Renaissance Profile
student samples
Joe sample
MS: complete sample (Use Jeff's? or Ann's)
MS: set up google site to make it happen
Renaissance is defined as a transitional time period marked by intellectual and creative growth. Effective teachers spend a lifetime growing.
This space will be used to create a personal profile. Plan on quarterly visits to update and document your year of growth.
Your entry should include the ten items listed below, but you may also include other relevant information.
Before beginning your Renaissance Profile, be sure to read, discuss, and understand the short story Jumping Mouse (http://www.hyemeyohstsstorm.com/sevenarrows/emouse8.htm). A copy is in our virtual file drawer.
Renaissance Profile Contents
1. Your name (LAST NAME first, and FIRST NAME last).
2. A picture or symbol that your feel visually describes what you believe education is or should be. Also provide an explanation.
3. Describe your turning point. The moment that you decided that you will go to college and that you have something to offer this world.
4. Your current career goal and college plans.
5. Obstacles that might get in your way.
6. Supports that you will rely upon.
7. Master Teacher qualities that you know you already possess.
8. Master Teacher qualities that you are strengthening.
9. A minimum of SEVEN statements that you believe about education and schools that will serve as a foundation to your teaching philosophy.
10. Career related life highlights that you hope to look back upon from the top of the mountain fifty years from now.
Example
:
Symbol and Belief Statements :
I believe it is the teacher's job to create a comfortable, safe environment, but not so comfortable that students do not want to leave.
I believe the classroom should be a place that allows students to look beyond its walls and see their own hopes and dreams in the distance.
I believe learning should be self-directed and motivation to learn should come from within the learner.
I believe the learning should be front and center, not the teacher.
I believe whenever possible that students should be given a choice in the direction they want to go.
I believe learning should have elements of excitement, spontaneity, and creativity while at the same time provide regular opportunities for self-reflection and self-assessment.
I believe schools should be free of academic competition and ability groupings.
Turning Point: I am the youngest of four children and the first to attend college in my family. From a young age, my grandparents encouraged me to go to college someday. Since I lived with them the first eight years of my life, I credit them for planting the seed. It was never really presented as an option. They believed in me, and because of their support, I always felt capable and competent. My problem was deciding where to go and what to do with my degree. I leaned towards teaching my senior year of high school because I wanted a career that allowed me to serve others and one that might make a difference in more places than the thickness of my wallet. My high school teachers were kind, caring, and content people; I wanted to be like them when I became an adult. I also felt a teaching degree would allow me to live and work anywhere in the world.
Current Career Goal: My job changes shapes on a yearly basis. Most teachers do not pursue the variety that I thrive upon. Currently, my goal is to create a Writing Center at West Noble that supports student writers in all subject areas. I wish to continue teaching cadet teaching, and eventually would like to create online learning environments for other courses at West Noble.
College Plans: I am regularly enrolled in college classes and have been since I got my bachelor's degree in 1987 from Ball State, and since then I have earned nearly 50 credits beyond my bachelor's. I have not gotten my master's because I have never wanted to get locked into a single area of study. Presently, I am taking online classes in Library Science through IUPUI. Someday I would like to get an art degree.
Potential Obstacles: Age, health, money, and time. As I approach fifty, I wonder how many more years I really will be able to take classes and chase dreams. Many teachers retire at age fifty-five. I have two teenagers that will be going to college in the next few years, so I want to support them as much as possible with my time and money. Working full-time gets in the way of pursuing a degree.
Supports: My wife is a huge support. She values education and encourages me to keep doing what I do. The administrators at West Noble are also a great support. They give me a lot of freedom and flexibility in my schedule and efforts. West Noble actually pays tuition for classes that teachers take.
Master Teacher Qualities I Possess: Self-directed. Creative. Joyful. Generalist. Hungry
Master Teacher Qualities I am working on: Caring. Willing to be Uncomfortable. Able to Suspend Judgement
Belief Statements about Education: See above. I listed they beside my symbol.
Career-related Highlights that I hope to someday have: I hope to leave a platform for others to stand upon. I hope to have helped change the system to focus more on the learner. I hope to have helped elementary schools focus on fostering a love of learning above all else. I hope to have helped some great teachers find their voice and path. I hope to have contributed to the community where I live and work in a meaningful way. I hope to have avoided making decisions based on self-gain or reward.
Directed Inquiry
Pounds Sample
MS: stages of the W model
To complete this assignment, you will need to demonstrate that you are a problem-solver, critical thinker, creator, collaborator, and communicator.
Inquiry simply means to wonder, to investigate, and to uncover. It is more than research, though that might be the term with which you are most familiar. For this section of your portfolio, you will chose an education related topic of interest, ask some questions, find some information, make some connections, draw some conclusions, and gain some insights.
We will follow a research model called the Eight W's. It is a useful model that you can adapt to work with a variety of ages, including kindergarten and college. (If you want more depth and more explanation, there is a lot of it here http://www.virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/ws.htm).
We have actually already started this project. Your weekly reflections meet the requirement for the first step called watching. We are now ready for the second level: wondering.
You can work at your own pace, but here is the minimum of what you must complete for the second nine weeks:
1. A listing of what you have been "watching" and exploring for the past 12 weeks (mimum of TEN topics).
2. A listing of things you are "wondering" about and would like to find some information on (a minimum of FIVE questions).
Look under the letter 'P' for one that Mr. Pounds has started.
EXAMPLE
:
Watching: Create a list of at least TEN, education related items that you have been thinking about. If you are stuck, revisit your weekly reflections and just list the different topics you have posted. You can steal ideas off of others' lists too.
Keep in mind this list can grow and shrink at your will.
high school writing centers
online classes
Moodle
mini pc and tablet pc
innovative school in NYC
innovative superintendent in DC
Kenyon College/ unigo.com
art connection to teaching critcal and creative thinking
cartoons in the classroom
film study class for senior English
what it takes to become a media specialist
ultimate design qualities of a high school
alternative scheduling (balanced like EN, or four day)
elementary teachers who loop (teach several grade levels)
multigrade classrooms
using cell phones, PSPs, and Wii in the classroom
Malcom Gladwell's new book
Literature circles
how to encourage reading
wikis, webpages, MySpace, Facebook, blogs use in the classroom
Outward Bounds and Kurt Hahn -- how to convince students they are capable of more than they ever dreamed possible.
Wondering: Start asking questions that you are wondering about. They will likely be connected to at least one of your brainstormed topics from above, but then again, maybe not.
How are the ideas of Kurt Hahn and Malcom Gladwell connected?
What could be cool about attending Kenyon College?
Instead of banning popular technology, how can we bring it into the classroom and connect it to learning?
What would a film study class look like? What will it take to get it in the curriculum?
What is happening with alternative schools in NYC? How can I get three to visit?
Can unigo.com be used in cadet teaching? What other resources are available to help students make good decisions about what college to attend?
Do I ever want to get my master's degree? What will it take?