Portfolio Exemplar Cover Sheet

Attach to each exemplar in your portfolio.

Teacher Candidate Abigail Andres Cohort # 406

Title of Exemplar 2013 Annual Leadership Symposium & Hawai`i Early Childhood Conference

Portfolio Category I II III IV X V

ACEI Standard V Professionalism

ACEI Standard Element(s) A5.1 Professional growth, reflection, and evaluation - Candidates
are aware of and reflect on their practice in light of research on teaching, professional ethics,
and resources available for professional learning; they continually evaluate the effects of their
professional decisions and actions on students, families and other professionals in the learning
community and actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally.


Semester 1 (Fall 2013) Date November 30, 2013

1. Description of exemplar and how it demonstrates meeting this ACEI Standard and
Element(s).

This exemplar is a Certificate of Attendance to The Hawaii Association for the
Education of Young Children 2013 Leadership Symposium and a photo of me helping and
connecting with education professionals that I attended and volunteered on October 11,
2013. The symposium was held at the Honolulu Convention Center. This exemplar meets
the ACEI Standard A5.1 Professional growth, reflection, and evaluation - Candidates are
aware of and reflect on their practice in light of research on teaching, professional ethics,
and resources available for professional learning; they continually evaluate the effects of
their professional decisions and actions on students, families and other professionals in the
learning community and actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally.
By attending the HAEYC symposium I was able to reflect on my teaching thus far and
receive guidance on the teaching strategies of other professional educators. Through the
different sessions that I attended and volunteering at the HAEYC symposium, I learned that
fostering a collaborative and positive relationship with students, their families, and other
professionals is very important in the field of education. I am now able to look at my
relationship building and communication skills and use what I learned from the HAEYC
symposium to help me grow as a professional.

2. Reflection on my professional growth in knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to this
ACEI Standard and Element(s).

My knowledge has grown through this symposium because I learned about what
it takes to become a better teacher. Better teaching comes through practice and experience in
the field. Through collaborating and sharing information with other professionals, I was able to
learn about different teaching practices that I can implement in my future curriculum as well as
share about my experiences in the field so far. I have learned more about the educational field
through this symposium. It has taught me the importance of attending symposiums that will
keep me up to date with current research about education and teaching.
My skills have strengthened through attending the HAEYC symposium. I am
now able to confidently communicate and collaborate with other professionals about my own
teaching practices and experiences without having the fear of not having knowledge as other
professionals would have. I learned that that everyone has something different to contribute
that will benefit and strengthen our practices in the field. I gained the skills of how to connect
with my students, their families and other professionals.
My dispositions have grown since attending this symposium. The main idea that was
repeated through the different sessions was the idea and importance of change. I have learned
that change is something that is going to happen repeatedly in our field and we have to be able
to adapt to those changes. Sometimes being stuck and rooted in our familiar ways of teaching
will hinder our teaching practices and our students growth and learning.