Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction

In this section I reflect on my experience going through the Masters of Education

program at Medaille College and while putting together this portfolio. I will highlight how I meet

the standards put out by the Department of Education and Medaille College of knowing the

subject matter in my certification area, meeting the needs of diverse learners through effective

pedagogy and best teaching practices, and being a caring educator. I believe that these three

attributes are essential to being an effective and caring educator and I will demonstrate

throughout this section how this experience has prepared me and why I believe the artifact I

chose showcase this.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

The Masters of Science in Elementary Education program has prepared me to go into the

world as an effective and caring teacher. The program has done this by having well designed

courses taught by passionate professors. These educators not only taught the material, but also

tied it into real world examples from their teaching careers. I really appreciated being taught by

real teachers who had spent their careers in elementary classrooms as I feel that they weren’t just

teaching the mandated material, but also how to teach effectively. I will elaborate on some of

these classes and examples below in this section.

In my Early Field Experience course I learned about classroom management and the

importance of communicating early and often with the parents. By having open and positive

communication with the parents from the start of the school year I will be building relationships

that will help in case there is a difficult behavioral issue that needs to be addressed. Through

having clear and consistent classroom management I will promote a safe learning space for my
students. Students learn best when they know what is expected of them and they feel that the

teacher is being fair to all the students. The importance of classroom management and

engagement was also solidified in my Fieldwork I and II classes, where I had the opportunity to

spend time in classrooms observing teachers and engaging with students. These experiences have

prepared me to use the best teaching practices and to be a caring educator who ensures to build

relationships and promote equity in my classrooms.

I learned subject matter and effective pedagogy in my courses Developmental Literacy:

Emergence to Fluency; Educational Methods of Teaching: Math, Science; Educational Methods

of Teaching: The Arts, Language Arts, and Social Studies; and in Assessment and Evaluation of

Literacy. These courses taught me how to read the curriculum, design a lesson plan based on it,

and teach it to a class. They taught me the basics of teaching the subject areas, as well as in depth

analysis of literacy instruction and evaluation. I feel confident after these classes that I can

successfully plan for any of these subject areas and endure that I am meeting the curriculum

standards. I learned to write a lesson plan that takes into account the students I’m teaching, their

prior knowledge, the lesson I want to teach them, and also outlines the higher level thinking I

will be helping them develop throughout the lesson. I learned how to scaffold my instruction and

to always plan differentiation in my lessons for the learners who are still struggling with the

subject level and for those who are ahead. I have include a learning segment, Artifact # 8, as well

as lesson plans, Artifacts # 7 and 8, in this portfolio as an example of my knowledge of subject

matter and pedagogy and my readiness to teach.

I was further instructed in the pedagogy of teaching through The Core of Education class

and Transitions from Education’s Roots to Present. I enjoyed learning about the progression of

education through time and also the in depth exploration of what a modern classroom looks like
today. Another Pedagogical class that has helped to prepare me was Technology for the

Elementary Classroom. In this class I learned about the benefits of technology in helping

students learn more effectively and be more engaged. But I also learned that technology is not

always the answer and that it doesn’t always make the lesson better. There is a time and place for

technology and times when it is best not to use it, like many other things it is a tool at our

disposal and we need to know when it is an effective and useful tool and when it’s better to

complete the lesson without it. I appreciate the balanced approach and look forward to using it in

my classrooms. Examples of my effective uses of technology for in the classroom can be seen in

Artifacts 5, Weebly website, and 6, SMARTboard lesson.

Medaille College prepared me to be a caring educator by having me take the Child Abuse

Awareness, Violence Prevention, and Dignity for All Students Act seminars. These prepared me

for the hard realities of teaching and to be aware of my role as a mandated reporter. The class,

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Fostering Culturally Inclusive Classrooms, brought to light the

challenges faced by many different students be it due to race, religion, gender, language, or other

factors. It taught me that everyone comes from a different background and students bring these

lived experiences into your classroom. It’s important to ensure when designing an assessment or

lesson to take into mind the cultural background and lived experiences of the students in my

classroom. By doing so I will help to eliminate some of the obstacles that could be holding them

back.

It’s important to also engage in self-reflection to try and identify subconscious biases that

we may have. The Annotated Bibliography I included as Artifact # 3 showcases this in the study

on the disparity of minority to white students in gifted programs. Teachers, without realizing

their bias, were more likely to recommend white students for the gifted program. However when
that recommendation was taken away and all students were assessed the number of students who

qualified was much more proportional to society. By engaging in self-reflection and being open

to the possibility that subconscious biases do exist I will be much more likely to identify them

and to be able to remediate them.

My Foundations of Special Education class also helped to prepare me to be a more caring

educator. In it I learned how to analyze and plan for an IEP, how to research a disability, and the

possible accommodations and modifications that I can employ in my classroom. I was able to do

a Pecha Kucha research project, Artifact # 4, and learned all about Traumatic Brain Injury.

Through this project, and the skills learned previously in my Research in Education class, I

learned how to effectively research and to take this research back into my classroom.

Throughout all of these classes, assignments, and lived experiences I have met all three of

the “commitments of the Department of Education (DOE) of Medaille College about the quality

of its graduates who are professionally ready and competent to become school teachers.

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.” (CAEP, 2020)

Readiness to Become a Teacher

I am ready to become a teacher. I am excited for my placement next semester. I am looking

forward to seeing in action the theories that I have learned throughout my program. I have so many ideas

of lesson plans and activities to do with students.

I am ready each year to dive into the curriculum and to plan lessons for my students that will be

engaging for them and promote learning. I will make sure to use the educational theories to inform my

planning and instruction. From Vygotsky I will ensure to scaffold my lessons and to plan them in the zone
of proximal development. Carol Dweck showed me how to foster a growth mindset and to praise the

students’ progress, not just their successes. By looking at Gardner I know that students learn in many

different ways and that in order to succeed students need to feel as though they are capable.

If you give them a taste of success they are more likely to put in the effort to continue learning and thus

succeeding in the subject area. Using these theories and others, I will be able to put together effective

lessons that are achievable by the students in my classes and which motivate them to learn. This shows

that I meet claim 2: “Medaille College graduates meet the needs of diverse learners through effective

pedagogy and best teaching practices.”

I am caring of the needs of my students. I have been taught to have a culturally diverse classroom

and to take into account any disabilities: mental, emotional, or physical that my students may have.

Through the DASA, Child Abuse Awareness and SAVE seminars I have been made aware of warning

signs to look for and my responsibilities to my students as a mandated reporter. These claims can be

supported through Artifacts 1-4.

I have been taught the subject matter necessary to prepare me to teach the curriculum to the

students. I have been familiarized with how to design an effective lesson that includes accommodations,

modifications, and scaffolding for my students. This will ensure that all of my students are engaged and

learning and that they all feel success in my classroom.

Conclusion

This section served as a reflection of my experience going through the Masters of

Education program at Medaille College and while putting together this portfolio. It highlighted

how I meet the standards put out by the Department of Education and Medaille College of

knowing the subject matter in my certification area, meeting the needs of diverse learners

through effective pedagogy and best teaching practices, and being a caring educator.
 The next section is a mock interview showcasing my abilities to interview for an

education position.

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