The artifacts that I am presenting in this portfolio are just a small sampling of things I have done for the last two years. Some of these were major projects, some were lessons or essays. To see each individual artifact, click on the link on the left sidebar, or the name of the artifact. With these artifacts, I have listed the UNLV College of Education Principles that apply for your reference.
ARTIFACTS
1. ASW I: This first practicum project was focusing on an individual student in my class who struggled with fluency. I chose to use this artifact because it shows the process I went through assessing the student, finding out where she was deficient, considering differentiated effective teaching strategies and building a teaching plan to work with her.
(COE 2-(Individual Development): The COE graduate knows and understands how individuals learn and can develop and provide opportunities that support intellectual, career, social, and personal development. They seek ways to enhance the success of their future students. , COE 4-(Planning Processes): The COE graduate understands planning processes based upon knowledge of content, learners characteristics, the community, and curriculum goals and standards. They are active participants in the local k-12 education system.)
2. ASW 2: This assignment was completed during the second practicum, in which the entire classroom of students were organized into sub-populations. Using these sub-populations, research was done in order to find multiple proven, reliable teaching strategies. After listing numerous strategies, three work samples were then taken, analyzed and using the data collected, re-teaching lessons were meticulously planned to verify the effectiveness of the strategies.
(COE 3-(Diverse Learners): The COE graduate knows and understands how individuals differ in their approaches to learning and creates opportunities that are equitable and adaptable to the needs of Diverse learners. They demonstrate dispositions that reflect a caring nature toward their clients., COE 5-(Strategies and Methods): The COE graduate knows and understands and can employ a variety of strategies and methods and encourages the development of critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and performance skills. They create lessons that promote student achievement.)
3. ASW 3: The final ASW project was completed during the student teaching semester. This was a continuation of ASW 2, in which the same student sub-populations were utilized. However, rather than just three work samples, my assessment and analysis was performed after every lesson. Getting into the habit of rigorous data collection and analysis allowed me to better develop an intervention routine.
(COE 4-(Planning Processes): The COE graduate understands planning processes based upon knowledge of content, learners characteristics, the community, and curriculum goals and standards. They are active participants in the local k-12 education system., COE 5-(Strategies and Methods): The COE graduate knows and understands and can employ a variety of strategies and methods and encourages the development of critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and performance skills. They create lessons that promote student achievement.)
4. ELL Presentation: During my student teaching, each student teacher was assigned a subject to do additional research on and present to the rest of the student teachers. The purpose of this assignment was to develop a better understanding of common practices, strategies, and sub-groups. (Marzano, Kagan, Gifted Ed, Special Ed, ELL) I included this in my artifacts because I focused mainly on the ELL situation in Nevada, how it relates to our schools, and highly effective strategies that we as new teachers can explore for more productive teaching.
(COE 3-(Diverse Learners): The COE graduate knows and understands how individuals differ in their approaches to learning and creates opportunities that are equitable and adaptable to the needs of Diverse learners. They demonstrate dispositions that reflect a caring nature toward their clients., COE 7-(Communication): The COE graduate knows and understands effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques and other forms of symbolic representation and can foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supporting interactions. They use technology to facilitate student learning., COE 10- (Reflection and Professional Development): The COE graduate is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of choices and actions on students, adults, parents, and other professionals in the learning community, and who actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally. They respond to the rapidly changing educational context of Southern Nevada in a thoughtful manner.)
5. Inclusion Statement: This statement was written for my EDSP 411 class in the Spring of 2010. I am including this statement because it still holds true for me today and is something I strongly believe. I felt that this piece of work was informative and exceptional as well as reflective of my teaching philosophy, where students of all abilities deserve a chance to succeed.
(COE 3- (Diverse Learners): The COE graduate knows and understands how individuals differ in their approaches to learning and creates opportunities that are equitable and adaptable to the needs of Diverse learners. They demonstrate dispositions that reflect a caring nature toward their clients., COE 9-(Collaboration, Ethics, and Relationships): The COE graduate understands and fosters ethical relationships with parents, school colleagues, and organizations in the larger community to support the individual's learning development. They build communication opportunities through trust and genuine regard for student personal and academic growth.)
6. Waterfall: During the last three semesters, we have utilized many of the Lemov strategies in the book 'Teach Like a Champion'. I collected the strategies that I used, documented when I used them, and reflected back on how I felt the strategy worked for me. (Or didn't.) Rather than list everything, I narrowed down my reflections to one per strategy. For most of these strategies, I used them on a daily basis. 99% of the strategies I felt were aligned with my teaching philosophy, which is why I am including this in my portfolio.
(COE 5-(Strategies and Methods): The COE graduate knows and understands and can employ a variety of strategies and methods and encourages the development of critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and performance skills. They create lessons that promote student achievement. , COE 10-(Reflection and Professional Development): The COE graduate is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of choices and actions on students, adults, parents, and other professionals in the learning community, and who actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally. They respond to the rapidly changing educational context of Southern Nevada in a thoughtful manner.)
7. Science Unit: The Solar System- I included this lesson unit as part of my portfolio because out of all of the lessons and units I taught during my student teaching, this was the one that I was most proud of. This unit lasted approximately three weeks. Two weeks consisted of lessons, and one week of working with the students on a written project. I utilized video, text, computer technology, conducted hands-on demonstrations, art projects and activities, and introduced the students to their very first research paper and rubric. This project allowed the students to practice their reading comprehension skills, drafting, proofreading and editing, as well as the ability to follow directions and work together in teams.
(COE 1- (Content Knowledge): The COE graduate knows and understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of content meaningful. They are passionate about their subjects and their work., COE 7-(Communication): The COE graduate knows and understands effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques and other forms of symbolic representation and can foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supporting interactions. They use technology to facilitate student learning., COE 8-(Assessments): The COE graduate understands and promotes formal and informal assessment strategies and evaluates the learner's continuous intellectual, social, and physical development. They develop fair assessments of student achievement.)