MSED Elementary Portfolio Project

Abigail Ketutdjati

July 16, 2018

An Elementary Portfolio Project submitted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School of Education of

Medaille College

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science in Education

______________________________
Student Name
Medaille College Graduate Student

______________________________
Faculty Advisor’s Name with Title
Project Director
 Table of Contents

Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project……..… 3

Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences……………………………… 9

Section Three: Teacher Candidate Artifacts……………………....………………………24

Artifact #1: Pecha Kucha………………………………………….……………….26

Artifact #2: School Violence Prevention and Intervention/Identification and

Reporting of Child Abuse and Maltreatment Certificates…...……….33

Artifact #3: Guided Reading Lesson Plan…………...…………………… ………38

Artifact #4:Unit Plan Social Studies………………………………………………48

Artifact #5: Science Lesson Plan …………………….…………………………..60

Artifact #6: Annotated Bibliography…………………………………..………….69

Artifact #7: Assessing Student Literacy Learning…………………………...……79

Artifact #8: Field Work Formal Reflection………………..…………………….109

Section Four: Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards …………………….129

Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection ……………………………………………142

Section Six: Teacher Candidate Interview Video ………………………………………149

References ……………………………………………………………………………….154
 Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Introduction, Overview and Rationale

What does it mean to be an effective teacher? So much of it relies on the educator’s ability to

be a motivated learner, able to create engaging and relatable lesson plans which incorporating

technology in their lessons as well as someone who values teamwork. This portfolio was created

to showcase my preparedness to becoming a professional educator. Within this portfolio, I have

included items which highlight my capabilities and accomplishments during my time as a

Medaille student in the MSED program and during my time working as an educator. In reading

my portfolio, it is my goal that the reader will see the passion I have to become an educator as

well as the drive I have to become to best educator I can be for my students. The artifacts I

included in this portfolio showcase my abilities as an educator to plan and assess, my

understanding of curriculum, and aligning them with state standards, and how to best deliver this

information to students using technology in fun and engaging ways. The artifacts will also

showcase my abilities to teach in a culturally responsive way, my abilities to accommodate my

lesson plans for differing learning styles and needs, my classroom management skills, as well as

my abilities to collaborate with colleagues on projects and planning for the curriculum. This

portfolio has been created for the reader to learn a little bit about my accomplishments and my

ability to be an effective teacher in a classroom setting. In creating this portfolio, I have been

given the opportunity to reflect on my educational practices and experiences. Through reflecting

on past lessons and exchanges with students, I am able to improve my teaching practices to

become a better educator for my future students.

Portfolio Development

This portfolio contains six sections. It is my aim to give you, the reader, a better

understanding of what kind of teacher I am. The section you are currently reading is meant to

introduce the major components of the portfolio to you, while making connections between best

practices, theories and theorists that had a formative role in the development of my educational

practices.

Section two is called Teacher Candidate Background Experiences. In this section, I have

outlined educational and work-related experiences while making connections to best practices,

theories and theorists that have influenced me as an educator. Information such as school

observations, classroom applications, my philosophy of education as well as my resume can be

found in this section. This section will allow you to map through my educational experiences

and how I have applied it to my work in the classroom as an educator.

Section three of the portfolio is called Teacher Candidate Artifacts and Rationales. This is

where I have included material that illustrate the skills and knowledge I have obtained

throughout the years in my pursuit of becoming a certified and qualified educator. The artifacts

included will also illustrate my readiness to teach in a culturally diverse classroom and students

with varying needs. Throughout this section I have made connections that show how these

artifacts display my ability to plan, instruct, assess, modify/accommodate for learners with needs,

be a culturally responsive teacher, my classroom management skills, as well as show my

professional collaboration and growth through professional development.

Section four of the portfolio is Alignment to Curriculum and Professional Standards. This

section shows how professional standards and their purposes are connected to each of the
artifacts I have included in the previous section. The standards that I will be using to support my

artifacts and their significance to me as an educator include The Interstate New Teacher

Assessment Support Consortium (InTASC Standards), the New York State Code of Ethics for

Educators, The Ontario Ethical Teacher Standards, The New York State P-12 Common Core,

New York State Learning Standards, Ontario Ministry of Education Expectations, and the

International Society for Technology Education for Teachers and Students (ISTE).

Section five of the portfolio is Teacher Candidates Reflection, which is a reflection on my

experiences while developing this portfolio, my experiences in becoming an educator and my

preparedness to become a certified teacher. Reflecting on my experiences as an educator allows

me to grow and improve my teaching abilities on an continual basis, which in turn will provide

my students with a richer, more memorable experience. Being reflective as a teacher is

extremely important, in thinking back on how the lesson went I can think about the things that

went well during the lesson as well as areas of the lesson that could be improved to further

increase student understanding and engagement while meeting curriculum standards.

Section six, the final section, is the Teacher Candidate Interview Video. This section is where

I have created and included a video of a mock job interview. I will be making a short video

where I will be answering a set of prescribed questions commonly asked in job interviews. This

is done so that I may be reflective in the learning experiences I have had in schools, both as a

teacher and learner. This will also give you the opportunity to learn more about me and my

abilities as a teacher. This will be uploaded to a website that I have designed for my future

students and parents, which will highlight some technological skills that I have learned here at

Medaille while in pursuit of being a qualified and certified educator.

Theories, Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

Over my years as an educator and through the pursuit of become a certified teacher, I have

had the opportunity to study many great minds and their ideas and theories about education.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have greatly influenced my philosophy and teaching practices.

Benjamin Bloom has also greatly shaped my teaching beliefs and I keep his idea of a hierarchy

of different learning objectives when planning lessons and activities for my learners. And

finally, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences is something I keep in mind to intentionally

engage my students in my learning segments.

Jean Piaget has greatly influenced my teaching practices since I learned about him during my

studies in Medaille. There is an abundance of great teaching practices that are included in his

approach like how students learn at different stages of childhood. Piaget defined the four stages

to be sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and concrete operational. Piaget

believed in engaging students in hands-on activities, using props and visual aids, building on

existing knowledge and challenging students to promote growth (Schroeder, 2014, p.4).

These ideologies are seen in the way that I observe and recognize cultural and

community assets, how I plan my lessons and the follow-up activities that engage the

students which leads them to make more connections with the lesson which in turn

helps them remember the lesson more readily.

Lev Vygotsky is another theorist who has greatly influenced my teaching practices and my

ideologies about teaching. The idea that children have a zone of proximal development in which

there is potential for a rich harvest in the middle ground between what they know how to do and

what they can’t do, with proper guidance, instruction and practice directed by an effective

educator much can be learned in the middle ground that is called the zone of proximal
development. Though Vygotsky didn’t fully develop this theory, much can still be put into

practice with scaffolded teaching, using more-skilled peers as teachers as well as monitor and

encourage children’s use of private speech (Shabani, 2010, p.239).

Benjamin Bloom and his six categories of knowledge and abilities have influenced my

teaching beliefs immensely. Believing that learners must have a solid grasp of the knowledge

stage as the precondition to acquiring skills and abilities, that is, the other stages that follow

(Armstrong, 2012, p.217). I have greatly benefitted from using the different levels Bloom has

theorized to guide learning objectives while unit and lesson planning. Organizing objectives

help to clarify the objectives for both the students and teachers, and I have often used the

backward approach in lesson planning. Asking the broad question: What do I want my learners

to learn? What is my end goal? With those framing questions in mind, I have planned lessons

and activities that build on each other to increase student knowledge, helping them to gain skills

and abilities as the unit unfolds.

Lastly, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has played a great role in my

understanding and assessment of students in the classroom. Students learn in different ways just

as teachers instruct in different ways. As an educator, I must be aware that not all of my students

will excel in a singular way of instructing or assessing them. I should aim to reach and engage

my learners whether they are “word, numbers/reasoning, picture, body, music, people, self, or

nature smart,” (Hoerr, 2000, p.188). I concede that instructing all eight intelligences at the same

time is highly unlikely but being aware of them is what I have used, and will continue to use, as I

plan lessons, activities, and field trips in the future.

Conclusion

It is my hope that your review of my portfolio will reveal to you that I am a well-rounded and

effective educator. I have been working with students in the classroom for 16 school years. My

philosophy of education has been shaped, and continues to change, with each passing year and

with every unique situation and daily experiences with students, parents and colleagues.

Throughout this portfolio you will see artifacts that I have chosen to highlight my abilities in

planning, instruction, technology, learning accommodations, classroom management,

professional collaboration and my ability to be culturally responsive in a classroom setting.

These artifacts are items which will provide proof of how passionate and dedicated I am to not

only be an effective teacher but one who is also continually growing and learning to be better

suited to reach my students and meet their needs.

[Back to Table of Contents]