Course Five: Professional Portfolio and

Millennium Development Goals

Course Overview and Requirements
This final course in the Certificate of Teaching Mastery focuses on the
application of teacher training to local problems by focusing on any one of the
eight Millennium Development Goals, and the sharing of your findings with
colleagues around the world through your Professional Portfolio. The main
purposes of this course are:
1. To assist you in assembling your Professional Portfolio,
2. To facilitate your personal growth and reflection as a teacher leader with
respect to the Millennium Development Goals and our global community.
Your Professional Portfolio shows the world who you are, how you approach
education, and contains evidence of your teaching.
Upon completion of Course Five you will be able to extend your commitment to
the Millennium Development Goals by joining the Millennium Development
Ambassadors Program. You can find more information about this program on
our website: http://teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/millenniumdevelopment-ambassadors

Introduction
What is the ultimate purpose of education if not to improve the quality of life
for our children, our communities, and our earth? It is in this spirit of service
that you will be guided in Course Five to apply the theory and practice you
have gained, thus far, to address a local need and share it globally.
In this course, you will complete the following two parts, and, with their
satisfactory completion, you will be awarded your Certificate of Teaching
Mastery.

Part One: Local Service Project for the Millennium

Development Goals
It is one thing to say you believe in the Millennium Development Goals and
quite something else to apply those goals to yourself, your family, and your
community. There are many websites asking for money or signatures on
petitions. While these initiatives are valuable, Teachers Without Borders'
approach is to begin with the individual, in practical terms, and work in larger
and larger circles from there.
In this context, the Millennium Development Goals are more than big reports
and lofty goals. They start with you and your implementation of a service
project related to one of the Millennium Development Goals. This is an
opportunity to participate as a well-educated teacher in existing initiatives
already taking place locally or a chance to fill a deeply-needed gap by creating
a new initiative.
We also believe in action that can be measured. So, begin this process by
asking yourself these questions: How have I shown support for the Millennium

Development Goals personally? With and beyond my family? Here are some
examples:
Goal 1: Eradicating Poverty - Have I taken care of my financial needs and
those of my family? My peers? Have I helped others in need? Am I aware of
regions where this goal is most pressing?
Goal 2: Primary Education - If I have children, have they received safe,
complete, valuable primary schooling? Have I helped others in need? How
have I contributed?
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality - Do I treat men and women equally? Do I
ensure that boys and girls are treated equally in my family, in my community,
in my school and in my classroom?
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality - Have I contributed, even if only a small
amount, to groups working in this area? Have I advocated for the right of a
child to live a free, safe, and healthy life?
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health - If I am a mother, have I taken care of
myself? Have I taken care of other mothers? As a male teacher, have I
stressed the importance of maternal health and well-being in my family,
community, and my school?
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases - Have I found a way to
support ongoing efforts to eliminate diseases? Have I educated others about
these diseases? Have I helped others in need?
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability - Have I treated my environment
with respect? Do I refuse to litter? Do I recycle or reuse? Do I work toward
having clean water available? Have I helped others in need?
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development - Have I taught others
about the Millennium Development Goals? Have I made certain that I joined
with others in partnerships that work, in my community or my school?

Part Two: Assembling your Professional Portfolio

This is an opportunity to demonstrate that you have taken what you've learned
in the Certificate of Teaching Mastery and applied it locally. In addition, this is
where you can share your work with the world. You will learn more about the
Professional Portfolio and what is expected of you, as a Certificate of Teaching
Mastery candidate, throughout its creation.

Your Professional Portfolio

The University of Washington describes a portfolio as: a coherent set of
materials including work samples and reflective commentary on them
compiled by a faculty member to represent his or her teaching practice as
related to student learning and development.
In short, a portfolio is a way of showing the range of your work. You can use
your Professional Portfolio to promote your work, apply for a job, advance your
career, and share your accomplishments with teachers from around the world.
The Professional Portfolio that you will compile as part of this final course in
the Certificate of Teaching Mastery needs to include the following three parts:

Part One: Who I am, What I Believe, and How I Teach

In this section of your Professional Portfolio, you will have an opportunity to
select assignments and reflections that you completed in courses 1 4 of the
Certificate of Teaching Mastery. These materials will demonstrate evidence of
your teaching excellence and show the depth of your thoughts and reflections
about key topics explored in these courses.
Part Two: Millennium Development Goals
In this part of your Professional Portfolio, you will have an opportunity to
demonstrate your commitment to the Millennium Development Goals by:
1. Educating yourself about one of the Millennium Development Goals and
sharing your expertise with your students, your school, or your community.
2. Participating in an established local or international initiative or program in
your community that focuses on one of the Millennium Development Goals.
Part Three: Promoting Your Work and Becoming a Mentor
Your Professional Portfolio gives you an opportunity to show the world more
about who you are and how you can make a contribution to teaching
excellence locally and globally. Upon completion of your portfolio, you will be
able to share your work inside the Teachers Without Borders network and apply
to become a Certificate of Teaching Mastery Mentor. As Mentor, you will be
supporting your colleagues from around the world enrolled in the Certificate
program.

Benefits of Professional Portfolios

Assembling a portfolio is an excellent way to reflect upon what you have
learned, what you have applied to your classroom practices, and what you will
do next. It's a record of your work, your thoughts, and it holds the seeds to
your potential.
A portfolio can be a tangible way in which an educator can shape his or her
career, based upon the idea that there is always room for improvement. Many
teachers who engage in the process of creating a portfolio are proud of what
they have produced. They see where they began, and they see how far they
have come. Many report that the process of putting together a portfolio has
helped them to clarify their goals, reflect on their professional identity and
classroom practice, and take advantage of additional professional
opportunities. Portfolios are the most convincing testament to a teacher's
work.
Traditional portfolios come in the form of folders, boxes, or 3-ring binders that
hold papers, pictures, cassette tapes, and more. An electronic Professional
Portfolio, known as an e-Portfolio, allows you to store your work digitally. It can
be shared easily and, when posted online, can be accessed by your colleagues
from around the world.

Teachers Without Borders Portfolio Requirements

Part One: Who I Am, What I Believe, and How I Teach

In order to compile Part One of your Professional Portfolio, you will have to
include the following 6 assignments.
1. Professional Statement - My beliefs, values, and approaches to
teaching
2. Inside My Room or Outside My Window Take a photograph
outside your classroom; tell a story or describe where you are.
3. My Imagined Classroom Ten Years From Now How do you
imagine your classroom will function in 10 years? What will students
be doing?
4. My Students' Work - Samples of how planning turns into outcomes
5. Feedback from Students - About your students work and their
process of learning
6. Feedback from Non-Students - You not only teach children; you
teach the family. What kind of outreach do you make to the families
you serve?
Also, you will have to review the work that you completed at the end of each
Certificate of Teaching Mastery course and select any 6 pieces that, in your
opinion, best encapsulate your work in the CTM program and your competence
as an educator.
Part Two: Commitment to the Millennium Development Goals
In Part Two of your portfolio, you will have to document your active
commitment to one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Whether you
choose to focus on teaching about the Millennium Development Goals or
getting involved as a volunteer in an established initiative in your community,
your work will have to be shared in your portfolio. The work required for this
part of your portfolio will consist of two parts:
Developing a plan to serve your students, your school, and/or your community
by teaching about one of the Millennium Development Goals or volunteering.
You will also have to develop a way to measure the impact of your work.
Proof of Completion: How are you going to verify your work? Include a letter
from a supervisor or a colleague attesting to your completion of the
assignment.
Part Three: Promoting Your Work and Becoming a TWB Mentor
Finally, you will have an opportunity to build on your work in parts one and two
by collecting supporting documents that attest to your hard work and
competence. Your Professional Portfolio should include the following:
1. Your resume
2. Letters of reference or recommendation
3. Honors and Recognition
Once these supporting documents are added to your portfolio, you can submit
it to the Teachers Without Borders Review Board for evaluation.

Course Five: Professional Portfolio and

Millennium Development Goals
Your Professional Portfolio: Part One
Part One of Your Portfolio: Who I Am, What I Believe, and
How I Teach
1. Professional Statement
My beliefs, values, and approaches to teaching.
A professional statement is a declaration of your teaching philosophy. It is an
opportunity to describe your approach to teaching, how you view your
educational practice, and how you have developed as a professional.
Part One: Professional Statement
Write a paragraph for each of the items below.

What I Believe
Why I Teach
What I Teach
How I Teach

Part Two: Reflection

Please write at least one paragraph each to respond to the following questions:
The poet, Rumi, once said, Wherever you are is the entry point.
Where are you now in your teaching practice? Where would you like to
be? How will you get from here to there?
What do you want to keep in your teaching practice and what do you
want to throw away. Why?
What are the challenges that lie ahead?
Example:
I am educating young people:

To help instill within them a sense of appreciation and wonder for

our world
To help them become caring parents, spouses, and community
members
To help them become co-creators in building lasting relationships
and communities
To help them become responsible citizens, and creative,
independent thinkers

I teach because I am a thrill-seeker. Not the bungee-jumping,

ostentatious kind of thrill-seeker. Im more of the strong, silent, vicarious
type. I get an indescribably charge when an idea emerges in class
discussions that transforms my students and me to a higher level of
consciousness. I get ecstatic when conversation catches on like brush
fire and students cant wait to express their ideas, when a student
rushes up to me on the walkway just to say, Can you believe what

happened to Casey! [a character from our novel] or another student

stays behind after class because she cant wait to read to me what she
had written last night.
I am more than excited; I stand in awe when the classroom is full of
absolute silence because an idea or feeling so profound has entered our
space that we need to make room for it, feel its presence, honor it, and
take it into ourselves to be transformed.
I get to behold such moments. This is why I teach.
This book is about awakening, says one student quite suddenly amidst
our class discussion. His voice emerges. This was his moment of
seeing.
Other students, sparked by his comment, stretch from their own slumber,
and are propelled from one plane of thought to another; others remain
unaffected by his idea, but now vigorously search their own thoughts.
Either way, the conversation has been irreversibly catapulted to a new
level - a deeper level of understanding. This is why I teach.
I teach because I love people. We have the capacity to wonder, to
examine, to appreciate. We can be moved by a single phrase of music
or a particular collection of words. We have a need to express and to
create.
I teach to be able to witness, contribute to, and stand in awe of personal
and communal transformation - intellectually and emotionally, spiritually
and aesthetically. Sometimes I act as catalyst (asking the right
questions), other times as farmer (planting a seed), mostly through
giving the right kind of energy and enthusiasm, and creating the right
kind of environment so that awakenings can occur. Sometimes its me.
Sometimes its the students. And sometimesits an act of grace.
I teach by creating a community and an environment where each
student feels comfortable finding and expressing his or her own voice.
I do this by insisting that students give full attention and respect to one
another. By example and gentle prodding, I help students learn how to
listen to each other. Once a student can feel assured that he or she will
be heard, it follows quite naturally that a student will speak because the
environment is safe, comfortable, and ready to receive his or her voice.
In music, its the silence, the spaces between the notes, that creates the
melody. The silence is what sustains the substance. In many ways, I see
myself as the silence that underlies the melody and rhythm of a
classroom. I let the students do most of the talking, and I plant the
seeds - asking a pertinent question or making a thought-provoking
comment at the right time.
My teaching is subtle, like the Indian women versed in the art of love as
described in the novel, A River Sutra:
We could only educate by hint, by hide-and-seek, by nuance, always
struggling to make of our knowledge something as light and transparent
as a soap bubble, keeping it suspended in the air as its colors were
admired until our students grasped its fragility.

Supplementary Resources
Writing a Teaching Statement (from the University of Washington):
http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/Bulletin/TeachingStatement.html
2. Inside My Room or Outside My Window
We all want to know what goes on inside classrooms. We also want to know
about the area surrounding the classroom. We all want to know about people
and places. The public who will be viewing your portfolio want to know who
you are and where you are. They will want to know what the conditions are,
what it feels like to teach there, what challenges and what opportunities you
face every day.
NOTE: There is one important rule that all Certificate of Teaching Mastery
students must abide by. Do not take a picture of your students unless you are
absolutely certain that the parents of your students agree that the photograph
can be made available in your portfolio and also, potentially, on the Internet, if
you also choose to develop an e-Portfolio.
Take a photograph of your classroom (again, the students can be included only
if you have approval from their parents and/or the head of the school). The
photograph can be of an empty classroom. Describe the photograph in one
paragraph. If you are comfortable provide a link to your personal gallery so
that we can see more pictures!
Example:

This picture is not of my students or of my classroom; instead, it is

a picture of my fellow teachers here in Village Chakwal, outside of
Rawalpindi, Pakistan. I love my colleagues because they support
me in what I do. We are always trying to become better teachers.
I work for PODA: Potohar Organization for Development
Assistance. We support women and men in the teaching field and
in livelihoods. Our group works with crafts so that women can earn
money to help support their families. When I want to show a
picture of where I am from and my classroom life, these wonderful
women come to my mind.

- Sameena Nazir
3. My Imagined Classroom, Ten Years From Now
For some of you, the world is changing rapidly. For others, your students
classroom experience is similar to what you experienced when you were their
age. Life in your classroom ten years form now may, in fact, be exactly like
your current students experience. Think ten years ahead ... What will life be
like for the students in your classroom ten years from now? Perhaps you will be
teaching, perhaps not. Think about the students who will occupy those seats.
Describe your students day through their eyes from the moment they wake up
until they go to sleep (including, of course, time spent at school and,
specifically, in your class).
What is different or what is the same about life in your classroom ten years
from now? Please describe why you feel this way.
Example:
When I was my students age, my teacher entered the room and
we all stood up. Here in my village, the teacher was the master,
the authority, the leader. We never disagreed. We were not
allowed to complain. Snow blowing horizontally would whisk
through the broken windows, where we shivered stamping our
feat to stay warm, two to a seat. At night, we would be issued
candles so that we could study at our desks. A coal stove with a
pipe punched through the wall would glow in the left-hand corner
at the front, and only the older students would be allowed to sit
closest to its warmth.
When I started teaching fifteen years ago, the classroom was the
same. In the last decade or so, much has happened. Our electricity
has become stronger. In the summer, fans move the air around; in
the winter, the snow has been kept from the room by windows and
shades, and the room is warmer.
However, we are still asked to have our students memorize our
textbooks. We are still blindly obedient to our teachers, never
questioning their facts, their theories, or their assignments. I wish
my students could pursue ideas on their own and have enough
money to pay for the hourly rate at the cyber-caf, like me, where I
can gain access to the world.
For me, so much of what life will be like, ten years from now, is a
function of what the policy-makers decide is a
priority. Education? Hotels? Business? I hope it is the first choice
education, and I hope that such an education will be free, creative,
and interesting.
4. My Students' Work

This section is about documenting your students work. The Department of

Education in Queensland states this quite elegantly: Student work should be a
reflection of:

Knowing and Understanding

Inquiring
Responding
Reflecting.

In your response, list the grade level and subject. Then, describe the lesson so
that viewers of your portfolio will understand the setting of your student work.
Take a picture of student work that demonstrates one or more of the four
criteria listed above. Describe how student work reflects those four
characteristics of knowing and understanding, inquiring, responding, and
reflecting.
5. Feedback From Students
Your students' work and their process of learning.
Gather evidence of your students work, share it, and describe it in detail.
Show one example of how you have incorporated new teaching techniques or
design into your regular teaching practice.
Ohio State University (http://ucat.osu.edu/) has done a great deal of
groundbreaking work in the field of student feedback that can support teacher
professional development. Your students are the most obvious source of
feedback on your instruction. Research has shown that students provide
valuable information about your teaching if the questions are structured in a
useful way.
The University of Sydney
(http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/feedback/gatherstufeed.htm) in Australia has
developed an elegant method of gathering student feedback. Originally
designed for the college level, this simple set of questions can be adapted for
any grade level. This strategy can also be adapted to different modalities and
purposes. These questions usually provide a manageable amount of feedback
without taxing student or staff resources unnecessarily.
The questions might be written on the board, on an overhead transparency, or
they may be provided as an a questionnaire. The questions you choose to ask
will be determined by what you want to gather feedback on. However, they are
typically along the lines of the following:

What was the most useful thing you learned today?

What was the best thing about today's class?
How could I change my teaching to help students to learn more from
this class?

In some cases it might be appropriate to ask very specific questions such as:

Which of the activities was most helpful in preparing for today's class?
How did today's learning tasks help you understand the concept of...?

In larger classes the time required to read written responses from every
student can be a barrier to using this technique. In such cases sampling
procedures can be helpful. There are many ways to select a random sample of
students. One simple technique is:
"Please pass these questionnaires along the row, could every fifth person take
one and fill out the questionnaire. In a few minutes I'll ask you to pass your
questionnaire back along the row to the end so I can collect them. While those
people are filling out the questionnaire would the rest of you...."
Other techniques used include selection based on sub-groups in the class. For
example:
"All those in a Tuesday tutorial group...."
If sampling is used then the usual caveats apply in that there is only a
probability that the results of your sample are representative of the whole
population.
An alternative to sampling in larger classes is to divide the class into groups of
5-10 students and collect the collated responses to the questions from each
group of students after the individual students have contributed to a group
discussion.
"I want you each to write down your answers to these three questions. In a few
minutes, I will ask you to discuss your answers in your groups. Once
everybody has had their say I'd like one person in each group to write down
their groups response to each question."
This technique is useful as it ensures discussion and some degree of consensus
amongst the students before they respond. At the same time it streamlines the
amount of feedback that the teacher has to read. In some settings, this
technique can be equally well adapted to verbal presentation of group
responses.
6. Feedback From Non-Students
You not only teach children, you teach the family. What kind of outreach do you
make to the families you serve?
Also, your colleagues and community are an important and often neglected
source of feedback to learn how to become a more effective teacher.
Please summarize or provide evidence for the following:

Written feedback from a classroom observation that details judgment

on teaching.
Written feedback about your course materials such as handouts,
exams, and syllabi.
Written documentation that details teaching contribution to your
colleagues or school.
Written feedback from a classroom observation that details strengths as
well as areas for improvement.
Written summary that details the teaching improvement work that you
did after you have received feedback.

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Be reflective: Even if you follow the feedback from the above documents, it is
not likely to be effective without your own reflection write a paragraph that
describes your interpretation of the evaluations and how you have used the
feedback to change or enhance your instruction or course design. The
following questions are designed to help you think about how student feedback
has influenced you as a teacher:

At what point during the teaching period do you collect feedback?

How often do you collect feedback?
For what purposes do you collect feedback?
How have you integrated this feedback into your teaching?
What would you still like to improve?
What will you continue to do?

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Course Five: Professional Portfolio and

Millennium Development Goals
Your Professional Portfolio: Parts Two and Three
Part Two of Your Portfolio: Your Commitment to the
Millennium Development Goals
Part Two of your Professional Portfolio is designed to provide you with an
opportunity to serve. In this last phase of the Certificate for Teaching Mastery,
you will reflect on the meaning behind the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), take action in your community to work toward
these goals, and share with us what you did and how you did it. The
Millennium Development Goals are only valuable when they are put into
practice, and this is where teachers can play a large role. To learn more about
the Millennium Development Goals, visit this site:
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
To complete the Certificate of Teaching Mastery, you will choose one MDG to
focus on, and then either teach it in your school and/or community or
contribute to an existing initiative that focuses on one of the Millennium
Development Goals.
If you are an active teacher or have access to a classroom, you can opt to
teach about your chosen Millennium Development Goal to your class. You can
also opt to teach a group at a local community center, church, etc. We believe
that the very best way of doing this is to review current curricula and adapt it
to your own setting. By the time you are at this point in the Certificate of
Teaching Mastery, you have gained several key skills, which you can
competently employ.
If youd like to access sample lesson plans and activities to use in your
classroom or with your volunteer organization, please visit this website:
http://bit.ly/cWWVLI
To see an example integrating art into HIV/AIDS education, visit this site:
http://bit.ly/91ICDj
If you choose to participate in an existing initiative in your community that
focuses on one of the Millennium Development Goals, you will have to
document your contribution including what you have gained as a participant
and how your community will benefit from your work.
Proof of Completion
It will be required that you share this content in your Professional Portfolio
your school/organization, grade level or target audience, what goal you chose,
how you chose to tackle it, how you assessed it, and an example of the
product.
Continue Your Commitment
If you would like to do more individual or collaborative work on meeting the
Millennium Development Goals, consider applying to be a Millennium
Development Ambassador. More information on this Teachers Without Borders
program can be found here:

12

http://teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/millennium-developmentambassadors

Part Three of Your Portfolio: Promoting Your Work and

Becoming a Mentor
Creating Your Rsum
This is your opportunity to describe yourself and make a case for your
professional goals.
Summary of Qualifications
A one- or two-sentence description of your professional teaching qualifications.
Education
List the names of the institutions you attended
Location
What you studied
Graduation date
Degree received
Professional workshops or conferences you've attended (optional)
Professional Experience
We suggest that you list your professional employment starting with your
current position and going back in time to your first position. There are many
different ways to create a rsum in terms of how it looks. The content,
however, usually includes the following for each position you have held:
Job title (in descending order, from most recent to oldest)
Name of the school or organization where you work or worked
Location
Short description of your responsibilities using action verbs such as
"Developed," "Coordinated," "Initiated," "Taught," etc.
Dates you worked there
Other Work Experience
Special Skills and Interests
Where appropriate, please list the following:
Languages you speak
Special skills you can share
Hobbies
Extracurricular activities
Professional Memberships
Potential employers would like to see how you network with others. Examples
could be your local Rotary Club or a teaching network.
Community Activities
This is where you can show that you are an active member of your community.

13

We strongly suggest that you highlight your work to support the Millennium
Development Goals.
References
Choose three people who know you well professionally, and ask them if they
will be a reference for you when you apply for jobs, fellowships, or any other
professional opportunities you may seek.
List their names, titles, school/organization they are connected to, location of
that school/organization, and contact information. Ask your references what
telephone number, address, and email they would like you to list (only list the
ways in which the person wishes to be contacted). Put these references on the
last page of your rsum.
Honors and Recognition
Although many people create work that never gets publicly acknowledged, it is
to your advantage to talk about your achievements. This is an opportunity for
you to include the following:

Awards
Letters of recommendation
Your placement in academic or educational competitions
Achievements of your students
Achievements of your school

Becoming a TWB Mentor - Requirements and Benefits

Teachers Without Borders wants to dignify the teaching profession by doing our
part to help nurture the very best there is to offer. We are proud of those who
have gone through our program. Therefore, when you complete your
Certificate of Teaching Mastery, a member of the Mentor Review Board will
write a final Letter of Recommendation addressing your work in the entire
Certificate of Teaching Mastery. This letter will be sent to you 3 - 4 weeks after
the completion of your work for the Certificate of Teaching Mastery.
Your participation and completion of the Certificate of Teaching Mastery does
not automatically grant you a position as a Mentor in the CTM program, nor
does enrollment guarantee employment by Teachers Without Borders or any
other hiring agency. However, upon successful completion of the Certificate of
Teaching Mastery, you may apply to become a Mentor.
If you are interested in applying to be a Mentor in the Certificate of Teaching
Mastery Program, please contact your local TWB representative. If you would
like to become an e-Mentor and assist teachers enrolled in the online version
of the CTM program, please fill out the electronic application form available
here: http://bit.ly/bUa4s9.

14

Course Five: Reflection and Review

Part 1: Personal Reflection and Group Discussion
1. You have now completed all five courses of the International Certificate of
Teaching Mastery. Please take a moment to reflect on the following questions:
a) What have you learned about yourself as a teacher? Please consider the
impact of the CTM content, your weekly review/reflections, and your
discussions with your colleagues.
b) How has the program enriched your professional knowledge and classroom
practice?
c) Do you feel that the program prepared you to be a mentor who can support,
guide, and empower his or her colleagues? What are some of the tools,
approaches, and strategies you now have at your disposal that will enable you
to accomplish this goal?
We encourage you to write down your answers. Then, in small groups (three to
five participants) discuss your responses with your colleagues and address the
following questions as a group:
a) What are some of the biggest challenges that you are likely to encounter as
you present the Certificate program to your colleagues in your community
and/or start your work as a CTM mentor? Is there something that TWB can do
to assist you as you begin this role? Is there something that our Regional
Coordinators can do to help?
b) Is there something that could be added to the CTM to ensure that it more
effectively meets the needs of local teachers?
Part 2: Review
1. A teaching portfolio is described in Course Five as a coherent set of
materials including work samples and reflective commentary on them
compiled by a faculty member to represent his or her teaching practice as
related to student learning and development. What are the benefits of
compiling a portfolio? How can it promote and support teacher professional
development? How will you support your colleagues in the process of
collecting and reflecting on artifacts that represent their professional
knowledge and practice?
2. The purpose of a portfolio is to demonstrate examples of teaching
excellence. How would you define teaching excellence? Can you think of any
examples from your own classroom practice or models that you would like to
implement that demonstrate teaching excellence? If so, please share them.
How will you ensure that you maintain this level of excellence? Has the CTM
been helpful in moving towards this goal? Explain.
3. What are your thoughts on the inclusion of the Millennium Development
Goals in the CTM and requiring teachers to either teach about these goals or
volunteer in initiatives devoted to the MDGs? How would you explain the value
of this approach to the colleagues you will be mentoring?

15

4. If you were to teach about one of the MDGs in your classroom, which one
would you choose and why? What are some of the approaches you explored in
the CTM that you would use to engage students in learning about this specific
goal? Why would you use these approaches? How would they help you meet
your learning objectives?
5. Millennium Development Ambassadors are described as being locallyfocused but with a global scope. What, in your opinion, are the advantages of
this dual focus for teacher professional growth and for community
development? How do you hope to achieve this dual focus in your work?

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