Welcome to my e-portfolio! This website serves to detail my experiences and growth in my early childhood and elementary education career. 

My name is Kristopher Schermerhorn.  I am 31 years old and have just finished student teaching in kindergarten as the culmination of my time in the elementary education program at Oakland University.  I began working with children over fifteen years ago, including time spent as an assistant preschool teacher in the Lake Orion and Troy School Districts, and as the owner and lead teacher of a licensed program, Waterford Christian Preschool & Home Daycare. I have a passion for early childhood but also have enjoyed my experiences in upper elementary. 

My education philosophy is rooted in the fact that every child is full of potential and deserving of the opportunity for that potential to be brought to fruition. This belief drives my practice and fuels my passion to provide an equitable education for every child in my future classroom. I also believe that education in the early years should be not only engaging, but creative and FUN!  I am a firm believer that building positive relationships with students lays the foundation for a positive classroom community where children can feel free to take risks, make mistakes, and grow. I look forward to opportunities to further my experiences and growth as an educator, and appreciate you taking the time to visit my website!  

I taught in a kindergarten classroom in the West Booomfield School District during my 2023 Winter Semester at Oakland University.  This placement was primarily observational, although I had the opportunity to assist my mentor teacher with lessons, work with children one-on-one in the hallway on assignments and reading, and assist with dismissal procedures. 

     I student taught full-time in a kindergarten classroom at Scotch Elementary in West Bloomfield from the beginning of January until the middle of April, 2025. During this time I introduced several new routines for students including a calming corner in the classroom to allow students a space to practice emotional regulation strategis, a "Kind Jar" positive reinforcement system, and a soft start to the morning following a morning work assignment. 

     I planned and taught engaging lessons that were aligned with state standards. These lessons positioned students to be active participants in the learning process. One example was a math lesson where students measured items in the classroom using various tools such as popsicle sticks and Unifix cubes.  I analyzed a variety of formative and summative assessments to inform and differentiate next step instruction, while meeting students' diverse needs. One example came from analyzing the writings produced by our kindergarten students and reflecting on my observations of students while they were writing. I realized the instruction students received in phonics wasn’t transferring over to their writing and that most of the class needed a lot of support on encoding. This led me to collaborate with my mentor teacher to plan whole group instruction on encoding and to plan for differentiation while supporting students during independent writing times. 

     I collaborated with students to create an equitable and inclusive classroom community that values safety, empathy, respect, and community. Some examples included frequent reviews of our social contract, as well as discussing ways in which the class was or was not meeting the social contract. If there were areas that the class needed to focus, I had students provide positive and negative examples, and I had the whole class practice the skill. I would also utilize morning meeting to discuss social issues that had arisen in the classroom, such as sharing, including others, and disagreements when cleaning up. 

     I also communicated and collaborated with parents to foster their children’s academic and social success. This included communicating with parents through a "Remind" app, sending a weekly newsletter to parents, and communicating with parents in person, over the phone, and through email. 

     Lastly, I would frequently collaborate with my mentor teacher and other grade-level teachers regarding instructional design and classroom management strategies. I both sought input and also offered ideas. I also participated in regular district Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings with the grade level teams at both Scotch and Gretchko Elementary. These were considered Professional Development (PD) trainings by the district.