Professional Teaching Portfolio Carolyn Shaddak

Table of Contents About Me Content Pedagogy Student Development Student Development Diverse Learners Multiple Instructional Strategies Multiple Instructional Strategies Motivation and Management Motivation and Management Communication and Technology Communication and Technology Planning Assessment Reflective Practice: Professional Growth Reflective Practice: Professional Growth School and Community Involvement School and Community Involvement

About Me I did not think about teaching as a possible career path for myself until after I graduated from college. The summer of 2004 after I graduated from college, I ended up volunteering for six weeks at a family life development camp for inner city families. I have been back every summer since. At this camp I had opportunities to interact with children and adolescents of all ages and their parents or guardians. It was while reflecting on these experiences that I realized I loved spending time with children and felt drawn to the teaching profession. For more about me, please click here.click here

Content Pedagogy INTASC Standard 1: The teacher understands the central concept, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. My Refection I have written a research paper in which I investigated the place of cooperative learning in the mathematics classroom. paper A description of several math classes I have taken from SUNY Oswego. classes I have also taken exams required by NYS to gain teacher certification. exams

My Reflection on Content Pedagogy It is essential for secondary mathematics teachers to be able to guide their students to a true understanding of an often daunting subject. While success in mathematics is essential to gaining entry to many of the newest jobs today, thinking analytically is a skill all students will need later in life.

Student Development INTASC Standard 2: The teacher understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support a child’s intellectual, social, and personal development. My Refection I have done research on several topics related to this area, ranging from Year-Round Schools to block scheduling. Year-Round Schools block scheduling. I have also worked extensively with teens and their parents during my summers at a summer camp in New Hartford, CT. New Hartford, CT.

My Reflection on Student Development Understanding a child’s or an adolescent’s perspective and using that understanding to work with them towards the mastery of knowledge is a key skill teachers need to possess. By its very nature, mathematics is a discipline that inherently makes sense, yet many students don’t get it. Math is one of the most logical areas a student will study in school, and it is incumbent upon the teacher to discover how the material is best shown to students and what kinds of activities will most efficiently help them construct their knowledge of the subject.

Diverse Learners INTASC Standard 3: The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners. My Refection I have developed lesson plans that support students’ mathematical and literacy development so that students can use a skill they are comfortable with to help strengthen another skill. lesson plans I have also created rubrics that let students see exactly what is expected of them when they complete an assignments. assignments

My Reflection on Diverse Learners Math is an important part of today’s society. It is crucial that all students are given the opportunity to learn the math in middle school and high school that will enable them to navigate today’s technological society and play an active part in that society. Math is a discipline that is inherently logical. Moreover, everyone has the ability to learn math. It is the teacher’s job to decipher how to present material in such a way that each student has an equal opportunity to learn it.

Multiple Instructional Strategies INTASC Standard 4: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills. My Refection I have devised lesson plans that target key skills students need to acquire, such as working with divisors, and incorporated activities that students can become authentically engaged in. divisors I have also constructed an overview of a unit that is geared towards Algebra 2/Advanced Algebra students. overview

My Reflection on Multiple Instructional Strategies Understanding math will help all students, regardless of their eventual career paths. Critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills can be honed in a unique manner by studying mathematics. The math teacher must show great care in selecting instructional strategies that will speak their students’ skills and strengthen their weaknesses. This will help all students acquire a toolbox of valuable skills that will serve them well in all situations.

Motivation and Management INTASC Standard 5: The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positives social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. My Refection One aspect that is particularly important to keeping students engaged in meaningful activities and interested in the class is flow. flow I have also had the chance to put these theories into practice while facilitating a family gathering at a retreat for inner-city families. practice

My Reflection on Motivation and Management Having worked with school-age children in academic and non-academic settings, I believe that learning of any kind occurs when children understand that others around them, especially adults, want them to succeed. It is also important that children’s environment be tailored to give them the best chance at success. Meaningful activities are part of what a teacher has to make available to her students. On the other hand, students also need to feel comfortable working with unfamiliar material and making mistakes with that material. The teacher should communicate that she expects these kinds of interactions to occur.

Communication and Technology INTASC Standard 6: The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. My Refection An important part of a unit I created is a letter to students’ families. letter I have also prepared a lesson plan where trigonometry students work in groups to build their understanding of graphs while using SmartBoard. SmartBoard

My Reflection on Communication and Technology To offer their students the best opportunities to learn, teachers need to communicate effectively with their students and their students’ families. Teachers also need to promote communication between students. Communicating with students and families is essential because everyone involved in a particular student’s education needs to receive accurate information and feedback about the student’s progress. Likewise, students need to be able to use the language of mathematics among themselves to discuss and refine their understandings of difficult concepts.

Planning INTASC Standard 7: The teacher plans instruction based on knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals. My Refection I have created a rationale and overview for an advanced algebra unit on solving linear equations. unit As part of this unit, I created a game for the students to play.game

My Reflection on Planning Teachers need to constantly be seeking information about their audience and feedback about their techniques. When creating units and lessons and even when delivering lessons, teachers need to use the tools they have acquired to address the needs they see in their classes. These needs come in many different categories, including acquisition of content material, social issues within the classroom and community concerns.

Assessment INTASC Standard 8: The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learners. My Refection I have designed a lesson on volume and surface area. lesson I also designed an anonymous lesson post-test that students completed after I taught a lesson on plotting points and graphing linear equations on the Cartesian Plane. designed

My Reflection on Assessment The teacher always possesses content knowledge that students do not. Likewise, the teacher has an awareness of the growth that must take place in the student in order for the course goals to be met. However, the only way for the teacher to find out how much knowledge students are gaining is to engage in continual assessment. This assessment should be done informally during a lesson by questioning students so that activities can immediately be adapted to best serve the students. Assessment should also be done formally after a lesson through homework and exams. These assessments not only provide the teacher and students with feedback about how effective the instruction was, but also provide feedback about student knowledge relative to school district and state standards.

Reflective Practice: Professional Growth INTASC Standard 9: The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally. My Reflection My resume shows the different learning opportunities that I’ve been able to engage in. resume I have also taught lessons and reflected on what happened during those lessons and considered how I would improve the delivery of those lessons. reflected

My Reflection on Professional Growth Schools should be places where everyone learns. This is true for teachers as well as for students. Just as teachers are helping students prepare themselves for the next step in their educations, teachers are constantly reflecting on their own practices so they can become better educators. Such practices include actions within the classroom that deal directly with lesson preparation and delivery and also working as part of a team to help make the whole school function as a place of learning.

School and Community Involvement INTASC Standard 10: The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being. My Refection A writer at The Palladium-Times wrote an article about my involvement with this camp. In the write-up, I am pictured reading a story to members of the 9-12 year-old peer group. article

My Reflection on School and Community Involvement Just like teachers have lives outside of school, school-age children are not defined only by what they do in the classroom. Students live in and are part of communities. Teachers need to learn about their students’ communities in order to learn about their students and in order to learn how to create learning opportunities for their students.

Acknowledgement This professional portfolio is based upon Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium’s Core Standards. For more information about INTASC Standards Development, please click here. here