MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 1

MSED Elementary Portfolio Project

Leanne M. Suffel

December 8, 2019

An Elementary Portfolio Project submitted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School of Education of

Medaille College

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science in Education

Leanne Suffel
_____________________________
Leanne Suffel
Medaille College Graduate Student

Dr. Renee Sturm

Table of Contents

Section One: Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project……..… 3

Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences………………………………13

Section Three: Teacher Candidate Artifacts……………………... ………………………

Artifact #1: Title ……. …………………………………………………………….

Artifact #2: Title……………… ……………………………………………………

Artifact #3: Title…………………… ………………………………………………

Artifact #4: Title…………………………………………………………………….

Artifact #5: Title …………………….………………………………………………

Artifact #6: Title ………………………………………. ……………………………

Artifact #7: Title ……… ……………………………………………………………

Artifact #8: Title ………………………………………..……………………………

Artifact #9: Title ……………………………………………………………………..

Artifact #10: Title ……………………………………………………………………

Section Four: Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards ………………………

Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection …………………………………………..….

Section Six: Teacher Candidate Interview Video ………………………………………..

References ……………………………………………………………………………….
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 3

Section One:

Teacher Candidate Introduction to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Introduction, Overview & Rationale to the Elementary Portfolio Project

Welcome to my Elementary Education Teacher Portfolio. I have created this portfolio to

give viewers an understanding of the knowledge I have acquired throughout my time at Medaille

College, and to showcase the teaching methods and practices I will utilize in my classrooms. A

brief summary of each section of this portfolio;

• Section One: Teacher Candidate Portfolio Project Introduction gives an overview of my

journey into education and why being an educator is so important to me and what is

significant to me as an educator.

• Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences will demonstrate my current

experience as an educator, my resume and my philosophy of education and the

importance these experiences have on me as a future educator.

• Section Three: Teacher Candidate Artifacts showcases a collection of my assignments

and projects, referred to as artifacts, will display my ability not only in planning,

instruction, and assessing, but also my use of integrating technology in the classroom,

and my ability to research and learn from scholarly and academic resources.

• Section Four: Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards will identify the

importance of my ability to align standards to daily work and the responsibilities that are

expected of an elementary teacher.

• Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection will demonstrate the importance of reflection

in the learning process.

• Section Six: Teacher Candidate Interview Video will showcase work and make

connections to an interview simulation.

This portfolio is a presentation of my best work during my educational experience at

Medaille College in the Master of Science in Elementary Education program.

What does an effective educator mean to me? Many academic intellects have quoted on

education, but one quote has always stood out for me as it seems to encompass the full meaning

of what education truly is to me: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to

change the world” (Mandela, n.d.). Throughout the course of the last year, I have learned what it

takes to be a well-rounded, effective educator. An educator is more than a person teaching the

curriculum and standards. An educator is a caring individual who can have a positive impact and

challenge the minds of their students. An educator is someone who also provides a safe,

nurturing, and welcoming environment for students, a place where students are encouraged to

step outside of their comfort zone to experience higher levels of thinking. As implied of the

quote by Mandela above, our job, as educators, is essential in ensuring our students are equipped

with the best possible education in hopes that, one day, they will become productive citizens who

strive to make positive changes in the world. Educators are not only teaching the students

content, but also teaching to build character.

I have come to realize, from my experience at Medaille, the importance of the reflection

process is in learning. This process allows for growth in learning about effective pedagogy, and

about the art and science of teaching. In this portfolio, you will learn about what background

experiences lead me to the path of becoming an elementary teacher. This program has brought

out my passion for education, and you will see this passion through my artifacts that are

included. These artifacts will display my competency to plan, instruct, and assess. My goal of
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this portfolio is to present and showcase a collection of my work that has prepared me in

becoming a confident and professional educator.

As you read about my experiences that navigated me into the direction to becoming an

educator, you will notice my strong belief of inclusion in the classroom. I truly believe that

fairness does not mean equality, and a favorite quote from Albert Einstein relating to the

education system is an example of this: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its

ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life believing that it is stupid” (Einstein, n.d.). To

treat everyone fair means to be able to differentiate and make accommodations to your

instruction to meet the diverse needs of the students in your classroom. If you were to treat

everyone equal, it would not be beneficial to those students, as every student possesses different

strengths and weaknesses. As an effective educator I need to be able to encourage students to

reach their fullest learning potential, and I must have the ability to acknowledge and promote the

diversity and uniqueness in those students. In this portfolio, I will discuss some best teaching

practices I have adapted into my teaching technique, especially my knowledge and skills

concerning classroom management.

Classroom management is an imperative component to effective pedagogy. Developing

rules, routines and procedures, monitoring behaviors, and taking the necessary measures to

create a positive learning environment to engage students encourages learning and growth for

students. My time at Medaille has opened my eyes to all that classroom management

encompasses. As you read through this portfolio, you will see the knowledge and skills I have

obtained concerning classroom management techniques and how I will apply these to future

classrooms.

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is also a concept I’ve learned during my time at

Medaille College. CRT is crucial for effective teaching. CRT is a pedagogical approach to
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teaching where students’ unique cultural strengths are nurtured to promote student achievement.

Our schools today are highly diverse and teachers need to be aware of the diverse cultures of

their students, and must have the willingness to incorporate CRT into lessons and daily routines.

Exposing all students to CRT enhances the learning outcomes for all, including the teacher. In

this portfolio, you will see how CRT has influenced my teaching practices through lesson plans I

have developed.

Lastly, two of the most important parts of being an effective teacher include professional

collaboration and professional development. It is essential to collaborate with colleagues, and to

work as a team, as well as, having the ability to utilize specialists in your school board to help

improve the educational experience of your students. Being an educator is a job where you are

constantly learning and growing. Professional development is imperative to the field of

education due to the fact that new materials, methods, strategies, and tools are always being

introduced and discovered. As a teacher, it’s important to stay current on what your students are

interested in so that you are able to integrate that material into your instruction. It’s equally

critical to stay knowledgeable on current educational issues and to be active in researching

scholarly and academic resources. This portfolio will highlight everything I have learned to

prove my capability and enthusiasm to educate.

Portfolio Development

As an effective educator, it’s important to substantiate the skills you possess, and how

these skills will make you successful. This portfolio demonstrates the skills and knowledge I

possess in the field of elementary education. In this first section, you will be introduced to my

portfolio and the pedagogy leading to best teaching practices, theories, and experts from the field

that influence and inspire me in my beliefs and values of education. Section two will outline my

previous work experience as a supply teacher, as well as the early field experience I gained
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 7

during my first and third semesters at Medaille College, and my philosophy of education. Section

three will consist of the artifacts which demonstrate my knowledge of subject matter,

pedagogical awareness, best teaching practices, skills, and professional dispositions. These

artifacts will provide evidence to my ability to lesson plan, instruct and assess students. You will

notice in this section my professional development and my capability to integrate technology

into the classroom, and how these artifacts will display my teaching proficiency. Section Four

connects the professional and curriculum standards (both New York and Ontario) to my goal of

this portfolio. In this section, I will connect the artifacts in this portfolio to the curriculum and

the professional standards, along with stating their importance. In Section Five, I will provide a

reflection on my experiences during my education at Medaille College as a student in the Master

of Science in Elementary Education program and how equipped and prepared I am in becoming

an elementary educator. The fifth section of this portfolio is based upon my reflection of this

portfolio project and my teacher education learning experiences. The final section will include a

video simulating a teacher interview. In this section, you can view a video where I will connect

all my knowledge and experience while answering questions that may be asked in an interview.

This interview will be on my teacher website where you will find additional resources and

information for the classroom.

My objective of this portfolio is that you will learn more about me, my passion for

teaching, and have the opportunity to view my work and how it contributes to my ability to be a

caring and professional educator, who has the ability to motivate and engage students in their

learning.

Theorists and Experts in the Field of Education

There are so many influential and important theorists and experts in the field of education

that have transformed and inspired my knowledge of teaching; such as, Jean Piaget, Lev
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 8

Vygotsky, Howard Gardner, and Dr. Robert Marzano. I have included these four theorists

because I feel as though their work on learning and education is significant to my knowledge and

skills towards becoming an effective educator. We as educators need to understand how our

students learn so that we can better address their needs and how to teach them. Their

contributions to the field of education have taught me some valuable best teaching practices that

I have adapted into my teaching technique and will prove with the artifacts included in this

portfolio.

Jean Piaget (1936) was a cognitive development theorist. His main focus was on the way

children construct a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was

a fixed trait, and saw cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological

maturation and interaction with the environment (McLeod, 2018). Piaget developed the “4

Stages of Cognitive Development”: Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 2 years), Preoperational Stage

(ages 2 to 7), Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7 to 11), and the Formal Operational Stage (ages

12 and up). Through these four stages, Piaget believed that “children take an active role in the

learning process acting much like little scientists and they perform experiments, make

observations, and learn about the world. As kids interact with the world around them, they

continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas

to accommodate new information. (Cherry, 2019). When a student can connect their new

information to previous knowledge, the learning is remembered and becomes the source for

learning further information. Connecting and building knowledge can be applied through

“Discovery Learning”. Piaget’s theory can be applied in the classroom through discovery

learning. The idea is that “children learn best through doing and actively exploring” and that

“children should not be taught certain concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage of

cognitive development” (McLeod, 2018) can help enhance the understanding of concepts and
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 9

problem-solving skills. Piaget’s focus on cognitive development is important to know as an

educator because we want our students to grow and learn to their potential and this teaching

practice of connecting prior knowledge to readily learned material through active learning, is one

way to ensure that the information will be remembered.

Lev Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Development (1962) is one of the foundations of

constructivism. Constructivist learning is when students construct their knowledge by problem

solving and critical thinking. Students learn based on their prior knowledge and experiences as

they relate and make connections to new information. He believed that social learning comes

before development. Vygotsky used the term “Zone of Proximal Development” or ZPD to

explain the range (adult guidance to independence) of a task that a child is in the process of

learning to master. A best teaching practice that is associated with Vygotsky’s work of ZPD is

scaffolding. “Scaffolding is the changing of the level of support to suit the cognitive potential of

the child” (Zone of proximal development, n.d.). When teaching, educators need to adjust the

amount of guidance and support to fit the students’ potential level of performance. Teachers

should provide more support when a child is having difficulty with a particular task, and as the

student becomes more familiar and can do it independently, less support is provided on that

particular task. Therefore, scaffolding works to maintain the child’s potential level of

development in the ZPD.

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983) is very important to the way

educators teach. Gardner proposes that humans learn, remember, perform and understand in

different ways. For instance, Gardner developed nine intelligences: Verbal-Linguistic, Logical

Mathematical, Musical, Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal,

Existential, and Naturalist (Armstrong, 2012). This means that students would be better

educated if teachers would present the content in a variety of ways. To meet the needs of all the
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 10

students, one best teaching practice according to Gardner’s theory would be to vary instruction

methods to teach material in a number of different styles (differentiated instruction). Integrating

multi-media and other forms of technology into the classroom will provide the students with the

variation of instruction which will connect to the multiple intelligences in the classroom. In this

portfolio I will present the ways that I have incorporated technology in the classroom, and this

will be beneficial to the class, as a whole, reaching all the ways in which the students learn while

keeping them engaged. Just as differentiated instruction is used to reach all the students,

educators need to provide a variety in assessments.

The final expert in the field of education that I would like to include in my portfolio is

Dr. Robert Marzano and his theory on classroom management. Marzano mentions that effective

teachers manage their classroom through consistent rules, routines, procedures, and addressing

behaviors ((Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). It is imperative, on the first day of school,

to set up procedures and routines that will contribute to how successful the school year will be.

Teachers will have to teach the procedures and routines then rehearse them with the students and

to ensure that the behavior is consistent, teachers must reinforce the behavior. To minimize

disruptive behaviors and loss of classroom learning time, teachers should always be prepared,

have the work ready and the room set for learning. I have learned a lot about the best teaching

practice of classroom management from Marzano. Through my artifacts, you will see evidence

of effective classroom management strategies that I will use in classrooms to enhance the

learning outcomes of my students.

Marzano also stresses that since “students learn in different ways, they should also be

assessed in different styles” (Marzano, 2010). As educators, we need to be aware of the different

learning styles of our students, and be prepared to, not only differentiate instruction, but also

change the way we assess. Such ways may include using multiple choice assessment, short
MSED ELEMENTARY PORTFOLIO PROJECT 11

answer written response, essays, oral responses or presentations/reports, use of technology, and

dramatizations. In my portfolio I have included some lesson plans, each displaying different

ways in which I plan to assess the students in their learning that take on the best teaching practice

of varying assessment.

Conclusion

Teaching is a difficult and demanding career with a huge emphasis on inclusivity and

cultural diversity, and varying learning diversity amongst students. It takes a very special person

to be able to educate the minds of children, touching on each of their unique abilities and

differences. An effective educator requires a person to possess knowledge, passion,

determination, skills, and enthusiasm for teaching and learning. This portfolio highlights the

knowledge and skills I possess to be an effective educator to all students. This portfolio will also

demonstrate my belief that kindness towards students, by taking the time to get to know students

and student families, is an important aspect for effective pedagogy. Helping students to become

comfortable in a classroom, and showing students that you truly care about them, will help to

enhance the academic achievement of students.

It is necessary for a teacher to think outside the box, and what makes teaching so exciting

is that students learn differently. Teachers need to be responsive in their instruction and provide

accommodations and differentiated instruction to support the differences among students.

Teachers must determine what works best for each student, utilize different strategies, and

incorporate different learning styles to reach every student. What works for one student, will not

work for every student; therefore, the teacher must be prepared to provide scaffolding when

necessary. As Howard Gardner states "a contrasting set of assumptions is more likely to be

educationally effective. Students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. The broad

spectrum of students - and perhaps the society as a whole - would be better served if disciplines
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could be presented in a number of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of

means." (Lane, n.d.). Teachers must be willing to be creative and adaptive in their lessons by

thinking outside the box on a continual basis. A teacher is a professional that is constantly

learning and growing because every year there is new research, new technology, and new

educational tools that could make the learning of students more effective and engaging. Students

require an educator that challenges and helps them to reach their potential, and who will prepare

them for their life ahead with the ability to problem solve, critically evaluate and apply lessons

learned. An effective teacher understands the content they teach and knows how to explain that

content in a manner that their students understand. I strongly believe that I possess all these

qualities and I will highlight them in the artifacts that are to follow. In the next section, you will

observe how my past and current work experiences as an educator, and my philosophy of

education, have influenced my teaching practices as an effective educator.

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References

Armstrong, T. (2012). Howard Gardner ’ s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Department of

Cherry, K. (2019). The 4 Stages of Cognitive Development: Background and Key Concepts of
Piaget’s Theory. Retrieved September 16, 2019, from verywellmind website:
[Link]

Einstein, Albert (n.d). Transforming Education: The Case for Making it More Creative, More
Engaging and Tailored to the Individual | [Link] in words. Retrieved September 13,
2019, from Rhapsody In Words website:
[Link]
more-creative-more-engaging-and-tailored-to-the-individual/comment-page-1/

Lane, C. (n.d.) 'Gardner's Multiple Intelligences', The distance learning technology resource
guide, [Link]

Mandela, N. (n.d.). Top 9 Nelson Mandela Quotes About Education - The Borgen Project.
Retrieved September 13, 2019, from Borgenproject website:
[Link]

Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. (2003). Classroom management that works :
research-based strategies for every teacher. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.

Marzano, R. (2010). Formative assessment & standards-based grading. Bloomington, IN:

McLeod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology.

Zone of proximal development - Mathematics Education. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2019,
from [Link]
methodologies-inmathematics-education/vygotsky-s-sociocultural-theory/zone-of-
proximal-development.

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