MSED Elementary Portfolio Project

Darlene Roseanne Julia Drover

August 12, 2019

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

______________________________
Darlene Drover
Medaille College Graduate Student

______________________________
Dr. Susan Dunkle
Project Director
 Table of Contents

Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project……..… 4

Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences……………………………… 11

Section Three: Teacher Candidate Artifacts……………………... ……………………… 23

Artifact #1: Math Lesson Plan – 3D Shapes ……...………………………………. 24

Artifact #2: Social Studies - Early nineteenth Century Communities …………… 35

Artifact #3: Child Abuse Workshop Certificate …………………………………... 48

Artifact #4: Annotated Bibliography: Literacy Practitioner Article Review ……... 54

Artifact #5: Certificate: “Tech Talk”: Technology in the Classroom ……………. 59

Artifact #6: Ms. Drover’s Grade 1 Weebly Website …....……………………...… 61

Artifact #7: SMART Notebook Presentation – Author Study ……………………. 66

Artifact #8: educational survey: survey analysis assignment ……………………. 85

Section Four: Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards ……………………... 95

Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection …………………………………………..… 100

Section Six: Teacher Candidate Interview Video ……………………………………….. 106

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

Introduction, Overview and Rationale

The Elementary Portfolio Project highlights the significant components of my academic

journey in elementary education. The portfolio is made up of artifacts that I have completed

during my time working as an educator and during my education. The collection of items

demonstrates the experience I have gained and presents my preparedness to become a

professional educator. I have written this Elementary Portfolio project in hopes that those who

read it will not only see the abilities I will bring forward as an educator, but the passion I have

for education and working with children. Everything I have engaged in so far has been driven by

my love for working with children and my keen interest in social welfare. My true passion is

education and learning, I sincerely enjoy working with children, encouraging them to grow at

their own pace in a nurturing environment. I am grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate my

skills and passion, thus demonstrating my potential value as a future elementary educator.

A successful educator is one with strong interpersonal skills in order to be able to develop

meaningful relationships with their students and parents of the students. A successful teacher has

to be able to adapt and be flexible but also be organized, they must be able to reflect and grow

wherever it is possible. A successful teacher will use the technology in the classroom in a fun

and exciting way to keep kids engaged and learning in a variety of ways. A great teacher will

have classroom management skills and create a positive learning environment and classroom

community where students can thrive. A successful teacher will teach in a culturally responsive

way that ensures all students are emotionally and physically safe. It is my hope that the
experiences, artifacts and reflections in this portfolio will demonstrate that I will be a successful

education in my future of teaching.

Portfolio Development

The Elementary Portfolio consists of six sessions; Introduction to the Portfolio Project

(section one), Background Experiences (section two), Teacher Candidate Artifacts (section

three), Curriculum and Professional Alignments (section four), Reflection (section five), and a

Teacher Candidate Interview Video (section six). These sections have been specifically chosen

to be included in the portfolio because they highlight the experiences and abilities necessary to

be a successful educator.

Section one, the introduction section highlights the purpose of the portfolio and allows

for the opportunity to show my preparedness as a teacher in the field of education. The

introduction section informs the reader of the purpose of the portfolio in connection with our

experiences and education.

Section two, Background Experiences is where I, the teacher candidate, introduces

myself by outlining my education and work-related experience as well as my philosophy of

education. This section discusses some of the education I have acquired during my academic

journey. Such as, courses and assignments, I have completed that relate to my future as an

educator. This section also includes an up to date resume that reveals my previous experiences in

the education field. Lastly, the background section covers my philosophy of education.

Section three, Teacher Candidate Artifacts, I introduce eight to ten artifacts. The artifacts

will demonstrate the skills and knowledge I have accumulated to be prepared to teach in an

elementary classroom. The artifacts are assignments I have completed over my recent

educational experience in the Elementary Education program with Medaille College. Each
artifact will be expanded and reflected upon in order to demonstrate their importance for my

future as an educator. The artifacts are connected with a variety of theorists who have had an

impact in the field of education and are still of importance in today academic climate. The

educational evidence provided will further demonstrate my teacher preparedness and educator

skill set.

Section four, Curriculum and Professional Alignments will present the expected

knowledge and ability of an elementary teacher to align curriculum and professional standards to

daily work and responsibilities.

Section five, the reflection component of the portfolio project I reflect on my overall

experiences I acquired while writing the portfolio. The section allowed me to self-reflect on the

work and experiences I had completed to get to this point in my academic career but also the

work I completed within my portfolio. Reflecting helped me analyze my journey and find my

areas of strength and weakness. By finding these areas it showed where I excel and where I have

room to grow. It is important to find those places where you can grow because that is what

learning is all about. I want to instill this same response to growth in my own future students.

Rather than saying, “I can’t do it.” I encourage myself and others to say “I can’t do it yet.”.

Section six, Teacher Candidate Teacher Interview, the final section of the portfolio will

be a ten to fifteen-minute video. The video interview showcases my work and consists of a mock

interview simulation where I answer specific questions that I may be asked during a job

interview. The interview showcases my current knowledge and skills sets and condenses them

into an engaging video. The video also demonstrates my technical abilities, specifically learning

how to document, record and present a video.

Theories, Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

Theorists are a large and extensive part of education and are integrated throughout the

MSED program. Many of the assignments are based off the work of theorists. Theorist

integration and connection is especially included in the assignment that have curriculum and

standard expectations, such as lesson plans, lesson segments and student assessments. The

lessons we have been taught though out the MSED program are heavily theorist based in order to

learn how to teach based on the philosophies and research of many education-based theorists.

Educational theorists such as, B.F. Skinner, Howard Gardener, and Benjamin Bloom are some of

the theorists that have had an impact on my teaching style and philosophy of education.

B.F Skinner developed behavior analysis, he called this approach radical behaviorism

(Wikipedia, 2019). Radical behaviorism is based on the understanding that behavior is developed

through conditioning. Conditioning is learned through interaction with the environment and these

interactions create responses that shape our actions. For instance, Positive Reinforcement such

as praise and rewards, strengthens the behavior that resulted in the positive response, increasing

the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated (Lynch, 2018). On the opposite end of the

spectrum is Negative reinforcement, or punishment, which will result in the behavior not be

attempted again in order to avoid the negative response (Lynch, 2018). This basic theory in

regard to behavior is highly effective in the classroom. If students receive reward when they are

doing what is expected of them they will continue to do it in order to seek reward. If they receive

a punishment for doing something not appropriate it is likely that they will not do it again or will

do it less often to avoid punishment. I think the key to success with using this type of behavior

condition in the classroom is to follow through. If you don’t follow through then students will

not understand what is expected of them and faulter with out knowing better. A simple sticker
reward system is highly effective. For example, 20 gold stickers means the class will get 20

minutes of free time. This reward system also creates a positive classroom community because

students will work together to receive the reward.

Howard Gardner is the theorist behind Multiple Intelligences (Armstrong). Gardner

believes that there are several ways of learning and processing information. The eight different

intelligences include; linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical,

interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. As a teacher I think it is vital to understand that

students learn in a variety of ways. It is important to consider that students do not always learn

information in the same way; what works for one student may not work for another. This is an

important theory to me because it encourages me to incorporate lesson components that will

engage all the different intelligences of students whenever possible.

One of the most influential theorists in my studies has been Benjamin Bloom, the creator

of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Lynch, 2018). Bloom developed what is essentially a hierarchy of

learning. As the student learns a subject, they go through a series of ascending stages that grow

in complexity and establish higher order thinking skills. There are six stages or levels, within

Bloom’s Taxonomy (Heick, 2018). The first stage is knowledge; during the knowledge stage,

students can remember the information they have been taught. This means they can define,

duplicate, label or identify the information they have been taught. This is the most basic level of

learning/thinking. The next stage of thinking skills is comprehension. Students in this stage can

demonstrate their understanding of information through describing, classifying, discussing and

paraphrasing. Bloom’s third stage is application, in this stage student’s can apply the information

they have learned to actual situations they experience in their life inside and outside of the

classroom. The fourth stage is Analysis, students are able to examine and breakdown information
or into parts and find evidence to support their findings. In this stage they are examining,

inferring, calculating and categorizing. The next stage is synthesis, in this stage students can

arrange and categorize ideas into new ideas or solutions based on the information they already

have. The final stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy is Evaluation (Heick, 2018), Students can make and

defend their new ideas based on the evidence they have found. In this stage they are arguing,

defending, evaluating, summarizing and supporting their knowledge. If we understand there are

different stages of learning we can organize or lessons into these stages. Starting from the first

stage of knowledge and building off it throughout the lesson plan, lesson segment or lesson unit.

For example, you may first introduce a subject by exploring some definitions that are going to be

used. You will build on this knowledge introducing new components that align with the stages.

You will finally have them do a summative assignment that will show you the teacher whether or

not the students have reached higher order thinking and are able to evaluate what they have

learned and create something they have not been taught from it.

Conclusion

I hope that after reading my Elementary Portfolio project you will see me as a future

successful educator. Over the past 10 years, I have gained academic and professional experience

that has shaped me into the educator I am today. Throughout this portfolio you will be

introduced to a variety of components that show my preparedness to be an educator. You will be

reviewing a number of artifacts that will showcase my professional and academic achievements

in the field of education, you will be reading an in-depth self-reflection on my pedagogy and

philosophy of the teacher I aim to be. Along with this portfolio will be a teacher candidate

teacher interview highlighting all of the important components of the portfolio and my teaching

experiences through a series of interview questions. To conclude section one of the portfolio, I
hope that you already see my passion and enthusiasm to grow as an educator and find success in

the art of teaching. In the forthcoming section two of this portfolio you will be able to examine

some of my background experience and accomplishments as it relates to my preparedness as an

educator.