Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction
In this section I will talk about my thoughts on the entire portfolio assignment. I will

reflect on the artifacts that I included and how they relate to theorist, professional and curriculum

standards. This portfolio project was the largest assignment I have ever done. I had to reflect and

connect throughout the project. The professional and curriculum standards are also represented

throughout this project. I included a standards chart that shows in detail all the standards that I

used for each artifact. This assignment was a great way to showcase my time at Medaille

College. I really enjoyed looking back at all my work that I have completed. I can really see how

much I have grown since the first semester until now. Medaille College have definitely prepared

me for the classroom. I observed so many different strategies from teacher that I saw during field

work and that have come in to speak with us. This graduate program was made just for students

like me. I am not a good test taker and hands on experience and visually is how I learn best.

Since I wasn’t stressed out about how I will do on a test, I actually enjoyed doing the modules,

discussion post and lesson plans. The discussion boards help me see other perspectives of a

subject that maybe I wouldn’t have thought of. I really love the idea of being in a cohort, we

supported each other during this process and kept each other uplifted. I never felt alone, I could

always reach out to a classmate for understanding and even an instructor. The instructors always

respond right away and they are available to meet with me. Coming from Buffalo State College

where many instructors don’t know who you are. It helps when you have the support of the

education department to answer any concerns. I am pleased with my time at Medaille and I feel

that I have learned so much and is ready to enter the field of education.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

 This portfolio is divided up into five sections. The first section is the introduction, it sets

the tone for what to expect for the entire project. When writing the introduction I was thinking

about what I wanted to talk about in each section. A project of this magnitude requires planning,

I took some time to think about the artifacts that I would want to include and how they would

showcase what I have learned during my studies. I decided on my math and social studies lesson

plans. The math lesson plan focused on addition and money for second graders, this is a skill that

most children struggle with but it is so important to master. I personally struggle with math and

thought that I would struggle when it came to creating this lesson plan. I actually really enjoyed

the planning process and it wasn’t as hard as I thought. This lesson was a part of a learning

segment that was done with two other classmates. I’m usually not a fan of working in groups

especially on a lesson plan. People have their own style of teaching and what they want to

accomplish with the lesson, but I really enjoyed the working with the group I was with. We

worked very well together and I felt what we wanted to convey in the lessons was transmitted.

The Social Studies lesson plan was on Women in History, I downloaded a great women in

history until on teacher pay teacher and modified and used some of the handouts. A portion of

this lesson is going to be recorded to reflect on in class. I get very nervous when I know I’m on

camera, so this part of the project wasn’t my favorite. I recorded a small part of the lesson

approximately five minutes, explaining the research aspect of the lesson. Once I watched the

lesson I realized what I could have done better. Its hard to watch myself sometimes but I am glad

that I did, I seen many things that I can improve on. In these lesson plans the curriculum

standards are visibly on them, as far as the professional standards those be showcased throughout

any assignment that I complete at Medaille. As a teacher candidate the Medaille claims and the
CAEP Standards is something that I constantly refer to when planning. The Medaille claims

states: Claim 1: Medaille College graduates know the subject matter in their certification area(s)

Claim 2: Medaille College graduates meet the needs of diverse learners through

effective pedagogy and best teaching practices. Claim 3: Medaille College graduates

are caring educators. These claims is the professional is what an employer can expect from a

Medaille student. It is a criteria that each student should reach before graduation. Some other

artifacts I included were professional development certificate that was awarded to me for

completing a day of different workshops on education. My favorite workshop was the one on

trauma in children. The teacher gave great examples, shared her experiences of trauma with the

class and also gave great resources to use with the students. I included some assessments literacy

and math, both showed how to assess a student on each subject and come up with a plan to help

them master a skill that they may have struggled with. After completing the assessment on the

student I would state the strengths and weaknesses and then come up with a plan to reassess the

student. I did enjoy completing these assessments, I had the chance to create a lesson that I

would complete with the student to work on the weaknesses stated in the assessment. I am a

visual learner so when thinking of what to create I came up with some interactive activities to

engage the student. I completed a family questionnaire using survey monkey that I included as

one of my artifacts. I created questions about student teacher relationship and if the felt that their

children had a good relationship with the teacher. I then posted the questionnaire link on my

Facebook page and asked parents to answer it. Most responses were positive, only a few was not

happy with the relationships between their child and the teacher. I included some information

about the type of data that I was collecting. I showcased my theorist pamphlet on Montessori

and Freire. Both made powerful contributions to the field of education.

Reediness to Become a Teacher

I have worked in the education field for many years. Now that I’m coming to the end of

my journey at Medaille college I was an even better understanding of the education system. I

have learned so much about the different students I will have in my classroom and how to

accommodate those needs. In my past experiences working in the classroom as an assistant, I

wouldn’t see a whole lot of accommodations. Teacher taught the students basically the same

way. I am pleased to see how far we have come in education, where students are more than just

grades and teachers realize how important building that relationship with those students can be.

Teachers are now adapting the growth mindset approach, where we are grading students on their

ability to try and not failing them. Simply giving them the grade of not yet and assess where to

go with the student from there. There are so many learning styles and teachers have to

accommodate for each of those styles. Yes it can be a lot of work, but I feel I had good

preparation with this program. The lesson plan format that we used at Medaille touched on

many different indicators and required us to list all the accommodations that we would need to

use for the students that would need them. At first I thought I have never seen a lesson plan so

long before, but I am glad for them now especially after seeing the EdTPA. My lesson plans

show everything that you would need to teach a lesson. I included the type of assessments I

wanted to use and the modifications that would be needed for my students that needed

accommodations. Anyone that comes into the classroom would be able to pick up my lesson plan

and be able to understand what they needed to do to teach that lesson. I am currently a second

grade summer camo teacher. The subject areas that we are expected to teach are ELA, Math and

Reading. I was nervous about how I would do in my first experience as a classroom teacher. I
can say that I am in my element. I love having my own classroom, I love the planning and

teaching. Attending Medaille gave me the confidence to run my own classroom. I use the things

I’ve learned in the classroom to differentiate for my students. I like the idea of cooperative

learning and I do use that approach in the groups I out my students in. the students with the

higher skills in a certain subject area will help the students that may not have mastered that

concept as of yet. It has been successful so far, students working on concepts together with a

peer seems to help them understand more than me trying to teach it in a lecture style. Classroom

management is a big thing. I am constantly working on new ways to keep my students engaged. I

am currently taking a technology in education course which is such a interesting class. This class

has pushed me to be creative with technology. Technology is a great tool to use in the classroom

and in this day and age it is important to make sure our students are able to keep up. The major

assignments for this class was to complete a Smart notebook presentation and a Weebly teacher

website. The Smart notebook presentation was very in depth author study with all the functions

that needed to be included in the project. The author I chose to do the presentation on was Ezra

Jack Keats, the reason I chose him was because his book are multi-cultural. Students need to see

people that look like them. In Ezra’s books the characters are similar to the kids he grew up with

in his neighborhood. The presentation was broken up into three subject a which were ELA,

Math, and Science. There needed to be standards for each lesson and interactive activities for the

students to complete. I included a read aloud of three of Ezra’s books so the students can

reference it during the activities. It was fun to create and interact with I can’t believe that I was

able to create something of this magnitude. I’m a medium tech savvy person, but not I feel that

i’m rising to high tech savvy person. The Weebly website is a website that I can use to showcase

who I am as a teacher. This website has many things that I have completed embedded into the
site. I am currently putting the finishing touches on the website and can’t want to show the

finished product.

When it comes to me finding a job after Medaille I feel that I would be well prepared.

Any administrator that I would interview with I would take all that I have learned in this

program. I am confident that I would be the type of educator that would build trust with my

students and families. I would be aware of all the different cultures that I have in my classroom

and incorporate that into the curriculum. My classroom would be a safe place, where the students

would help build a classroom community.

Conclusion

As this assignment comes to a close I reflect on how much I’ve learned , how I have

grown as a teacher. I have so much to contribute to the classroom, and the students I will

encounter. Students are the future and we as educators have a huge responsibility to nurture these

minds on the path that they choose. The classroom is just the start, it takes a village to raise a

child that means everyone should do their part. The teachers need to be in sync with the families

to make sure that the student is supported on both ends. The teachers leave their assumptions and

bias at the door and work hard for that student as they would for the rest of the class. I can’t wait

for the opportunity to make my contribution to the field of education and put all that I have

learned to use in the classroom.