PORTFOLIO PART 3

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Noah Richer
Vermont Educator Licensure Portfolio
Portfolio Part 3

Theme: Candidates demonstrate their ability to thoughtfully examine, critically

analyze, and insightfully reflect upon their readiness for professional
responsibility.

Performance Criterion 9.1: Candidates are prepared for self-directed, continuous

professional learning.

As I sit writing this Portfolio in the year 2019, I am in the middle of what seems to

be an evolution in the field of teaching. In order to survive an evolution one must evolve

to the changing of the times. In the field of teaching, this evolving to the changing of the

times comes in the form of professional learning or as I like to think about it as

professional development. So far in my placement the most influential professional

development that I have had was intending the inservice days at my placement school

where I sat in on a very informative presentation about trauma informed practices and

classroom de escalation. I found this to be a riveting discussion as de escalation is

really not something that was discussed in the educational classes that I took at

Castleton. When I reflect on this seminar, I often think about the process of how difficult

it must be to successfully deescalate a classroom.

There are so many factors that come into play that if you don’t provide the

appropriate amount of focus to each of these factors things could go terribly wrong.

Before attending this seminar I would have had no idea on how to handle such a

situation. Now though, after viewing the seminar I am more informed on how to handle

the situation. Perhaps the most important thing that I learned about is when you are in
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the attempt of de escalating a situation you should be in a non defensive manner and

essentially be a soundboard for the student to voice their concerns. Having their voice

heard often causes the situation to deescalate themselves; they recognize that their

concerns are being heard and understood. Attending this training was my first exposure

to a lifetime of professional development focused on helping me be the best educator I

can be for present and future students. The evidence of my attending the Trauma

informed practices and de-escalation seminar can be found ​here​.

In their article, “Teachers’ beliefs and continuing professional” authors Siebrich

de Vries, Wim J.C.M van de Grift, and Ellen P.W.A. Jansen explore the importance of

professional development in the field of teaching. The article addresses what the

authors have listed out the three types of professional development that teachers

undertake through the course of their careers. All three types revolve around the

importance of professional development and the benefit that it can bring for the

teacher’s students. This belief can be seen in this excerpt from their article, ​“​After their

initial education, teachers’ practical knowledge expands through experience and

teaching practice, but their theoretical knowledge base requires constant and intentional

updates to reflect societal and educational developments and innovations. Updating

knowledge and skills also is conducive to other professional activities; for example, a

sufficient theoretical knowledge base is necessary for meaningful reflection to occur”

(de Vries, van de Grift, & Jansen, 215). The article to which I just addressed can be

found ​here​.
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My student teaching and past work with students has brought about the

realization that we all need to be life-long learners, because just as technology changes

our understanding of the world around us around us at an ever-changing rate, so does

our tools for educating the next generation of students. Professional development and

colleagueship are cornerstones of education being not only cutting edge, but continuing

to inspire our students to be lifelong learners.

Performance Criterion 10.1: Candidates are prepared to collaborate with

stakeholders (such as learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals,

or community members) to ensure student learning.

In all matters of life, collaboration is key for survival. As an educator if you do not

collaborate you will not survive in the field. It is an essential tool for success when it

comes to this critical occupation. In my time at my placement this semester I had the

opportunity to collaborate with a multitude of people. Unfortunately, my initial mentor

teacher had broken her leg a little more than halfway into the fourteen weeks that I was

to be with her and because of this I switched over to her counterpart World History 2

teacher. My first mentor and I aligned greatly in our views of course material and

teaching philosophies and meshed well together. Where as some teachers may have

chosen to present information to students and let them infer the meaning my mentor

had chosen to present information and scaffold the students so that they may come to

the point of the lesson together as opposed to by themselves. Like my first mentor

teacher I believe in a scaffolding approach where the student and teacher come to a
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conclusion together. When I made the switch over to my current mentor teacher I had

heard how they operate in the classroom and came to the conclusion that some of our

views may differ. So, I knew that collaboration between the two of us would be a key

component to our success in the classroom.

In their article, “Strategies for co-teaching and teacher collaborations” Elizabeth

Battaglia and Kathleen Brooks stress the importance for teachers to be on the same

page for the sake of the students. The article addresses the scenario of a science

teacher and a paraeducator who was assigned to their room. Throughout the whole of

the article both teachers collaborated together for the purpose of having a classroom

that promotes a positive environment where true learning could occur. This can be seen

in this excerpt from their article where they stress that it is “ important for teams of

teachers to privately and respectfully resolve disputes over classroom content. Both

teachers must agree to communicate pet peeves immediately so that they do not

develop into insurmountable problems. They also need to share their preferences,

strengths, and weaknesses” (Brooks & Battaglia, 81). The article to which I just

addressed can be found ​here​. In a classroom, any partnership of teachers, special

educators, paraeducators, and support staff is strengthened when there is a shared

vision of creating an environment to foster student success.

In the transition to my new mentor I was able to establish a shared vision of

creating an environment to foster student success with a special educator in one of my

new classrooms who happens to be one of the many friends that I have made in

college. From my first day in the classroom until now she has been able to provide me
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with great insight into such things as to how the students work well together, what

particular assignments they do well with, and what differing types of learning styles are

present in the classroom. The solo unit that I taught involved the Industrial Revolution

and Imperialism. I felt the need to come up with a creative assignment that would peak

their interests and carry to various learning styles. So, I came up with an assignment

that allowed for students to have the option to write either a poem or rap about a

particular aspect of the Industrial Revolution. I was curious as to how this assignment

would work with one class in particular and it happened to be the one with the special

educator assigned to it. In the end I sent this special educator an email in an attempt to

collaborate with her on the assignment to see if she had any ideas or if she would

change anything. She ended up providing me with great insights that I would not have

received if I did not collaborate with her. The evidence of this collaboration can be found

here​.

In their article, “Teachers’ beliefs and continuing professional” authors Siebrich

de Vries, Wim J.C.M van de Grift, and Ellen P.W.A. Jansen also discuss the importance

of collaboration as a practice that is both productive for the student and the teacher

themselves. This can be seen in an excerpt from their article, “Third, collaborative

activities take place within and outside the school. They lead to better teaching and

learning outcomes through their supportive, therapeutic benefits, which can reduce

stress and improve confidence…Collaboration with colleagues provides teachers with

feedback and introduces new ideas and challenges…It also helps shape the learning

environment and thus directly and indirectly (via classroom-level processes) affects
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student learning…We distinguish two kinds of collaborative activities by teachers...:

exchange activities (e.g. discussing teaching problems, exchanging instructional

materials) and professional collaboration (e.g. developing educational materials, team

teaching)” (de Vries, Jansen, & Van de Grift, 216). I have seen this productive

collaboration takes place in the weekly PLC meetings that both of my mentor teachers

as well as their corresponding English teachers attend. These meetings serve the

purpose of allowing time for teachers to collaborate with one another on such things as

lesson planning and strategies for dealing with students who might not be grasping

things in class or need help for their lives outside of school.

Moving into the educational field I will be one member of a team of people

brought together by the desire to stimulate and motivate the next generation to grow,

dream and learn. Each of us will serve a role, but together the educational process

transcends the model of a teacher being a sage on the stage into one of being a part of

a cohort of professionals focused on the individual needs of each child. We will be

helping teach them not what they should learn, but arming them with the skills to be

lifelong learners and members of a democratic society.

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References

Battaglia, E., & Brooks, K. (2019, September). “Strategies for Co-teaching and Teacher
Collaborations.” ​Science Scope,​ ​43(​ 2), 80-83.

De Vries, S., Jansen, E. P., & Van de Grift, W. J. (n.d.). Teachers’ beliefs and
continuing professional development. ​Journal of Educational Administration,​ ​51​(2),
213-231. doi:10.1108/09578231311304715