring information from an individual and making connections to educational frameworks may support building future learning activities.

Artifact Take a Learner to Lunch

WTS #9 This assignment gave me an opportunity to reflect on the experiences of a learner that I am not responsible for in the classroom. The interview provides evidence of reflection, while the research paper suggests that I am developing as a teacher as a result of the reflection.