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Professional Teacher Portfolio PDF version
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- 3. Ibelievethat... Philosophy of TeachingStatement Themostimportantroleoftheteacheristoprovideeachstudentwithdailyandfrequent opportunitiesforcreativity,collaboration,communication,andcriticalthinking Classroomnormsandexpectationsshouldbecreatedtogetherasaclassroomcommunityinorderto givestudentsasenseofownershipandaccountability TheclassroomdoesNOTbelongtotheteacher.Itbelongstoboththestudentsandtheteacherasa classroomcommunity TheteachershouldNOTbetheonlyvoicewithintheclassroom.Studentsshouldbeprovidedplentyof opportunitiesforleadershipandownershipoftheirlearningexperiencewithintheclassroom teachersshouldprovideencouragementandpositivebehaviormodelinginanefforttopromote leadershipineverychild learningwithintheclassroomtakesplacewithinbothstudentsandtheteacher amutualsenseofrespectandtrustmustbedevelopedbetweenteachers,parentsandstudents instructionshouldbecross-curricularandintegrated it istheresponsibilityoftheteachertoknoweachchild'sstrengths,interests,challengesandprior knowledgeinordertoteachmaterialthatisdevelopmentallyappropriate technologycanbeintegratedintoanysubjectarea,thoughitmusthaveapurpose theteacherengagestheirstudentsbyattendingtostudentinterest,learningstyles,andcreating opportunitiesforinquiry-basedlearning Flexibleseating,softlighting,andchoiceinlearninglocationaddtoasuccessfullearning experience
- 4. IbelievethatTheteacherhasmanydifferentroleswithintheclassroom. The Roles ofa Teacher Teacher as a Guide Itistheteacher'sresponsibilitytoguidestudentsontheirlearningjourney.Theteacherisnotthereto spoonfeedcontenttostudents,butrathertoguidestudentstomakethesediscoveriesontheirownwith thehelpoftheteacher. Teacher as a Learner Teacher as a Teammate Teacher as a Caretaker Theteacherdemonstratesapurejoyandloveoflearningonadailybasis.Theteacherempowersstudents tofindtheirownjoyoflearningthroughtheirboundlessenthusiasmandengaginglearning experiences.Lastly,theteacherisconstantlylookingforwaystofurthertheirlearningandpushfornew innovativewaystostrengthentheirpractice. Itistheteacher'sresponsibilitytobeatrueteammatewithintheschoolcommunity.Theteacherisan activeparticipantinschoolevents,inmeetingswithcolleagues,andwithintheclassroom. Itistheteacher'sresponsibilitytonurtureandcareforeverystudent,everyday.Theteacherensuresthat eachchildisgiventheloveandrespectthattheydeserve.
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- 8. Twitter in theClassroom Asidefrommyprofessionaltwitter,Ialsouseaclassroomtwitterthroughouttheyear.Inanefforttoguidemystudentsto becomesuccessful21stcenturylearners,ispendagreatdealoftimecoveringdigitalcitizenship.ourclassroomtwitter,run andmoderatedbymyself,allowsmystudentsasafeexperienceinpositivelyinteractingwiththedigitalworld.
- 9. Ibelievethat... Philosophy of LiteracyStatement Literacyshouldbebalanced,integrating:reading,writing,listening,speaking,andviewing components Instructionshouldbedifferentiatedtomeettheneedsofallstudents Assessmentsandtasksshouldbeauthentic,meaningfulandongoing teachersshouldutilizetheworkshopmodelduringanyliteracyinstruction units,lessons,andactivitiesshouldbebaseduponthestateanddistrictstandardsandbenchmarks contentinstructionshouldbetaughtintheformof'gradualrelease,'meaninginstructionmoves fromteacherdependencetostudentindependence theteachershouldalwaysmakeanefforttoprovidestudentswithchoiceduringliteracy instruction literacyshouldbeintegratedacrossallsubjectareas readinginstructionshouldbeacombinationofindependentandguidedreadingexperiences studentslearnbestwhentheyareimmersedintext-richenvironments theschema,specificlearningstyles,andmultipleintelligencesofstudentsshouldbeconsidered whendeterminingthetypeofliteracyinstructionneeded teachersmustmodeltheirloveofreadingandwritingforstudentsinordertoencouragesimilar behaviors comprehensionmustbeconsistentlymonitoredbytheteacheraswellasthestudent timeforcelebrationsandsharingofstudentworkmustbeincorporatedintoinstructionaltime
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- 12. The Global ReadAloud Inanefforttohelpmystudentsbecome21stcenturylearners,oneofthethingsistrivetodoinmyclassroomistoextendmy students'learningexperiencesbeyondtheclassroomwalls.oneofthewaysihavebeenabletodothatisthroughparticipating intheglobalreadaloud.thegraisaworld-widereadaloudwhereclassroomsallovercanconnectanddiscusstheirthoughts onacommontext.throughtheglobalreadaloud,mystudentshaveconnectedwithclassroomsacrosstheworld,from mackinawislandallthewaytodubai.ihavealsobeenabletoincorporatemanynewformsoftechnologythroughthegraas well-skype,todaysmeet,andtwitter,justtonameafew.
- 13. *Full article, takenfrom: msugecp.weebly.com 12/14/2015 0 Comments By Natalie D'Amico GECP Alumna “There is no foot that is too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world” –Unknown As a second year teacher, I began the school year with a single yet powerful question in mind: “how can I provide my students with powerful learning experiences that will stay with them for a lifetime?” A bit ambitious, right? I totally agree. The summer after surviving my first year as a fifth grade teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas School here in East Lansing, I spent a lot of time reflecting. Did I provide my students with lessons and experiences that made them excited to come to school every day? Sometimes, yes, though more often than not: no. I asked myself, “would I want to be a student in my own classroom?” And honestly, no I would not. Over the summer I attended nErD camp (which is a gathering of educators from Michigan and the surrounding area that are passionate for children’s literacy) and had the privilege of listening to Pernille Ripp speak. Mrs. Ripp is an incredible educator from Wisconsin who is passionate for literacy, technology, and using those two things to empower her students to take a lead roll in their learning. She is well known for her insights on student blogging, as well as her perhaps most well-known project to date: The Global Read Aloud (GRA). The GRA began as an idea of Pernille’s in 2010, and has since connected over one million students across the globe. Long story short, I became inspired by listening to Pernille tell her story of how she transformed her classroom into a place where she would actually want to be a student. While yes, some of the things she said terrified me (skyping with other classrooms, students blogging about whatever they wanted…) I thought to myself: why NOT? What was I waiting for? So, I decided to take the plunge and signed my classes up for The 2015 Global Read Aloud. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Pernille has teachers vote on which books will participate in the GRA each year and she splits it into categories based on age level as well as an author study. Ripp offers multiple book choices within those categories for classrooms across the world to choose from. Once you choose a book for your class to read, Pernille encourages you to make at least one connection with a classroom reading the same book. This could be a class in another state, another country, or simply another city. It is entirely up to you how ‘big’ you choose to make it in terms of the classroom and how you choose to connect. I knew right away that I would choose Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s Fish in a Tree for myself and my fifth graders to read together. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. We formed connections with three other classrooms in the United States on a weekly basis via Skype, TodaysMeet, and other social media platforms. We also made connections with classrooms as far as Dubai on Twitter and KidBlog. We participated in Twitter chats, Mystery Skypes, digital book clubs, and virtual group discussions. The experience itself was nothing short of extraordinary. What did I learn from this experience? Well, for one, I truly am now a believer that your classroom can be pushed well beyond the walls of your school. No classroom is limited to being confined to your individual room, let alone your country. In addition, I know now as an educator that I am capable of pushing myself beyond what I think I am capable of, because my students are also capable of pushing themselves. The amount of collaboration, thoughtful discussion, and learning that I witnessed with my fifth graders is something that I will never forget. The GRA is simply a read-aloud that has been intertwined with the ‘21st-centry learning’ that we are constantly talking about as educators--so why NOT share it with your students? I beg of you, educators and future educators, please do yourself and your students a favor and participate in this incredible journey in the years to come. Then you, too, will want to be a student in your own classroom. Global Read Aloud in Ms. D'Amico's Class
- 14. Blogging in theClassroom Startingwithmyinternshipyear,Ihavebeenincorporatingbloggingintomywritinginstruction.Ibeginbyintroducing thebasicsofblogging-whatitis,howitisused,andprovideplentyofexamples(bothstudent&adultcreated)formystudents. thenwecreatepaperblogstowalkthroughthebloggingprocess-thesearewrittenontopicsthatarechosenbythestudents, whichisanimportantpartofthebloggingprocessinmyclassroom.eachchild'sblogis100%theirown,meaningthatthey maychoosetopicsthatareimportanttothem.Oncethepaperbloggingprocessiscomplete,studentsareintroducedtoour onlinebloggingplatform,kidblog.
- 15. Icreatedandtaughtan8weekinformationalreadingandwritingunitthatwastaughtalong sidemyteachingpartner'ssocialstudiesunitontheamericanrevolution. Phaseone:informationalreading Duringtheunit,studentschoseatopicfromtheamericanrevolutiontoresearch.Thistopic wouldbecomethecenteroftheirproject.Fromthere,students spentoneweekresearchingtheir topicbyreadinginformationalarticlesandbooksontheselectedtopic,aswellasviewing websitesandvideos.Duringthistime,wewoulddiscussandreviewstrategiestousewhile readinginformationaltext. Phasetwo:Informationalwriting Asstudentsgatheredinformationontheirselectedtopic,webegantodiscussinformational writingthroughthe formofanessay.Weanalyzedavarietyofdifferentmentortexts(books, articles,websites)andidentifiedimportantcomponentstoaninformationalessay.then, studentscraftedafiveparagraphinformationalessayontheirtopic. Phase3:teach Followingthecompletionoftheessay,studentswereaskedtocreateafinalprojectwiththe purposeofeducatingtheirclassmatesontheirtopic.WhileIofferedsomesuggestionsfor projects,studentswerefreetochoosewhattheywouldliketocreate. Cross-Curricular Unit~ The American Revolution
- 16. Ibelievethat... Philosophy of Mathematics Statement Studentsshouldhaveaccesstomanipulativesasmuchaspossible datashouldbedisplayedclearlyandconsistentlywithintheclassroomtodemonstrate growthandprogress teachersmustutilizeavarietyofformalandinformalassessmenttasksthatwillhighlight conceptualknowledgethestudentshaveaboutaparticularmathematicalconcept instructionshouldbebalancedwithamixofwhole-group,individual,andsmall-group effectivemathematicsteachingresultsfromthesuccessfuluseoftheworkshopmodel ateacher'sminilessonmustbebriefandtothepointinordertoallowstudentstimeto practiceandimplementtheconcept inquiry-basedteaching,tasksandactivitiesshouldbeincorporatedintodailylessonsto engagestudentsandcreateafullsenseofunderstanding theteachermustpromote asenseofunderstandingof mathematicalconcepts,NOTsimple memorization units,lessonsandactivitiesshouldbebasedonthestateanddistrictstandardsand benchmarks studentsshouldbegiventheopportunitytoexploreandmanipulatemathtoolsandmaterials tomaketheirunderstandingmoreconcrete
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- 19. Ibelievethat... Philosophy of SocialStudies Statement Teachersshouldutilizesimulationstohelpsolidifystudents'knowledgeofabstractconcepts asmuchaspossible unitsshouldbeplannedwhilekeepingmindthenecessityofmakingcontentrelevantto students'lives technologyshouldbeutilizedinordertogivestudentstheskillsnecessaryofrealworld application studentsshouldbegiventheopportunitytobecomeinformedcitizensrespectingthemselves, others,andtheirenvironment socialstudiescanandshouldbeintegratedacrossthecurriculum ateachershouldposequestionsthatelicithigherorderthinking,requiringstudentsto evaluateevidenceandmakeinformeddecisionsabouttheirownlives units,lessons&activitiesshouldbebasedonthestateanddistrictstandardsandbenchmarks studentsshouldbeexposedtoallformsofsocialstudies:economics,sociology,history, geography,andgovernment lessonsshouldincorporateindependent,partner,smallgroupsandwholegroupinstruction ateachermustmodelappropriatecitizenshipbehaviorsforthestudents instructionmustbeengagingandrelevantforstudents
- 20. Ibelievethat... Philosophy of ScienceStatement Sciencecanbeintegratedacrossallareasofcurriculumthroughthe useofliterature,data collection,andreal-worldapplication eachunitshouldhavespecificfocusquestions,authenticactivitiesandavarietyof assessmenttasksthatwillsparkstudentlearning instructionshouldbeinquiry-basedandstudentsshouldhavetheopportunitytoexperiencea varietyofhands-oninvestigations teachersshouldmodelscienceinstructionbyusingthestepsofthescientificmethod ateachermuststrivetoaddressthestudents'curiosityandwonderingsabouttheir understandingsoftherealworld assessmentsshouldbeperformancerelatedandnotsimplypencilandpaper units,lessons,andactivitiesmustbebasedonthestateanddistrictstandardsand benchmarks modelingoftheuseofscientificvocabularyand'talkinglikeascientist'shouldbeprovided bytheteacherforthestudents experimentsandactivitiesshouldinvolvehigher-levelandcriticalthinking studentsshouldbeencouragedtosearchforpatternsinanydatathattheycollect
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- 22. Ibelievethat... Classroom Management Philosophy Asaneducator,itisimportanttobefirm,fair,andalwaystreatyourstudentswithrespect teachersshouldmodelappropriatebehaviorexpectationsonadailybasis studentsshouldberoutinelypraisedandacknowledgedforgreatbehavior studentswilllearnbestwhentheyfeelsafeintheclassroom settingroutinesandprocedureshelpstodevelopsmoothtransitionsthroughoutthedayand provideconsistencyandorganizationintheclassroom embracingtheculturesofstudentshelpstocreatepositivelearningexperiencesandabetter classroomcultureforall communicationbetweenparents,teachers,andstudentsiscrucialtohelpcreateaneffective classroom pacingisimperativeforclassroommanagementtobeeffective childrenaremorelikelytoexcelinschoolwhentheyaregivenchoicesandareheld accountablefortheirsuccess studentsgainasenseofresponsibilitywhentheyaregiventhechancetocreatetheirown classroomnormsandspecificjobsonadailybasis together,studentsandtheteachershouldcollectivelycomeupwithaclassroommission statementofbeliefsthatwillbeupheldduringtheschoolyear
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