Section One:

Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Introduction to the Portfolio Project

This projects main goal is to outline strong practices and beliefs that I implement and
study as an educator. This project will demonstrate what I believe are best teaching practices, and
will help me evolve, grow and remain dedicated to improving my teaching abilities. There is no
single way in which children are learn, therefore my project will span many different aspects of
what it takes to be a well-rounded educator. This project will include research from many
educational theorists, my personal experience in the classroom and within education and useful
artifacts from different educational sources, among other things.

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Mebratu of Medaille College for guiding me throughout this
project as well as my many professors and classmates who have provided me with the
knowledge and expertise required from colleagues to better my craft.

The focus of my project is to discuss best teaching practices through years of effective
research and theorists in education, as well as outline my own strengths and beliefs as an
educator. As educators, it is important to gather as much information and knowledge on child
development and the evolution of learning. With this background knowledge, not only will we
strengthen our own teaching practices, but we will improve the learning experience for each and
every student. In 2003, Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa was quoted as
saying Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

(Mandela, 2003). This has always been one of the most powerful quotes to me, as an educator.
We live in a very different time then in the beginning of education. With so many changes in
society, culture and day to day life, our world has become a very intimidating place, especially
for the uneducated. The result has been war, poverty, crashing economies and increased social
gaps. With education however, this could all change. Striving to better ourselves and challenges
ourselves through education rather than conflict, like Nelson Mandela, I believe many problems
in the world today could be expunged.
The target audience for this project is anyone who feels strongly about education and feels as
though they can make a difference. The first step in improving or strengthening something is
useful discussion. This project will outline my core beliefs as well as qualified experts in the
field, and will hopefully be a small step in improving the core of education going forward.

Portfolio Development

One of the earliest tools for assessment that Ive become a supporter of in the classroom
is the use of the success criteria. A success criterion is very similar to a rubric; however it is a
brief checklist of tasks students know that they need to complete within an assignment. A student
is given the success criteria prior to starting, can check the criteria throughout, and will always
double check the success criteria prior to handing the assessment in. If they themselves can
recognize theyve completed all the tasks within the list, a successful attempt at the assessment is
likely. This is an artifact that I will include frequently within my portfolio. Im an advocate for
the creation of success criteria for a few different reasons. First, it can be created with the class,

so students are aware of the expectations for any given assessment because theyve created them
with you. This provides students with the opportunity to become engaged in the planning process
which can be a big motivator in facilitating success. A second reason Im a supporter of the
success criteria artifact is because through group discussion, it can be worded at grade level and
the teacher can make sure the success criteria checklist matches up with the curriculum. Often
times Ive found that rubrics can be wordy and confusing to students, and they have a difficult
time succeeding in an assessment because theyre unsure of the expectations. Wording them at
appropriate grade level and cross referencing this with the curriculum is a way to further
understanding of whats expected, thereby allowing students to be more accountable.
Instruction is another aspect of teaching that can often be overlooked due to lack of time
or preparation by the teacher. The instructional phase, to me, is the most important. Students
often make the most meaningful connections in this phase, as well as through group discussion.
This goes into accordance with Piaget and constructivism, where students are connecting and
building through schema. Varied instruction is a valuable asset to bring to any classroom. A
teacher that can get one message across in multiple ways, to me, is a strong teacher. The
necessity of any teacher is to be able to reach as many students as possible.

Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

The first theorist that I strongly agree with in the field of education is Jean Piaget. Piaget
was a developmental psychologist who focused on childrens cognitive development. I find this
to be very crucial in education because the study of how brains develop and what information

children can process and breakdown is very important to educators. This form of learning
generally associated with Piaget was coined constructivism. With this information, we can give
tasks or assessments that are age or development level appropriate, rather than ask a child to do a
task without background information or ask them to complete something that developmentally,
theyre incapable of doing.

The second theorist I strongly agree with in the field of education is Jerome Bruner.
Bruner focused mainly on the aspect of childrens cognitive development but more specifically,
Im a strong supporter of Bruners theory of scaffolding in child development. When Bruner
discusses scaffolding, its a way of explaining how children put information together and how
they build off of previous knowledge. This is especially important because as were all aware,
following a curriculum and building off of it can be a daunting task. Having this knowledge of
how students store and development information based off experience and prior knowledge is
invaluable to an educator. This will help teachers develop plans going forward, provide reasons
for why things didnt work and can be used as a building block for re-teaching or struggling
students.

Another theorist I feel strongly about is Paolo Freire. Ive always found Freire interesting
because hes looked at an aspect of education that many have not; the oppressed. This is
interesting because associating socio-economic status and education is something that many
people avoid, and Freire was one of the most prominent and educated voices very early in the
process of studying the correlation. His most prominent piece, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
(Freire, 1970) was a crucial piece to the movement of social justice within the education system.

As far back as the Aztecs education was attributed to royalty and nobility. Freire himself recalls
being a child and trying to learn while starved. He claims this alone had a serious effect on how
he learned and how his brain and body could function throughout the day. This theory in
education is extremely important to me because even in todays society, there are extreme
differences in some areas in socioeconomic status. Although in many cases, meal plans have
been put in place, it is often not enough. Furthermore, nutrition is just a small aspect of the trials
or difficulties of the oppressed. This paper will examine what changes can be made and how we
can further fight the socioeconomic gap in education.

Conclusion

This section is important in beginning to think of the history of education and what
direction its headed. As a young educator, I feel strongly about doing my part in shaping where
our children go from here. With the implementation of more and more technology into our
classrooms, its important that North America stays ahead of the curve in not only how we teach
our students, but in what we teach them. This project intends to look at whats worked in the
past, what hasnt worked and what we may be able to do next.