Introductory Page

1. Biography

2. Certification Statement

3. Mission Statement and Educational Philosophy

4. Resume, Transcripts, and Praxis Scores

5. Certificates

Certification Statement

Degree Diploma Placeholder.

Below are links to my Praxis scores.

Social Studies

Math

Science

Reading

H- Holistic Approaches to Student Learning

The most important aspect of my educational philosophy is ensuring that I meet the needs of all my students. To achieve this, I plan to view all students with a holistic approach by taking into consideration the student’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being and how these aspects impact the individual’s ability to learn. I will achieve this goal by creating a positive classroom environment, nurturing, and comfortable for all students to grow.

U- Understanding Diversity

My classroom will be an environment where diversity is celebrated. To create a positive learning environment that welcomes all students, I will take into consideration my students’ home lives, genders, religions, races, cultures, and socioeconomic status. I understand my purpose as an educator is to meet the needs of all my students. By utilizing Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory in my instruction, I am able to adapt my lesson to reach the learning needs of all my students. I will also take into consideration the mental, emotional, and physical needs of every individual.

You cannot put a flower in a box, shut it, and expect it to grow without sunlight and water. A flower grows when it is nurtured by sunlight and sprinkled with water. As educators, it is our responsibility to create an environment adequate for students to grow. Therefore, you cannot expect a student to grow when you design a restrictive learning environment, but rather you should design a classroom to be more free thinking leaning towards the student's creativity.

I always say, "put me in a box and I will fail you, but allow me the space and means to grow and I will impress you."

Resume

Transcripts

• I have been on the Dean's list for five semesters, from freshman year, fall of 2020, until the present (Fall of 2023).
• I was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi in the spring of 2022.
• I have served as an officer in Kappa Delta Pi from the Fall of 2022 to the Present Fall of 2023.
• I have been a member of the Reading Association since the Fall of 2022.
• I have been PLTW Launch certified since the Summer of 2023.

Table of Contents

• Introductory Page
  
• Domain 1: Planning and Preparation
  
• Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
  
• Domain 3: Instruction
  
• Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities
  
• Presentation Section Items

Domain 1

• 1a. Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
  
• 1b. Demonstrating Knowledge of Students
  
• 1c. Setting Instructional Outcomes
  
• 1d. Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources
  
• 1e. Designing Coherent Instruction
  
• 1f. Designing Student Assessment
  

Based on my Praxis scores, unofficial transcripts, and unit lesson plan it is evident I have an extensive understanding of the important concepts in my content area. Using my prior knowledge, I have constructed a lesson plan catering to the understanding of prerequisite relationships among topics and concepts. For instance, when creating my unit plan on subtraction and regrouping, I realized students must be aware of place value before the students can accurately subtract. I anticipated student misconceptions by embedding opportunities for students to share their prior knowledge about subtraction and regrouping at the beginning of the lesson through a collaborative board. To counteract student misconceptions, I quickly reviewed place value before introducing subtraction to the class. Linked below is a copy of the Nearpod used to enhance student learning and the lesson plan. In the "anticipated content difficulties" section of my lesson plan, I noted possible student misconceptions that may occur throughout this lesson. My ability to determine student misconceptions and pre-requisite skills demonstrates my understanding of how important concepts in the discipline relate to each other like walking up stairs.

My lesson plan reflects a familiarity with a wide range of effective pedagogical approaches by offering the students a variety of methods to display their level of content knowledge. The differentiated instruction in my lesson plan includes videos, teacher and student use of technology, hands-on activities, exit tickets, and graphic organizers. The differentiated instruction used throughout my unit plan demonstrates the cognitive structures of my students' mental patterns by catering to the learning styles of each student.

Below are the links to my praxis scores.

Reading

Social Studies

Math

Science

I am aware of how important it is for a teacher to design lessons that are engaging while connecting the student's knowledge to real-world experiences or problems. I am also aware that students are more likely to be active learners when their interests and developmental levels are taken into consideration while creating lessons. I understand the importance of obtaining information regarding the student to make decisions that impact the student academically, behaviorally, or emotionally.

Therefore, throughout my experience, I have purposefully acquired knowledge about my students to understand their skills, interests, learning styles, and needs through several sources. One of these sources includes an “Interest inventory” linked below, which I have used to learn more about my students. After researching and considering the reading interests of my students, I developed a lesson plan to teach students inferencing and drawing conclusions through the incorporation of Harry Potter. Linked below are videos, lesson plans, and other supplemental resources I created for this activity.

While creating this Harry Potter-themed lesson, I also took into consideration varied approaches to learning and the specific needs of each student. I achieved this by documenting the accommodations I made in the differentiated instruction sections of my lesson plan and graphing the results of the student’s work. Also, noted in the lesson rationale and overview section of my lesson plan, states why inferencing and drawing conclusions is a real-life skill and is important for students to learn.

1C.

Setting Instructional Outcomes

As shown by the artifacts below, I am knowledgeable of the available resources to use in my classroom. While being a student at West Virginia State University, I have created a resource log of websites to use in my future classroom. These resource logs include websites that offer online games, worksheets, and activities for social studies for students to grow their knowledge. I also use these resource logs to extend my professional skills.

My cooperating teacher and I, also use interactive games as a learning tool for our students to memorize their multiplication tables. This app is called the “speed drill” app and is available on the app store. The game shows students the multiplication table and then provides the students with options for the answer. Once the students have selected their responses, the app will notify the students if their answers are correct or incorrect. This resource can be located and used throughout the district, school, community, universities, professional organizations, as well as the internet.

In addition to technological resources, I strive to use resources in the community to strengthen my instruction in the classroom. For example, while being a member of Kappa Delta Pi, I was provided an opportunity to participate in a Veterans Day Community Service Project, where I met veterans. During this time, I was able to hear their stories and learn from their experiences. In my future classroom, I could reach out to a veteran and ask him or her to speak to the students about their real-life stories to connect what we are learning about in social studies to their experiences.

While planning lessons, I strive to create a sequence of learning activities that follow a coherent sequence. The two lessons linked below incorporate engaging, high-level cognitive activities for all students. All lessons are aligned with instructional goals based on the West Virginia College and Career Readiness Standards.

For instance, I taught a mini-lesson on inferencing and making conclusions using the “case of the messy classroom.” The students were required to make inferences about clues in the classroom to develop a conclusion about who was the guilty culprit. The next week, I taught a mini-lesson on text evidence using Lego blocks. The students demonstrated text evidence using color-coded blocks. At the end of the lesson, I asked the students to compare and contrast text evidence to inferencing and making conclusions.

Throughout these lessons, I ensured the content was delivered using a variety of methods. I provided my students the opportunity to work with their peers based on varied instruction groups. My cooperating teacher and I, have purposefully created a seating chart to distribute the students based on their academic performance to make group work effective for every student. During both of these lessons, the students were given the choice to work with a peer at their table. I also used visual aids, videos, and human-read text-to-speech throughout my whole group instruction. During independent work, the students were given the choice of what questions to complete to be graded.

Text Evidence Lesson

Inferencing

Lesson

Throughout my placement at Holz Elementary School, I have created multiple student assessments for my unit plan. I designed these plans with specific instructional outcomes in mind. I used paper-pencil assessments while including opportunities for students to use manipulatives to demonstrate their understanding of regrouping with subtraction. By requiring my students to take a pre and post-test, the assessment methodologies used throughout my unit plan provided me the opportunity to adapt my instruction to meet the individual needs of my students. For instnace, I included text-to-speech accomodations for students with IEPs and 504 plans and used formative assessments such as worksheets and whiteboards to guide my instruction. These accomodations and assessments can be noted in my lesson plan linked below.

I also created a subtraction checklist for students as a guide for students to assess their work to contribute to a class question and answer session at the end of each lesson. I designed this checklist to demonstrate the steps necessary for students to accurately complete subtraction problems based on the instructional outcomes of the lesson. The intention of the subtraction checklist was to set clear criteria for assessing the student's work.

During my placement at Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary, I created a Harry Potter themed lesson. The students contributed to the development of the lesson plan and assessment because it was based on the the student’s instrest inventory.

Domain 2

• 2a.Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport
• 2b.Establishing a Culture for Learning
• 2c.Managing Classroom Procedures
• 2d.Managing Student Behavior
  
• 2e.Organizing Physical Space
  

My cooperating teacher and I, strive to create a classroom environment where teacher and student relationships are respectful, reflecting genuine warmth, caring, and sensitivity to the students as individuals. Throughout my field experience at Holz Elementary School, I have taken the initiative to write my students post-it notes praising positive behaviors or actions. Our classroom now refers to them as, "Post-It Praise." I write the students a note and leave it on their desks for them to read. We provide our students with intentional praise to make our classroom environment a more enjoyable space for all.

To make ensure our classroom environment is a comfortable space for all students, we encourage the students to make yearly goals. At the beginning of the semester, I assisted my cooperating teacher with a "Not Yet" goal-setting lesson. The students were required to think of a skill or subject they struggled with. The students had to write their skill or topic using a "Not Yet" sentence. For instance, one student said, "I am not good at social skills... yet." Another student wrote, "I am not good at multiplication... yet." Throughout the year, when the students are struggling to take intellectual or social risks, we reference our "Not Yet" poster in the classroom to display how we are all growing, evolving, and changing every day. We encourage students to understand how we strive to reach our goals together, although some days we might struggle. We want our students to understand, “We can do hard things!”

My students are aware of the necessary respect for their classmates but also contribute to high levels of civility among all members of the class. As demonstrated by my field experience evaluations during my Education 316 class, I remained respectful and displayed good human relations skills with my students. I have also linked below a video of the social interactions in my class between students and teachers to demonstrate respect in the classroom.

Classroom Interaction Video

Evaluation

“Post- It Praise”

“Not Yet” Lesson

In my current placement, we are a cognitively busy place. Students and teachers will share a belief that learning is important. My cooperating teacher and I, convey high expectations for our students to promote hard work and problem-solving skills. We achieve this by providing students with the necessary resources and tools to be successful.

In our classroom at Holz Elementary, we display student artwork and written assignments to align the course material to the learning styles of all students. For instance, I assisted my cooperating teacher with a sun and moon writing activity. We used warm and cool colors to reflect the tone of the writing. The warm colors represent emotions such as anger, love, and passion. In contrast, the cool colors represent emotions such as happiness or sadness. While displaying student work in our classroom, we encourage students to take pride in their work by being actively engaged in every lesson.

We also display visual aids in our classroom to enhance the learning process, guiding students to explore their abilities more independently. Our math wall displays a step-by-step key for problem-solving and a list of vocabulary words with definitions of each word. The students can reference the displays during class to promote independent thinking skills. In our classroom, we also use vocabulary games for the students to assist peers in their precise use of language.

My cooperating teacher and I, encourage high expectations by displaying our weekly focus goals for each subject. By showing the students what they will be learning each week, they understand what skills they are required to work hard to learn.

Vocabulary Game

Video

Week In Focus

Sun and Moon Drawing

Math Wall

To ensure student behavior is entirely appropriate, my cooperating teacher and I use a teaching strategy called Whole Brain Teaching. By using this teaching strategy, students are encouraged to take an active role in monitoring their behavior and/or that of other students against standards of conduct by setting goals and following classroom rules.

My cooperating teacher and I use a whole group behavior management strategy called, "Beat the Teacher." This strategy encourages positive behavior with a reward system. In our classroom, we have three charts designated to track student behavior. The first chart tracks the class' daily behavior. If the students are well-behaved during specials, transitions, or other tasks they recieve a chip on this chart. The second chart tracks the negative behavior of the students because the teacher earns a chip if the students are not on their best behavior. The goal is for the students to have more points than the teacher at the end of the day. If the students have more points than the teacher, the class receives an "X" on the five-by-five table. Once the table is complete, the class receives a reward for their good work.

This allows teacher monitoring to be subtle and preventative. The response to student misbehavior is sensitive to individual student's needs and respects students' dignity because we refrain from singling out negative behaviors and encourage positive behaviors.

Below is a link to a video of me giving my students a chip for their positive behavior. I decided the students deserved a chip because they were working hard, staying in their seats, and were engaged in the lesson.

My cooperating teacher and I ensure the classroom environment is a safe space and that learning is accessible to all students, including those with special needs. For instance, we allow students with hyperactive tendencies to trade their chairs in for wobble stools. We also provide preferential seating at the front of the room for students who need extra support.

We effectively use physical resources and materials that are appropriate for the learning activities. We achieve this by using student book boxes instead of desks and student supply caddies for each group. We also have a designated section in the classroom for students to charge their iPads during the day.

The students contribute to the use or adaption of the physical environment through flexible seating options. We allow the students to use stools, bean bag chairs, beach chairs, and the carpet during reading and math groups. All of these components of the physical environment are used to advance student learning through student choice and efficient routines.

Domain 3

• 3a. Communicating With Students
• 3b. Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
• 3c. Engaging Students in Learning
• 3d. Using Assessment in Instruction
• 3e. Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness
  

I believe students are more likely to learn when they understand the purpose of every lesson. To communicate and link the instruction purpose of the lesson to the larger curriculum, my cooperating teacher and I, display the weekly learning targets on a bulletin board labeled, "Week in Focus." We also have another bulletin board in our classroom that is used to display the weekly objectives. Linked below are pictures of the bulletin boards we continuously reference throughout the week.

During my unit plan, I reviewed and discussed the objectives before I taught the students a new skill. Linked below is the PowerPoint I used to guide my instruction and display the objectives. I also have included a teacher-made worksheet to display my ability to provide students with clear procedures and directions based on anticipated student misunderstandings using expressive language.

On the second day of my unit plan, I provided students the opportunity to contribute and extend the content by explaining concepts to their classmates and other mathematical sound strategies using the think-pair-share method. As seen in the video below, the students had to turn to their partners and answer the question, "How are addition and subtraction alike? How are they different?" The partners then shared their responses with the class. After discussing the class' responses, the students were asked to answer, "How are the break-apart and standard algorithms alike? How are they different?" The class followed the same procedure as before to share their responses with the class.

At the beginning of my field experience at Holz Elementary School, I taught my third-grade class a lesson on Inferencing and Drawing Conclusions. In this lesson, I included pictures of soccer players to engage the students because sports are a topic of interest for them. The students were required to draw inferences and make conclusions about the soccer player on the field. Linked below is the PowerPoint I used in this lesson to display the pictures to the class. I have also included the lesson plan which demonstrates my ability to provide clear explanations of the content listed in the lesson procedures. This lesson plan also showcases how I can develop conceptual understanding through clear scaffolding by being aware of student accommodations listed in the differentiated instruction section of the lesson plan.

Linked below is a video of a vocabulary game I facilitated with the class. During this time, you can see how my spoken language is expressive. By using a vocabulary game, I was able to encourage the students to extend their vocabularies within the discipline and for general use giving them real-life examples of the word. The students were contributing to the correct use of academic vocabulary because I read the word to the students, and the teams had to search and smack the correct word using their fly swatters.

Inferencing and Drawing Conclusions

Week In Focus

Vocabulary Game Video

Think-Pair-Share

Unit Plan Day 3- Objectives and Worksheet

As a teacher, I understand the importance of using a variety or series of questions to cognitively challenge students. High-quality discussion and questioning skills encourage students to explore new concepts and promote engagement. I strive to provide students the opportunity to advance their high-level thinking skills and discourse to promote metacognition. When using high-order questions, I am aware students will formulate many questions and initiate topics that challenge one another's thinking. For instance, in the exit tickets linked blow, I required the students to create their own word-problems using subtraction within four-digit numbers.

The video linked below demonstrates my ability to use questioning and discussion techniques throughout my instruction. During my subtraction unit lesson, I asked students, "How are subtraction and addition related? What is this called?" The students were required to answer the question using the think-pair-share strategy. The students were then given the opportunity to share their responses with their partners and then their class. During this part of the lesson, the students made unsolicited contributions while I ensured that all voices were heard in the discussion.

Also, linked below is a PowerPoint I used to guide student questions and class discussion. For instance, I asked students to analyze (Bloom's Taxonomy level four) different ways to subtract three-digit numbers by comparing and contrasting each strategy.

During the second day of my unit plan, I required my students to complete a building and borrowing subtraction activity with base ten blocks. As seen in the video linked below, the students are engaged in high-level tasks requiring complex thinking because they are creating structures (Bloom's Taxonomy level six). In this portion of the lesson, the students are initiating contributions to the exploration of important topics by problem-solving each subtraction task card. The students serve as a resource for others because they are exploring subtraction by regrouping with their peers.

During the first day of my unit plan, the students were self-paced by a timing tool integrated into the Nearpod slides. The structure and pacing of the lesson are clearly followed and can be noted in the lesson procedure section of my lesson plan linked below. The students are provided the time needed to intellectually engage and reflect on their learning based on the questions and activities in the Nearpod.

My cooperating teacher and I provide suitable scaffolding in our instruction through our guided math and reading groups. During our groups, the students are grouped based on their reading benchmark scores. The students complete the multiplication station and grammar task cards during small group time. The students complete worksheets and activities based on the level the students are at. Once the students have completed one task and taken their test on the section, they are permitted to move on to the next skill at their own pace. The students are held accountable for completing each assignment and asking for help if they are struggling.

Scavenger Hunt Lesson Plan

White Board Video

Student Explanation Video

Exit Ticket

Accommodations

3E.

Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness

When teaching, an educator will face numerous challenges and tasks. Teachers must also predict how a lesson will go and how to respond to certain situations. Part of being an effective teacher is responding to spontaneous events with flexibility. Also, another important task as a teacher is to successfully differentiate and adjust instruction to meet the needs of your students.

For instance, in the Fall of 2022, I taught a lesson on positional words to a kindergarten class. In my lesson plan, I made a special note of how I planned to accommodate the student's IEP throughout my lesson. Linked below are images of the student work from this activity to demonstrate my ability to differentiate my assessments to ensure success for all my students. Instead of requiring my student with an IEP to complete the matching using paper and glue, I asked the student to demonstrate the positional words with their action. As the student completed each action, I checked the word correctly using a teacher-made list. As seen in the student work depicted below, all students scored an 80% higher on the formative assessment, therefore proving the students met the lesson objective.

Also linked below is a video of me working with a struggling student to enhance student learning building on a spontaneous event of student interest to correct any misunderstandings. During this time, I showcased my ability to use an extensive repertoire of instructional strategies. I also have and will continue to seek additional resources from the school or community to seek effective approaches for students who need help. For instance, at Holz Elementary, we have an after-school tutoring program. If a student is struggling, I could refer the student to tutoring.

Positional Words

Student Work

Individualized

Instruction Video

Positional Words Lesson Plan

Domain 4

• 4a. Reflecting on Teaching
  
• 4b. Maintaining Accurate Records
  
• 4c. Communicating with families
• 4d. Participating in the Professional Community
  
• 4e. Growing and Developing Professionally
  
• 4f. Showing Professionalism
  

As educators, we must reflect on our instruction to improve our skills and meet the needs of our students. Each day I am at my placement, I write a journal entry that reflects on my instruction and behavior management strategies.

In combination with my weekly journals, I make an intentional effort to make thoughtful and accurate assessments of the lesson's effectiveness based on the instructional outcomes. Linked below are lesson plan reflections where I have extensively weighed and sighted the weaknesses and strengths of specific aspects of my instruction. While reading my reflections, an individual can see that I offer an extensive repertoire of skills while offering a specific alternative action with probable success based on my prior experiences.

For instance, while facilitating a Pi Graph activity, I decided to use a Harry Potter dice for students to roll. I realized the dice were confusing for students to understand, therefore I would use a regular dice if I were to teach this lesson again. I also taught a lesson on subject-verb agreement, where I assessed the student's prior knowledge using a KWL chart. After the students completed their KWL charts I realized the students did not have to prerequisite skills necessary to reach the objectives. Therefore, I had to scaffold my instruction to meet the needs of my students by teaching them how to identify subjects and verbs in sentences. This lesson demonstrated the importance of knowing where your students are in their academic journeys to meet them where they are.

My cooperating teacher and I have effective systems and procedures for maintaining student records. This includes completion of assignments, student progress in learning, and non-instructional records.

To track the completion of assignments, my cooperating teacher and I use a homework chart. The homework chart states the student's name, the date it was assigned, and a description of the worksheet. As we grade the student's homework, we check in the designated box for completion. If the students fail to turn in their homework we circle the box. If the student turns in their homework late, we leave the circle but put a cheek mark on it. On the other hand, if the student is absent we write an, "ab" in the box until the student has the opportunity to complete their work.

We track student progress in learning by utilizing the "Keys to Success" display in our classroom. Each student is provided with a hook that includes a multiplication punch card. The punch card is used to track the multiplication tests each student has passed. Once the students pass the test, they are able to punch that number on the card. Also on this hook, students are able to earn "keys." The keys track the progress the students has made in successmaker. Each student starts by earning a 5% key once he or she has completed this specific percentage of reading and math in Successmaker. Then, the students will earn a 10% key for the remainder of the year. This display tracks student progress throughout the whole year.

One method my cooperating teacher and I use to maintain non-instructional records is the attendance wall. The students contribute and participate in maintaining accurate records by making their lunch choices in the morning. When the students enter the classroom at the start of the day, they are required to move their number magnet to "hot or "cold" lunch. This also serves as a way to take attendance because we can see what magnets have not been moved.

My cooperating teacher and I use many platforms to frequently communicate with families in a culturally sensitive manner and encourage student contribution. We respond to family concerns with a professional attitude and voice.

During my first week of residency, I sent home a short introduction paper about myself. I discussed things about myself and what I will do this year as a student teacher. I encouraged parents to reach out if the families have any problems or concerns by including my email in the document.

We also have a designated Schoology page for student and parent communication.

On this page, we post pictures of projects or activities completed in class. Students and parents are able to locate the weekly and monthly newsletter which displays the skills the students will be learning. We share details and dates of upcoming events in the school. The students and parents are able to view the posts at all times and can make comments or like pictures. We successfully encourage families to engage in positive communication between parents and teachers.