Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Abigail Ketutdjati
Medaille College
______________________________
Student Name
Medaille College Graduate Student
______________________________
Faculty Advisor’s Name with Title
Project Director
Table of Contents
References ……………………………………………………………………………….154
Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project
What does it mean to be an effective teacher? So much of it relies on the educator’s ability to
be a motivated learner, able to create engaging and relatable lesson plans which incorporating
technology in their lessons as well as someone who values teamwork. This portfolio was created
Medaille student in the MSED program and during my time working as an educator. In reading
my portfolio, it is my goal that the reader will see the passion I have to become an educator as
well as the drive I have to become to best educator I can be for my students. The artifacts I
understanding of curriculum, and aligning them with state standards, and how to best deliver this
information to students using technology in fun and engaging ways. The artifacts will also
lesson plans for differing learning styles and needs, my classroom management skills, as well as
my abilities to collaborate with colleagues on projects and planning for the curriculum. This
portfolio has been created for the reader to learn a little bit about my accomplishments and my
ability to be an effective teacher in a classroom setting. In creating this portfolio, I have been
given the opportunity to reflect on my educational practices and experiences. Through reflecting
on past lessons and exchanges with students, I am able to improve my teaching practices to
This portfolio contains six sections. It is my aim to give you, the reader, a better
understanding of what kind of teacher I am. The section you are currently reading is meant to
introduce the major components of the portfolio to you, while making connections between best
practices, theories and theorists that had a formative role in the development of my educational
practices.
Section two is called Teacher Candidate Background Experiences. In this section, I have
outlined educational and work-related experiences while making connections to best practices,
theories and theorists that have influenced me as an educator. Information such as school
found in this section. This section will allow you to map through my educational experiences
Section three of the portfolio is called Teacher Candidate Artifacts and Rationales. This is
where I have included material that illustrate the skills and knowledge I have obtained
throughout the years in my pursuit of becoming a certified and qualified educator. The artifacts
included will also illustrate my readiness to teach in a culturally diverse classroom and students
with varying needs. Throughout this section I have made connections that show how these
artifacts display my ability to plan, instruct, assess, modify/accommodate for learners with needs,
Section four of the portfolio is Alignment to Curriculum and Professional Standards. This
section shows how professional standards and their purposes are connected to each of the
artifacts I have included in the previous section. The standards that I will be using to support my
artifacts and their significance to me as an educator include The Interstate New Teacher
Assessment Support Consortium (InTASC Standards), the New York State Code of Ethics for
Educators, The Ontario Ethical Teacher Standards, The New York State P-12 Common Core,
New York State Learning Standards, Ontario Ministry of Education Expectations, and the
International Society for Technology Education for Teachers and Students (ISTE).
me to grow and improve my teaching abilities on an continual basis, which in turn will provide
extremely important, in thinking back on how the lesson went I can think about the things that
went well during the lesson as well as areas of the lesson that could be improved to further
Section six, the final section, is the Teacher Candidate Interview Video. This section is where
I have created and included a video of a mock job interview. I will be making a short video
where I will be answering a set of prescribed questions commonly asked in job interviews. This
is done so that I may be reflective in the learning experiences I have had in schools, both as a
teacher and learner. This will also give you the opportunity to learn more about me and my
abilities as a teacher. This will be uploaded to a website that I have designed for my future
students and parents, which will highlight some technological skills that I have learned here at
Over my years as an educator and through the pursuit of become a certified teacher, I have
had the opportunity to study many great minds and their ideas and theories about education.
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have greatly influenced my philosophy and teaching practices.
Benjamin Bloom has also greatly shaped my teaching beliefs and I keep his idea of a hierarchy
of different learning objectives when planning lessons and activities for my learners. And
Jean Piaget has greatly influenced my teaching practices since I learned about him during my
studies in Medaille. There is an abundance of great teaching practices that are included in his
approach like how students learn at different stages of childhood. Piaget defined the four stages
believed in engaging students in hands-on activities, using props and visual aids, building on
existing knowledge and challenging students to promote growth (Schroeder, 2014, p.4).
These ideologies are seen in the way that I observe and recognize cultural and
community assets, how I plan my lessons and the follow-up activities that engage the
students which leads them to make more connections with the lesson which in turn
Lev Vygotsky is another theorist who has greatly influenced my teaching practices and my
ideologies about teaching. The idea that children have a zone of proximal development in which
there is potential for a rich harvest in the middle ground between what they know how to do and
what they can’t do, with proper guidance, instruction and practice directed by an effective
educator much can be learned in the middle ground that is called the zone of proximal
development. Though Vygotsky didn’t fully develop this theory, much can still be put into
practice with scaffolded teaching, using more-skilled peers as teachers as well as monitor and
Benjamin Bloom and his six categories of knowledge and abilities have influenced my
teaching beliefs immensely. Believing that learners must have a solid grasp of the knowledge
stage as the precondition to acquiring skills and abilities, that is, the other stages that follow
(Armstrong, 2012, p.217). I have greatly benefitted from using the different levels Bloom has
theorized to guide learning objectives while unit and lesson planning. Organizing objectives
help to clarify the objectives for both the students and teachers, and I have often used the
backward approach in lesson planning. Asking the broad question: What do I want my learners
to learn? What is my end goal? With those framing questions in mind, I have planned lessons
and activities that build on each other to increase student knowledge, helping them to gain skills
Lastly, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has played a great role in my
understanding and assessment of students in the classroom. Students learn in different ways just
as teachers instruct in different ways. As an educator, I must be aware that not all of my students
will excel in a singular way of instructing or assessing them. I should aim to reach and engage
my learners whether they are “word, numbers/reasoning, picture, body, music, people, self, or
nature smart,” (Hoerr, 2000, p.188). I concede that instructing all eight intelligences at the same
time is highly unlikely but being aware of them is what I have used, and will continue to use, as I
It is my hope that your review of my portfolio will reveal to you that I am a well-rounded and
effective educator. I have been working with students in the classroom for 16 school years. My
philosophy of education has been shaped, and continues to change, with each passing year and
with every unique situation and daily experiences with students, parents and colleagues.
Throughout this portfolio you will see artifacts that I have chosen to highlight my abilities in
These artifacts are items which will provide proof of how passionate and dedicated I am to not
only be an effective teacher but one who is also continually growing and learning to be better