Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Introduction, Overview and Rationale

Throughout this Elementary Portfolio Project, I will be showcasing the skills, knowledge,

attitudes, and values that I have gained throughout the Masters of Science in Education Degree

from Medaille College. Based on this subject matter and pedagogical evidence, which has been

informed through research, I will demonstrate my readiness to become a professional teacher.

The portfolio is made up of six sections- teacher candidate portfolio project introduction, teacher

candidate background experiences, teacher candidate artifacts, alignment to the curriculum and

professional standards, teacher candidate reflection, and teacher candidate interview video.

Throughout all these various sections I will be making connections to planning, instruction,

assessment, technology, learner accommodation, culturally responsive teaching, classroom

management, professional collaboration, curriculum standards, professional standards, as well as

professional development.

Portfolio Development

Each of the six sections that make up the portfolio contains important details and

evidence to support that I will be a knowledgeable and competent teacher. There are also

multiple subsections in each section that I will break down now. Sections one is the teacher

candidate portfolio project introduction, and it contains four subsections- introduction, overview,

and rationale; portfolio development; theories, theorists, and experts in the field of education;

and finally, the conclusion. In this first section of the portfolio, my goal is to introduce the

portfolio, discuss the various parts that are included, and why they are each vital to the portfolio

as a whole. I will make connections to theorists, theories, and educational experts that have

guided my existing philosophies and beliefs as I move forward. This first section of the portfolio
will end off with a conclusion that will summarize my most important points and introduce the

following section.

Section two of the portfolio is about the teacher candidate background experiences and it

contains six subsections- introduction; teacher candidate educational and work experiences;

school observations and classroom applications; philosophy of education; development of

resume; and conclusion. In this section, the goal is to introduce myself as an educator through

sharing experiences that inspired me to want to teach, how my past work experiences have

contributed to that desire, and the philosophy of education that I personally have developed

based off of those lived experiences.

Section three of the portfolio is the teacher candidate artifacts and it contains three

subsections- introduction; artifacts and rationales; and conclusion. The goal of this section is to

share the pedagogical evidence that I am prepared to teach in the elementary classroom through

8-10 artifacts. The artifacts may have been requirements for past courses, and each will have a

rationale explaining why it is important in showing that I will make a competent educator

through ties to curriculum, standards, and best teaching practices.

Section four of the portfolio is alignment to the curriculum and professional standards

and it contains four subsections- introduction; curriculum and professional educational standards;

the alignment to the curriculum and professional standards chart; and conclusion. The goal of

this section is to introduce and explain the various standards that I will be discussing and then

connect them to the artifacts that I had shared in section three.

Section five of the portfolio is the teacher candidate reflection and it contains four

subsections- introduction; portfolio project/teacher education learning experiences; readiness to

become a teacher; and conclusion. The goal of this section is to reflect upon the process of

gathering and creating the portfolio, as well as the various experiences, observations, and lessons

I have collected throughout the teacher education program. This section is also where I will be

doing the majority of my reflection regarding my readiness to become a professional elementary

classroom teacher.

Section six of the portfolio is the teacher candidate teacher interview video and it

contains three subsections- introduction to the teacher candidate interview video; teacher

candidate interview questions and responses; and conclusion. The goal of this section is to share

a video of myself sharing my artifacts, as well as answering questions that could be asked of me

at a job interview. I will also be utilizing some technology components in this section that will be

useful tools to have when I become a professional teacher, such as Screencast-o-Matic and

Weebly.

The reference list will be at the end of the portfolio and it will contain the references for

the intext quotations and citations that I used throughout all the sections of the portfolio.

Theories, Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

There have been countless theories, theorists, and experts in the field of education that I

have been introduced to over the course of my educational journey up until this point; some that

I strongly agreed up and others that I was not as convinced about. One of the first theorists that

really made me stop and think, “wow, that makes so much sense!” was Urie Bronfenbrenner,

specifically his Ecological Systems Theory. This theory postulates that children have the

qualities and characteristics that they do, because of the ways in which all the various

‘ecosystems’ that they are a part of interact and influence each other (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). At

the very centre of all the systems is the child and moving from closest and most intimate to
furthest apart are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the

chronosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). It is impossible for the child to be removed from any one

of these systems, so as educators we must be mindful and considerate of the fact that the child is

not an independent being, but one that has been shaped and formed by many factors and

influences.

A second theorist whose work I strongly support is Lev Vygotsky, specifically his

Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development. The main point of this theory is that children

benefit greatly from social interactions with others, and particularly from those that are more

skilled than them (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Vygotsky, there are three different zones in

which students can be placed- can do independently, can do with assistance, and cannot do even

with assistance. As educators, we should be striving to give students content that is in that middle

zone, which is their Zone of Proximal Development, and how they are able to learn best

(Vygotsky, 1978). Keeping these pieces of information in mind, this is why I believe that group

work is so vital for students’ learning; when they are able to collaborate and each student brings

their own strengths to the discussion, everyone benefits.

Another theory that I employ when designing my lessons is the Gradual Release of

Responsibility, as first presented by Pearson and Gallagher in 1983. The pair had originally

shared three stages for the framework- in the first the teacher exclusively models, in the second

the teacher guides, and in the third the student applies (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983). Since the

introduction and as it became a more practice-based instructional model, a fourth stage was

incorporated in which students were able to collaborate with each other using the new

information learned (Fisher & Frey, 2008). In more layman’s terms we refer to this process as

the ‘I do, we do, you do’ method. I think this method is effective because through watching the
teacher first they are able to visually see what is expected of them, and if the teacher uses the

opportunity to do think-alouds then they are also able to listen to the thought process. From

there, the student is not yet expected to use the new information fully on their own, so they still

have the support of the teacher but they are put into that zone of proximal development that I

mentioned earlier. Next the student will finally attempt the new skill independently, and I

particularly like the addition of the fourth stage in which they are able to collaborate with their

peers, which will really solidify the information.

Conclusion

Through this portfolio I will be showing how I am equipped with knowledge and skills

that will make me a ready to be a professional teacher. Each of the six sections will contain

various pieces of evidence to support that I am a multifaceted individual and that I am able to

take theory- such as those I just shared from Bronfenbrenner, Vygotsky, and Pearson and

Gallagher- and apply them in the field. In the next section of this portfolio I will be sharing my

teacher candidate background experiences.