Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences

Introduction

Section two of my portfolio will give me an opportunity to share my educational and work

experiences that have provided me with the strong skill set and frame work that my teaching

education and career will grow from. I will discuss my Bachelor of Arts Undergraduate degree,

along with my education and certifications that allowed for a fulfilling and exciting journey as a

young female entrepreneur in the fitness, nutrition and wellness industry. Section two will also

encompass my observational volunteering experience in the classroom and the reflections I

obtained from receiving such an enriching and informative experience. My philosophy of

education will be included to showcase how I have been able to apply the knowledge of various

theories and theorists throughout my MSED program and formulate my own philosophy of

education. Lastly, an updated resume highlighting my education and work experiences,

accomplishments and certifications, and all the detailed points necessary to display my

preparedness to become an excellent teaching candidate.

As I mentioned in section one my journey that led me to becoming a teacher was not a

straightforward simple path. Even though I aspired to becoming an educator my entire life and

applied to teacher’s college upon graduating university, I decided to live out many chapters

before beginning this one now. Those chapters included many roads less travelled with lots of

twists and turns, risks and achievements, mountains to climb, adversities I conquered, and

endless adventures throughout the world providing me with an incredible amount of perspective,

appreciation, passion, patience, resiliency, drive, determination, tolerance, open-mindedness,

compassion and empathy. I feel beyond fortunate and privileged to be able to use the personal

and professional experiences prior to teacher’s college and apply these profound lessons and

perspectives I have gained towards becoming a thoughtful and thought-provoking teacher.

Teacher Candidate Educational Background

Reflecting throughout the years of my elementary and high school education and the

experiences that had the greatest impact on my desire to become an educator would mostly stem

from being a student athlete. I began playing basketball competitively from a very young age

and my commitment towards becoming the best basketball player I could be became the

foundation of the discipline, focus, work ethic, persistence, and passion that I continue to exhibit

today. Being the captain of my basketball team throughout my entire elementary and high

school years allowed me the opportunity to learn how to be a leader, lead by example, and the

earn the respect and trust of every member of the team. I took it upon myself to help other

members of the team and take great pride in being a person who is warm and approachable

enough that people have felt comfortable coming to me with questions, concerns and/or simply

needing a confidant for issues related to on and off the basketball court.

I feel fortunate to have had the same basketball coach throughout my elementary and

high school years. Being coached by the same person for nine years allowed for a unique and

strong bond, and the valuable opportunity to learn from one of the greatest coaches. My coach

held very high expectations and standards, and even more so for myself. I found great

motivation and comfort in the fact that I could tell how much more he expected out of me than

other members of the team and that’s because unlike many of the other team members basketball

was my entire world outside of my studies and I played competitively outside of school as

well. I knew it was because he saw potential in me, I responded well to being challenged, and

that he and I shared the same burning passion for the sport. The beautiful lesson I learned from

my coach is that even though his standards were high, and it was always communicated very

clearly what was expected of us, he motivated us through encouragement and positive
reinforcement. He taught me that you can create an environment that is controlled and

disciplined while also having each person feel cared for, inspired, and celebrated for their own

talents and abilities. My coach displayed a very controlled and calm demeanor, I never saw him

rattled or lose his cool. That energy transcends into your athletes and maintains a unified team of

belonging even during the most difficult of games. All my coach ever wanted was for each

person to play their best, give it their all, and leave everything they had on the court regardless of

the score or how one person’s best may compare to others. This is why my coach was able to

always get the best out of me and why he inspired me to want to have the same positive life-

lasting impact on students and athletes.

The second experience that fed my desire for wanting to become an educator was

unfortunately a negative experience. However, I have found through my life that the negative

experiences seem to have far greater lessons that can be learned and for that reason I should be

grateful my grade nine mathematics experience. Up until grade nine I had been an A+ student in

all subjects including math, but within my first semester I was failing math. My teacher had a

very different demeanor and approach to instruction from what I had known up until this

point. She taught in a traditional textbook format and did not use any other variety of

instruction. So, if you’re a student that could learn through this method it wasn’t a problem,

however I am anything but a textbook type of learner. I’m a student who excels through inquiry

and discovery instruction where learning is interactive and hands on, and the information is

delivered through guided-instruction.

My grade nine math experience was the first time in my life that anyone had made me

feel stupid and it changed the story in my head as to how I perceived my own self. From that

point on I couldn’t do math and school didn’t come as easy to me as it had before. What caused
this experience to affect me on such a deep level was also the fact that I was terrified of the

teacher due to her cold, unapproachable, unwillingness to want to help, and cruel delivery of

communication.

The beautiful silver lining is that this experience made me want to become an educator. I

wanted to make learning engaging, interesting, interactive, and motivating. I want to be able to

help each student discover their own strengths and abilities and make them want to learn. I

experienced an ineffective method of teaching and how detrimental it can be for a student when

they don’t feel like someone believes in them, like they belong, or feel safe. I learned firsthand

that creating a safe and welcoming environment for your students and being a teacher that makes

students feel comfortable asking for help are critical factors in a student’s success. As well as

incorporating a variety of instructional methods to ensure each student is receiving their

education in a way that allows for them to reach their full potential.

Work Experiences

Being able to capture and recount the endless experiences and transforming opportunities I’ve

received through my journey in the fitness, nutrition and wellness industry is a challenging

task. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had mentors who have accomplished and achieved

success that is beyond most people's wildest dreams such as business owners of fortune 500

businesses. Each of these mentors/ business pioneers had one thing in common- overcoming

great struggle and preserving through the most difficult of situations. I learned how to be a

young female entrepreneur in New York City and discovered qualities within myself that I never

knew existed. Every day I was challenged in a new way and every day I allowed my visionary

skills, passion and creativity to take over. I consistently pushed myself outside of my comfort

zone which led me to many exciting endeavors such as being able to work with an autistic
academy. I was allowed the opportunity to have their students test my protein bars which were

being formulated to be conducive with the strict nutritional guidelines that many children with

autism follow, as well to satisfy their sweet tooth and taste buds. Working with children with

autism has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, and I wanted to find a way to

get involved in the autistic community and make a positive difference. Being a health supportive

chef provided me the knowledge and skills to be able to create a protein bar that would allow me

to do just that.

One of my most beneficial work experiences that will directly correlate to the classroom

will be working with many clients to help them achieve their fitness and wellness goals. There

are many aspects to being a personal trainer, nutritional consultant and wellness coach that

directly relate to teaching. The first being that programming and planning for a client

considering their personal needs and abilities is critical for the client’s success. I need to be

creative in my programming, following proper protocols to progress a client’s abilities, and find

the optimum level where you’re challenging someone to their peak ability while ensuring they

don’t feel too frustrated and give up. Being able to effectively communicate and explain

instructions and expectations, while continually monitoring and evaluating a client's progress and

success are all critical pieces of the puzzle. I have learned how to gain the respect and trust as

the expert and coach who is able to ignite a fire within someone while holding them accountable

and having high expectations.

I’ve worked with clients with brain injuries, autism, and extreme physical in

capabilities. Working with such a diverse clientele over the years has taught me to be extremely

flexible and adaptable, resourceful, compassionate and empathetic, and has provided me with a
diverse foundation of knowledge of many different kinds of mental and physical disorders and

conditions and how they affect people in their everyday lives.

Volunteer Related Experiences

My two most impactful volunteer experiences have been volunteering in my aunt’s

kindergarten classroom for a year during university and volunteering for three months at an

orphanage in Africa after graduating from the University of Western Ontario.

Throughout my life I’ve been told countless times how people have felt that I need to be

a teacher, especially with the younger grades. I’m blessed to have an aunt who is the most

amazing kindergarten teacher and allowed me the opportunity to volunteer for a year in her

classroom simply because she knew I wanted to become a teacher and I wanted first hand

exposure to an actual classroom environment. Being able to witness my aunt lead her classroom,

guide and interact with the students are memories that are imprinted inside me forever. Her

gentle, calm, kind, nurturing spirit was adored by the children and their families. She made

every student who ever entered her classroom feel special and beautiful in their own unique way

and placed just as much emphasis on guiding the students to making good choices and being

kind people as she did her brilliant instructional methods. My aunt taught me how to scaffold

instruction and encourage children through mistakes helping them achieve progress and further

independence. My aunt will always be the ideal teacher that I’ll be trying to emulate.

Volunteering at an orphanage in Africa was a dream I developed in childhood stemming

from my desires to wanting to help those who were less fortunate. I’m proud that I organized,

planned and traveled to the orphanage on my own and was able to contribute to the orphanage in

such a profound way throughout my stay. The children ranged from birth to five years old and I

spent majority of my time with the older children and a little girl named Katy who had cerebral
palsy. The older children wanted to learn English and practice writing and drawing much like

any other five-year-old child.

Even though I knew very little about cerebral palsy and had never worked with someone

who had it, I requested to be trained to learn how to care for Katy. She was their only child with

special needs and I was worried she was not receiving the additional support she needed for her

to improve with her condition that was extremely debilitating for her. The orphanage began to

build a sensory room where I worked with Katy every day. Special needs workers were hired to

provide the care Katy needed and eventually the orphanage welcomed many more special needs

children requiring a home. My experience at the orphanage opened my eyes to an intense

passion I have for each child being able to receive the resources and support necessary, so they

can reach their full potential and lead their best life.

That experience also taught me that without children having access to the basic needs

such as shelter, food, clothes, safety, and love, it is impossible to expect them to be able to focus,

learn and develop their minds. This is important to keep in mind as I enter the classroom and

may encounter students who don’t have these basic needs and are struggling to learn and perform

to the best of their abilities in school.

School Observations and Classroom Application

Enhancing Student Engagement

 I observed that the ability to use time efficiently was a key factor in classroom

productivity, momentum, and student engagement. When I refer to using time efficiently I’m

referring to time not being wasted on tasks and items that deviate a student’s time and attention

away from instruction and/or completing tasks. Using the Random Name Generator App to

select students to answer questions, form groups, assign roles, or select students for various

duties throughout the day can save time and stress. It allows for maintained momentum, student

engagement and eliminates discussions not related to the lesson being taught. Doug Lemov

dedicated technique 22 to making “cold calls” in the classroom to maintain student engagement

and keep them on their toes. When students are aware that you regularly practice cold calls and

rely on a method of randomly selecting students to answer questions and participate, students are

more likely to stay focused on the lesson and critically think about the topic on hand. (Webster,

2018, technique #22)

Specific Feedback

Providing specific feedback is critical in student’s learning because even though

something may be obvious to you as the teacher, chances are it is not obvious to the

student. When students understand what is expected of them, they can do just that.

I learned through classroom observations that providing students with very specific, relevant

feedback it encouraged the student to use higher order thinking skills through developing the

ability to reflect, adjust and self-evaluate. The teachers I observed helped me understand that

even if the student is doing a good job, telling them they’ve done a good job will not help the

student to continue to achieve success. The student needs to understand exactly what they are

doing that is good, so they can continue to do it. As well the student needs to understand exactly

what they need to do to improve.

Creating independent learners

The teacher began every lesson clearly communicating the lesson objectives and agenda,

so the students would know what to expect and what was expected of them. Students seem less

anxious and more relaxed when they are informed as to what the agenda is, and what they will be

doing that day, and throughout each lesson. If I know what is going to take place, and I can

check items off the agenda list it helps for me to maintain focus and gives me a goal. When I

know what the objectives are and what is expected of me, I know what is necessary for me to do

well. It was helpful to watch the teacher not only have the objectives and agenda written on the

board before class began, but I could also tell how much the students appreciated when the

teacher discussed what they were going to accomplish that day, and what was expected of the

students – there felt to be a sense of calmness and control at the same time.

Lev Vygotsky teaches gradual release of responsibility so that students can cultivate their

own independence and sense of accountability. (HQ, P., 2018, para.6) I believe through

classroom practices that allow students to take control over their own learning experience it gives

children the opportunity to grow. Continual growth can be achieved through self-discovery and

reflection. Therefore, once a teacher places trust in their students, encouraging them to become

more independent within even the smallest of tasks throughout the day and to have further

responsibility they will develop higher order thinking skills in areas of learning.

Boundaries

In my observations I’ve learned that students respond very well to boundaries and limits,

and for the most part students will work within them if you have clearly and effectively

communicated what is expected of them. I had a very interesting lesson in setting healthy and

clear boundaries while observing in a suburban affluent grade two classroom. One of the special
needs students is very affectionate and wants to hug the teacher all the time. In fact, she would

hang onto the teacher and hug her the entire day if the teacher would allow the student to do so.

The teacher had to establish a five second rule, so that the student was only allowed to hug for

five seconds and then she had to let go and get back on task. The teacher also would not allow

an interruption of instruction for the student to hug her. I would not have known how to

appropriately and professionally handle this situation had I been put in it without having

observed this teacher in this specific situation. As an observer, I feel the teacher has done an

excellent job at establishing a balance of warmth and empathy towards the students’ needs and

difficulties but also displayed boundaries and professionalism.

Instructional Methods

In one of the grade six classrooms I observed in a suburban area, I observed the teacher

practice guided instruction to engage the students in conversations, to listen to their ideas,

encourage them to ask questions, guide them towards deeper understanding and support them in

making connections with knowledge concepts. The teacher asked thought-provoking questions,

allowed students enough wait time to answer questions, and when necessary provided hints and

probed students to guide them towards the correct response. It was noticeable how the focus

questions were previously planned and well thought out prior to the lesson because the teacher

would continually bring the conversation back to the main objective behind the questions and

was prepared with follow up questions to maintain students’ attention and continue the

momentum. The teacher introduced me to what she referred to as a ‘Q Chart’ as a resource to

utilize in the future for assistance in developing higher order thinking questions that are in line

with Bloom’s Taxomony. (Question-Inquiry Model, 2018, p.1)

 Many of my classroom observations validated the importance of inquiry instruction and

creating opportunities for students to be able to learn through discovery and doing. While at

Buffalo Prep, a program that offers an opportunity for economically disadvantaged and

underrepresented students to succeed, the students participated in many investigative science

activities. By promoting an environment that nurtured curiosity, creativity, peer interaction, and

hands on opportunities for learning the students thrived and looked forward to coming to school

voluntarily on Saturday mornings. John Dewey believed students learn best through experiential

learning which involves students being active participants in their learning and gaining

knowledge through personal experiences. John Dewey’s pragmatism approach of learning

through doing was apparent in all my classroom observations, most notably my grade six

classroom that was largely taught using technology to enhance student engagement and increase

student participation. (Williams, 2017, p.4, para.1) By using Smartboard technology students

can visually and kinetically learn along with the teacher’s guided instruction.

Lesson Planning

It was obvious which teachers’ lessons were thoughtfully constructed and planned well in

advance because the classrooms were in a constant state of focus, organization, purpose, and

cohesiveness. The teacher’s objectives were clearly stated and remained the constant focus

throughout the lesson. The lessons would follow a clear order from anticipatory set, instruction,

activity, collaboration, evaluation and reflection. And it was communicated to myself how

critical it is to understand and utilize Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives because it

will be the framework that all my lesson planning will be built upon. (Center for teaching

excellence, 2015, para.1)

 I also learned that anticipatory sets are important to gain the interest and curiosity of

students and should act as a means of drawing upon their prior knowledge and experiences. In

addition, anticipatory sets also act as an excellent tool to use to informally evaluate student’s

prior knowledge and possible misconceptions. By taking time to put yourselves into the

student’s shoes and develop a sense of ideas, questions, and concerns they may have about a

certain topic will help create insightful and focused questions.

Philosophy of Education

Introduction
My philosophy for education stems from a foundation based on problem solving,

engagement, innovation, dialogue, collaboration, critical thinking, creative expression, reflection

and personalized learning. My inspiration has come from the new age phenomenon of the maker

pedagogy, which was born out of the Makers Movement that was begun by Dale Dougherty; Lev

Vygotsky’s theory of the “Zone of Proximal Development”; Paulo Freire who believed learning

stems from dialogue and reflection, and that the goal of education should be to create optimal

critical thinking skills; as well as Edward Thorndyke’s Law of Effect approach to classroom

management.

The Makers Movement is a grass roots drive that is about taking the DIY (do it yourself)

phenomenon and bringing that culture of fixing, improving and creating into the schools and

making it an integral part of the students’ education. Dale Dougherty began this movement that

is now being thought of as the maker pedagogy because it provides an educational experience

that inspires students become innovative, problem solving creative experts who make things -

rather than students constantly having to sit still, consume information and conform to the

rigidness that learning tends to be thought of in a traditional classroom.

The Curriculum and Learning (20+20=40pts)

The curriculum is delivered in small portions teaching one concept in the mornings,

leaving the afternoons for working on larger projects. These larger projects, often based out of

the makerspace ideology, will incorporate and integrate across subject areas and require critical

thinking, problem solving, innovation, creativity, leadership, collaboration and risk-taking.

Students will work collaboratively in groups, as well as independently, while they brainstorm,

create and analyze. The idea is that the projects will be thoughtfully selected keeping the

personal interests, cultural backgrounds, and level of knowledge. I believe when students are

passionate about what they are doing it promotes heightened engagement that will lead to greater

motivation and an actual desire to learn. This will be the key to helping students reach their full

potential. Within the projects the students will need to practice and implement skills previously

taught along with the new skill just learned. For example, if the goal is for students to write a

book review they will create a 3-D book cover to go along with it. Or use toothpicks and

marshmallows to create geometric shapes. Teach the students coding so they can learn how to

create their own educational video game to demonstrate how and why a volcano erupts.

These projects may take one afternoon or span across weeks to accomplish depending on

the varying complexity, layers and difficulty. I believe students are most productive, invested

and engaged when they have one or two to focus on and master instead of many different smaller

focuses that are segmented and broken up throughout the course of one day. By the day being

split into two halves the students will have the freedom to immerse themselves in what they are

doing and feed all their energy, focus, creativity, imagination, and critical thinking into that one

task. Having students work hands on with the tools and resources that best suit the student’s

strengths will allow their imaginations to soar beyond what they believed they were capable of.
When you accomplish something that is what you had once believed to be far passed your

capabilities, this is when I believe students start to truly thrive.

The delivery of the curriculum will be taught in smaller portions instead of larger units or

chapters. This way the information will be revisited many times throughout the year which

creates long lasting meaningful learning. Teaching the subjects in smaller sections over longer

period of time allows for these new skills to be incorporated into and practiced throughout the

corresponding larger project being worked on in the afternoon. This allows for practical

application, real world connections and mastery of one skill before overwhelming students with

the entire chapter and expecting them to memorize the information, only to soon be forgotten.

The idea is that these smaller ideas will be revisited throughout the year, each time going deeper

and getting more complex into these learning concepts. This approach will be the focus in the

mornings using instruction, textbooks, SMARTboard technology, manipulatives, with most of

the time being spent on what is traditionally thought of as “homework”. Students will work

collaboratively and independently on their homework while the teacher is able to guide and

mentor the students placing great emphasis on the power of dialogue. Through dialogue the

teacher can ask higher order thinking questions to challenge the students and help the students

develop deeper understanding, more meaningful connections and further analysis.

I believe the zone of proximal development is when students learn best. This is finding

the furthest distance the adult can maintain while supporting the student to solve a problem

independently. In my classroom I will model to the students how to solve a problem and build

their independence with the task through practice and scaffolding the new skills. With using

Lev Vygotsky’s gradual release of responsibility, my vision is to enable students to cultivate

their own independence and sense of accountability. Allowing the students to become more
independent and have further responsibility will develop higher order thinking skills in all areas

of learning.

The Learner (20 pts)

In the maker pedagogy the student takes accountability and ownership over their own

learning experience. The learner must persevere when tasks are difficult and new skills do not

come easy. They must take the time to master new foundational skills to design and create what

they are able to imagine. The learner must become resilient in a problem-solving focused

learning classroom, because the students will fail many times and make many mistakes. I want

the students to learn how to thrive during obstacles and not get discouraged when they make a

mistake. Because from mistakes come our most important lessons. From our most important

lessons comes our most beautiful masterpieces. The learner will become a risk-taker and

develop a deep sense of appreciation for the process of creation and less attachment to the final

product.

Students will be truly celebrated for being authentic and thinking outside of the box.

Every child is an innovator, they just need to be given the freedom, tools and motivation to

become one. Students will be able to construct their learning from their hands-on experiences. I

believe students should always be pushed slightly beyond what they are capable of in order to

reach their full potential. Otherwise students will lose interest and ambition due to boredom and

lack of vision. If you don’t use it, you lose it and imagination is something that a person should

never lose because it is the imagination of the children today that our world be created upon

tomorrow. And a great imagination is just like any other skill, it needs to be practiced

consistently over time to be strengthened.

 The learner will spend a lot of their time collaborating and sharing with other students to

encourage and support brainstorming, analytical thinking, conflict resolution skills, and strong

communication skills. Lev Vygotsky highly encourages and supports social interaction between

students. The students learn to function first on a social level, then later an individual level. So,

it is important to help facilitate interpersonal growth between students and the teacher, and

students and each other. Placing such an emphasis on dialogue in the classroom will help the

students use speech as a tool to communicate their thoughts, idea, emotions and needs – which

will lead to developing higher order thinking skills.

Assessment (20pts)

The assessments will be formed through observation of the student’s creativity and

innovation, analytical skills demonstrated, ability to self-reflect, improvements implemented,

interaction and collaboration with fellow students, leadership skills demonstrated, problem

solving, and critical thinking skills applied. I will observe how the students persevere and

respond to adversity, difficulties and making mistakes.

Secondly, I will assess the students through the continual open dialogue I will be having

with the students in open class discussions, as well as independently. Through dialogue with the

students I will understand how and why they chose to produce their project the way they did. I

will ask questions such as: What would have happened if you done this instead of that? How do

you know that? Can you predict what may happen if? Knowing what you know now, how may

you approach this project differently next time?

Thirdly, I will use the one-point rubric system. single-point rubric outlines the standards a

student must meet to complete the assignment; however, it leaves the categories outlining
success or shortcoming open-ended. The ideology behind the single-point rubric inherently

moves classroom grading away from quantifying and streamlining student work, shifting student

and teacher focus in the direction of celebrating creativity and intellectual risk-taking. It is

known to have six great advantages which are:

1. 1. It gives space to reflect on both strengths and weaknesses in student work.

2. It doesn’t place boundaries on student performance.

3. It works against students’ tendency to rank themselves and to compare

themselves to or compete with one another.

4. It helps take student attention off the grade.

5. It creates more flexibility without sacrificing clarity.

6. It’s simple!

Classroom Management (20pts)

Due to the non-traditional learning structure the topic of classroom management will

largely be front-loaded in the beginning of the school year to communicate the expectations and

standards of the students, especially while working on their large projects in the afternoon. I

foresee that students not being able to listen and pay attention, acting out in class because they

are bored or disengaged, and difficulty sitting still will be less frequent issues needing to be dealt

with than seen in traditional classrooms. Instead I feel the issues that will arise far more

frequently needing to be addressed will be in area of conflict resolution. Since the format of my

curriculum requires a lot of hands-on practical application and allows for a lot of collaboration,

sharing and group work I feel the need for classroom management will need to be hyper focused

on conflict resolution and working well with others.

 Classroom time will need to be spent learning how to disagree with someone in a

respectful manner, how to demonstrate my own understanding when its not my turn, how can I

step into a leadership role when I’m not the leader, and how to give and receive constructive

feedback.

I strongly believe and practice in Edward Thorndike’s Law of Effect which states that by

providing the students with positive reinforcement and rewarding their actions with something

pleasant and enjoyable, the behavior being rewarded will continue and strengthen over time.

Once these established behaviors are performed consistently enough, they will form into habits

for the students. Edward Thorndike believes that if our actions our followed by dissatisfaction

then we will feel discouraged to want to repeat this behavior again. If the teacher remains

consistent with providing negative consequences to a student’s negative actions, according to

Thorndike’s Law of Effect, the behavior will weaken and diminish over time.

The Teacher (20 pts)

The teacher’s role and responsibility are to guide and mentor the students on their

academic journey helping the student bring their full potential to the surface. Through dialogue,

critical thinking questions, and probing the students will acquire their own voice, ideas, and

opinions. Through the teachers continual modelling of behavior, scaffolding of skills, release

responsibility, positive reinforcement, and encouragement of independence the students will

learn the tools to entirely optimize their strengths and uniqueness.

A major role of the teacher in this collaborative, creative, project-based type of

environment is for the teacher to be demonstrating to the students how to solve problems and

approach issues – often beneficial to do through role playing. The teacher needs to place great

emphasis on excellent communication, team building, leadership, and conflict resolution. People
skills are too often overlooked in a traditional classroom, yet the world we live in today is full of

more conflict than ever.

Dialogue goes hand in hand with conflict resolution but also represents the thought-

provoking classroom discussions being led on a regular basis, the higher-order thinking

questions being asked daily, the constant dialogue the teacher is ensuring they engage in with

each student to further develop their critical thinking skills. The teacher needs to get the students

excited and motivated and curious and create a desire to learn and innovate and try something

new and different and go beyond their comfort zone.

Like Paulo Freire’s thoughts – once a teacher a has committed their life to teaching they

must take it upon themselves to live in a constant state of self-reflection and self-development.

Reflection is an essential skill to teach and instill into the students to become inherently good,

hardworking, thoughtful, contributing members of society. It also allows the teacher to evolve

their classroom environment, goals and applications to reflect and incorporate the personal and

cultural needs of the students, the ever-changing world of technology, the values of the local

community, and the demands in society.

A mandatory criterion of the teaching profession is semi-annual professional

development. Along with teachers being required to have their teaching certificate, the teachers

need to educate themselves on the endless possibilities of makerspace projects. A teacher’s

limitations will only reflect in their students. Furthermore, continual education helps to keep

teachers passionate and excited about teaching. Finding improved ways to approach teaching

and introducing fun new topics and gadgets should be an incredible part of the teaching

profession that helps the students, as well as the teachers to remain engaged.

The School (20pts)

 The school’s goals and objectives are to develop students who excel in problem-solving,

innovation, critical thinking, communication, conflict resolution, leadership, creativity,

perseverance, self-reflection, and understand what it means to be a contributing member of

society. The students will be visionaries as well as doers. They will look into themselves to seek

answers, find solutions, seek for ways to improve themselves and things around them, and know

they can make a difference in the world if they are willing to make it happen.

The school will be incredibly involved in contributing to the community to teach the

students the different ways they can give back and how good it feels to help others. We will

have ongoing projects that only utilize recycled materials to teach students to be less wasteful

and mindful of the environment. Students will have a toy drive and learn how to take apart old

toys and gadgets to reinvent and make new fun toys for boys and girls who cannot afford toys.

Giving the students these types of opportunities to collaborate in meaningful projects that

directly relate to real-world issues helps the students to think of their own ways to help their

peers, strangers and the community. This approach to learning through hands-on application

promises a future in the community that will thrive and benefit all.

Conclusion

This philosophy of education caters to personalized learning and believes in same

opportunities for all students. Regardless of a student’s exceptionalities there is a role and

project that can be tailored to them. The vision is for every student to discover their strengths

and passion. The role of the classroom is to help the student find a way to use these strengths

and passion to better serve the world and our community.

Resume
 Below is my resume that will display my education and work experiences spoken of

above. I look forward to updating my resume to accurately represent the entirety of my

accomplishments throughout my MSED program upon graduation. To date my certifications,

include the following:

 SMART Board Training Level 1

 Netsmartz Training

 DASA Training

 VAWA Certification