Tentative Syllabus

Educ 340--Student Teaching

Fall Term 2007

Supervisor:Dr. Jim Vandergriff

Office: GDH 310

Office Hours: TBA

phone: Check my business card. I don’t want to put the number on the web.

e-mail: Check my business card. I don’t want to put it on the web.

website: http://faculty.knox.edu/jvanderg/340Stuff/Index340.html

Required Texts/Materials

None

I. Course Overview: Rationale and Purpose

This course is a full-time commitment to observation, reflection, and teaching in a school setting. Student teachers work closely with a cooperating teacher at their school site and with the Knox College instructor with the purpose of acquiring knowledge, skill, and experience as a teaching professional. Student teachers meet the requirements of the course by completing assignments at and for the school site, for the Knox College seminar, and for the Knox College teacher certification program. We strongly urge you to try not to work another job, or at least work the minimum you can. In any case, always remember that coaching, work schedules, etc., must take second place to your teaching.

The overview and aims of the student teaching experience are outlined in the department's Student Teaching Manual. Students are expected to be very familiar with its contents during the student teaching experience.

II. Course Objectives

Teaching candidates will be able to

1. demonstrate use of Illinois State Learning Standards in their specific disciplines

2. demonstrate acquisition of general knowledge required of all teachers

3. demonstrate acquisition and use of Illinois Professional Teaching Standards

4. routinely use reflection to guide practice and interactions in and outside the classroom, including effective self-evaluation that leads to the development of strategies to continually improve performance and results

5. manage the full-range of classroom routine, including creating an academically challenging environment, treating students and peers respectfully, and preventing or responding appropriately to disruptive students

6. develop and implement a curriculum unit in a specific discipline (or an integrated unit) that addresses the needs of all students, including specific plans for students with special needs

7. develop and implement daily lessons that reflect a repertoire of instructional methods and address the needs of all students, including specific plans for students with special needs

8. apply group work strategies

9. make subject matter come to life for students

10. address a range of students' needs through instructional planning and implementation, including the acquisition of content knowledge, identity development, positive human relationships, and character integrity

11. develop and use a wide range of assessment tools that addresses the needs of all students, including specific plans to adapt or use with students with special needs

12. complete student progress reports

13. conduct effective meetings with parents and guardians

14. recall and follow specific rights and responsibilities of teachers according to district policies and state and federal legislation (e.g., IDEA, mandated reporting, dress codes, physical contact)

15. accept all the responsibilities of teachers, including the supervision of students' extracurricular activities

16. prepare a teaching portfolio, including entry slips and visual appeal (See the Student Teaching Manual for specific requirements for the portfolio) (Electronic portfolios are required.)

17. critique videotaped teaching segments of self and peers

18. effectively handle a range of observers while teaching, including the cooperating teacher, administrators, the supervising instructor, peers, and parents

19. think critically

20. write in a scholarly form and voice

21. speak in a scholarly form and voice

22. give useful feedback to students, peers, cooperating teacher, and supervising teacher

23. receive and apply feedback from multiple sources, including cooperating teacher, supervising instructor, peers, students, and colleagues

24. write effective objectives for long and short term planning.

25. choose teaching strategies and evaluation techniques which are appropriate for the chosen objectives.

III. Knox College Conceptual Framework Themes & Pillars

The faculty in the Educational Studies Department has created a conceptual framework that guides the courses and experiences within the Educational Studies coursework. The conceptual framework consists of three Themes and six Pillars. During each course experience you will have the chance to visit some (maybe all) of the pillars through discussion and writing.

Theme 1 – Democratic Foundations

Pillar 1: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall understand the importance of the development of learning communities and environments that embrace diversity and promote social justice.

Pillar 2: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall possess and understanding of the historical, ethical, political, and social issues associated with education.

Theme 2 – Knowledge Foundations

Pillar 3: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall understand the importance of the study of the nature of knowledge, pedagogical practices, and methods of assessment and evaluation.

Pillar 4: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall recognize the breadth and depth of knowledge, which integrates the study of education with other disciplines.

Theme 3 – Praxis Foundations

Pillar 5: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall integrate theory and practice that is developed, supported, and maintained through reflection.

Pillar 6: The Knox College Teacher Candidate shall understand the importance of meeting state and national standards, developing the habits of mind that encourage professional growth, and creating leaders in educational communities.

IV. Knox Teaching Standards

Democratic Foundations (Standards A-C)

A. The Candidate understands the role of the community in education, and develops and maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and the community to support student learning and well being. (IPTS #9).

Candidate:

1. Expresses democratic values in teaching and learning practices and policies.
2. Completes collaborative work.
3. Maintains respect during interactions with peers, parents, cooperating teachers, faculty, and staff.
4. Creates a learning community in which individual differences including race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities are respected.
5. Develops lessons/units with learning goals.
6. Identifies and uses community resources, including communities structured around race, ethnicity, language, religion, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities that foster learning.
7. Talks with and listens to others, investigates situations, and seeks outside help as needed and appropriate to remedy problems, including considering views of parents of students with disabilities.
8. Responds to factors in the students' environments outside of school (e.g., family circumstances, community characteristics, health and economic conditions) that may influence students' lives and learning.
9. Considers multiple perspectives and interpretations, including perspectives and interpretations from non-dominant groups.
10. Collaborates with colleagues and parents of individuals with disabilities to provide equitable learning environment for students with disabilities.
11. Collaborates (including direct communication) with individuals with disabilities, their parents, teachers, and other school and community personnel to develop, implement, and assess individualized education programs for students with disabilities.
12. Understands the roles and relationships of school and society and society in schools.

B. The candidate is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally. (IPTS #10)

Candidate:

1. Is self-regulating and self-directed.
2. Thinks critically.
3. Willingly receives and gives feedback.
4. Engages in teaching and learning as an ongoing, reflective process.
5. Uses professional research and resources (e.g. colleagues, professional literature) in learning planning and teaching.
6. Participates in professional activities.
7. Positively influences behavior of individuals with disabilities through supportive attitudes and actions.
8. Assesses own needs for knowledge and skills related to teaching individuals with disabilities and other distinguishing markers of differences such as race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, and sexual orientation and seeks appropriate assistance and resources.
9. Confronts personal cultural perspectives and biases and their effects on teaching.

C. The candidate understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well being. (IPTS #11)

Candidate:

1. Respects the privacy of students and the confidentiality of information.
2. Acts as an advocate for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
3. Abides by state laws and professional codes of conduct, non-discrimination, non-harassment policies, and legislation guaranteeing the rights of individuals with disabilities, including identification, referral, instruction, and monitoring procedures for individuals with disabilities.
4. Strives for academic excellence.
5. Maintains a high level of integrity in educational practices which promotes the highest educational and quality of life potential for all students, including those with disabilities.
6. Attends class and makes arrangements for absences and missed work.
7. Talks and listens to others respectfully.

Knowledge Foundations (Standards D-G)

D. The candidate understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students. (IPTS #1)

Candidate:

1. Engages in generating knowledge and testing hypotheses according to methods of inquiry and standards of evidence used in discipline/s.
2. Understands how individual differences, including disabilities, affect processes of inquiry and influence patterns of learning.
3. Uses major concepts, assumptions, and debates central to his/her discipline/s while learning, creating short and long range plans, and teaching.
4. Relates his/her disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas and sees connections to everyday life.
5. Displays enthusiasm for his/her discipline/s.
6. Effectively uses multiple representations and explanations of concepts.
7. Engages in co-teaching, co-planning, and interdisciplinary learning experiences.
8. Designs learning experiences that use technology and uses adaptive devises/technology to provide access to general curricular content for individuals with disabilities.
9. Evaluates teaching resources and curriculum materials for their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing ideas and concepts.

E. The candidate understands how individuals grow, develop, and learn and provides learning opportunities that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students. (IPTS #2)

Candidate:

1. Identifies and considers ranges of cognitive, social, cultural moral, physical, emotional and linguistic development; communication needs and skills; and individual variation during planning, instruction, and interaction.
2. Applies motivational theory to teaching and learning.
3. Implements appropriate approach with peers, students, parents, and colleagues and maintains sensitivity to race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.
4. Develops activities, assignments, and classroom management policies appropriate to grade level and learning needs, as embodied in the curriculum.
5. Addresses the development of exceptionalities as defined in the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the Illinois Administrative Code.
6. Implements policies and practices ensuring an inclusive curriculum that accounts for the diverse background of students, including race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

F. The candidate understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners (IPTS #3)

Candidate:

1. Identifies and designs instructions appropriate to learning styles, strengths, and needs.
2. Uses teaching approaches that are sensitive to the multiple experiences of learners, including sensitivity to race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.
3. Makes appropriate provisions for individual students who have particular learning differences of needs and accesses appropriate services and resources to assist students with exceptional learning needs.

G. The candidate uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. (IPTS #5)

Candidate:

1. Works productively and cooperatively with others in complex social settings and promotes positive social interactions between individuals with differences (e.g., students with disabilities and students without disabilities; males and females; native English speakers and English language learners).
2. Uses a range of effective management strategies to promote positive relationships, cooperation, and purposeful learning in the classroom, including planning and implementing behavioral change programs for individuals with disabilities and implementing the least intrusive intervention consistent with the needs of students with disabilities.
3. Engages others in individual and cooperative learning activities that help develop motivation and social skill development.
4. Organizes, allocates, and manages resources of time, space, activities, and attention to provide active and equitable engagement of students in productive learning tasks.
5. Uses appropriate strategies to prevent crises from developing or escalating.
6. Helps the group to develop shared values and expectations for interactions, academic discussions, and individual and group responsibility that create a positive classroom climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry.
7. Uses procedures for inventorying the instructional environment to determine when and how best to meet a student's individual needs.

Praxis Foundations (Standards H-K)

H. The candidate understands instructional planning and designs instructions based upon knowledge of the discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals. (IPTS #4)

Candidate:

1. Represents and uses differing viewpoints, theories, “ways of knowing,” and methods of inquiry.
2. Uses contextual considerations in planning instruction that effectively bridges curricular goals and students' experiences.
3. Enhances learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and instructional strategies as well as human and technological resources.
4. Varies role in instructional processes (e.g., instruction, facilitator, coach, audience).
5. Uses IEP goals and objectives to plan instruction for students with disabilities.
6. Uses teaching approaches that are sensitive to the multiple experiences of learners, including sensitivity to race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

I. The candidate understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. (IPTS #4)

Candidate:

1. Provides all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability with equitable access to learning opportunities, modifying instructional methods, materials, and the environment to facilitate positive behavior and learning for individuals with disabilities and/or diverse learning characteristics.
2. Uses strategies and techniques for facilitating instructional objectives appropriate to the grade level.
3. Uses language for fostering self-expression, identity development, and learning.
4. Models sensitivity to difference, including differences based on race, ethnicity, culture, economic status, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
5. Asks questions and stimulates discussion in different ways for particular purposes (e.g., probing, problem solving, risk-taking, curiosity, factual recall, convergent and divergent thinking).
6. Develops and uses curricula that encourages students to see, question, and interpret ideas from diverse perspectives.
7. Uses a variety of media, communication, and technology tools, including audio-visual aids and computers, to achieve learning objectives.
8. Implements and evaluates personal learning objectives.

J. The candidate uses knowledge of effective writing, verbal, nonverbal, and visual communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. (IPTS #7)

Candidate:

1. Models appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication strategies in speaking, writing, and other media.
2. Selects and creates learning experiences that are appropriate for curricular goals, relevant to learners, and based upon principles of effective instruction.
3. Creates policies, lessons, and activities that operate at multiple levels to meet the developmental and individual needs of diverse learners and help each progress.

K. The candidate understands and uses various formal and informal assessment strategies to support the continuous development of all students. (IPTS #8)

Candidate:

1. Uses ongoing assessment in the instructional process to identify strengths and promote student growth.
2. Adapts assessment strategies for individuals and for particular contexts and appropriately monitors the progress of all individuals including those with disabilities.
3. Uses a variety of formal and informal assessment techniques to evaluate individual and group progress and performances and modifies teaching and learning strategies as mandated by legal provisions, regulations and guidelines regarding assessment of individuals with disabilities.
4. Uses assessment strategies to involve learners in self-assessment activities in order to become aware of strengths and needs and to encourage individuals to set personal goals for learning.
5. Collaborates with families and other professionals involved in the assessment of individuals with disabilities.
6. Uses technology appropriately in conducting assessments and interpreting results.
7. Uses assessment strategies and devices, which are nondiscriminatory and take into consideration the impact of disabilities, methods of communication, cultural background, and primary language on measuring knowledge and performance of students.
8. Evaluates the effects of class activities on both individuals and the class as a whole, collecting information through observation of classroom interactions, questioning, and analysis of student work.
9. Maintains useful records of work and performance and communicates progress knowledgeably and responsibly.
10. Uses classroom observation, information about students, and research as sources of evaluating the outcomes of teaching and learning and as a basis for experimenting with, reflecting on, and revising practice.
11. Uses a variety of instructional and intervention strategies prior to initiating a referral of a student for special education.

V. Attendance

The following is taken from the 2007-2008 on-line Knox Catalog (http://www.knox.edu/x1054.xml#Attend)

Class Attendance and Excused Absences

Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to participate fully in class activities. Students who are absent from class, regardless of the reasons for their absence, are responsible for all work assigned in the course. In all cases of excused absence, appropriate deadlines for the completion of work missed must be arranged by the student with the instructor. Students who fail to attend the first day of class and who have not been excused may be dropped from that class.

In case of illness, it is a student's responsibility to see that written verification of the illness is obtained from the physician or hospital and is provided to one of the Deans of Students, who notifies the student's instructors. If a student was not seen by a physician or at a hospital, but is known by the Dean of Students to have been ill, the student may request verification of illness from the Office of Student Development. In case of a verified illness, the student is normally excused from the class; in all other cases the decision is the prerogative of the instructor.

Instructors may adopt more specific attendance policies in their courses. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the instructor's policy and to abide by it. Students should be prepared to accept a grade of an F in a course for failure to adhere to the instructor's attendance policy. Except in the case of illness, it is the instructor's decision whether to excuse a student from class attendance. Reasonable standards of humanity and responsibility are expected to prevail.

VI. Content/Materials

Topics to be explored or reviewed during seminars will include but not be limited to (1) preparing the portfolio, (2) interviewing, (3) unit and lesson planning, (4) instructional methods and strategies, (5) classroom management, (6) Illinois State Standards (Content Area Learning Standards, general knowledge, Illinois Learning Standards and Professional Teaching Standards) and the Knox Teaching Standards, (7) assessment/evaluation/grading, (8) technology, (9) mandated reporting and other legal issues and (10) meeting the diverse needs of students.

Children's Justice Task Force. (October 2000). Manual for mandated reporters (Revised ed.). Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This resource is available electronically at http:/ /www.state.il.us/dcfs/mandated2OOO.pdf

VII. Teaching/Learning Activities

Class time will be divided between (1) discussing the listed issues and (2) discussing the student teachers' experiences, questions, concerns, and successes. At least half of the seminar time will be reserved for student teachers to raise topics for discussion.

Other Topics

As the need arises, other topics will be covered during the term. Generally we will spend the first third or so of the seminar time discussing issues of concern or delight that you generate from your experiences. Throughout the term we will talk about the portfolio and how is it coming together as well as address the writing of entry slips. We will then spend the remainder of the time discussing a specific topic/topics as noted in the syllabus.

The instructor’s primary role is to help each student teacher develop as a teacher. That will mean very different things for each individual, but there will also be some commonalities that we should be able to help us work through. All of you will be helping each other develop as well.

More specific pieces to my role are (1) to help you negotiate between your cooperating teacher and any differences in expectations between the school district and Knox College, (2) to help you think through lessons, units, performance pitfalls, difficult situations that none of us could foresee, and (3) to be part of the celebration of your successes!

Other parts of the instructor’s role to help each of you develop should be familiar. We will (4) provide information, (5) remind you of requirements from our program, the state, and our profession, (6) provide deadlines, and (7) review your work with the purpose of providing you with personal feedback and (8) calculate a final grade for the course.

VIII. Student Teaching Components

A. Classroom Teaching is your primary focus for your student teaching assignment. Please read the Student Teaching Manual and the Guide To Fieldwork for explanation of the student teaching experience. Follow the guidelines as stated in these two department documents and if you have questions talk to us immediately.

Beginning and ending times will vary according to your placement in a district. You will be expected to follow the school calendar for the full teaching day rather than the Knox College calendar. Your co-operating teacher will complete a mid-term and final evaluation of your performance. In addition to her/his evaluation, we will be observing and discussing your teaching with you. Your teaching journal, discussions, and comments during seminar will serve as sources of evidence of your preparation for teaching.

B. Seminars will provide a forum for student teachers to raise issues related to their work in schools, to share ideas and resources, and to promote reflection about teaching. Regular attendance at seminars is required. Seminar time will be devoted to discussion and the sharing of ideas and resources. The schedule included with this syllabus is tentative and will be negotiated as needed. Students are expected to come to seminar having competed the assignments.

A part of one seminar session will be spent in peer discussion of videotaped lessons. Individuals will provide a videotape of themselves teaching a lesson. The video will be viewed and critiqued in a seminar meeting of your peers. Each individual must participate with classmates to share segments of videos and provide and receive feedback on the lessons. Plan your videotaping carefully both in terms of content and timing. The taped lesson must be 5 minutes in length, have relevancy as an assessment of your instructional skills (for example, students taking a written test is an ineffective segment for taping), and be ready to air at seminar. During discussion with peers, individuals need to listen to feedback rather than defend or attempt to cover up, or blame others for rough spots. In a written narrative entry summarize (1) the lesson from your perspective, (2) and reflect on your teaching. This segment will also be included in your digital portfolio.

C. Observations of your teaching will take place regularly throughout the term. Prior to the observation, you need to submit to your supervisor a written lesson plan. The form of the written plans may vary from individual to individual, but they must include all of the curricular components (rationale, goals and objectives, content and materials, activities, and assessment) expected in other educational studies courses. In addition, each plan must address the education of students with special needs.

It will also be your responsibility to make sure you arrange for the observation visits. During three visits I will observe your teaching. We must also have a time to talk at each of these visits. After I have done those observation visits, I will need to meet with you for a few minutes. Please arrange to be free to meet with me immediately after the observation.

Visiting Professional -- You must make sure to schedule a date for another Knox professor (from a department other than Educational Studies) or teaching professional (e. g., a Dean) to visit your classroom and observe your teaching. For those teaching outside the Galesburg area, you need to arrange for an administrator – superintendent, principal, curriculum specialist, or your department head -- at your school to observe you at least once. Please ask him/her to provide me with a copy of his/her evaluation of your teaching. You will provide the name to me at the second seminar meeting.

D. Your portfolio will be a reflection of your student teaching experience and a portrait of you as a teacher. Your portfolio will be developed throughout your student teaching experience and will include the items listed on the course website. Some of these items may have already been produced for previous classes, but they may need to be revised in order to demonstrate competence at a higher stage of development as a teacher.

Each entry/artifact will need an entry slip that describes the skills and qualities reflected in the entry. Entry slips are important to the portfolio because they explain your rationale for including the particular entry and, therefore, will help you develop your pedagogical thinking and expression. The entry slips will include clear statements of how each entry demonstrates the goals of the teacher certification program and your development as a qualified teacher.

Student teachers are required to attend a professional conference during their student teaching experience. This is listed in the Student Teaching Manual as a requirement of the student teaching portfolio. The goals of the assignment are to have student teachers (1) develop a "habit" of continued professional development, (2) begin connecting with professional organizations, (3) attend an event as a teacher rather than a student, (4) experience a conference now rather than waiting until they have time because the time seldom comes, (5) make connections within the profession, and (6) find out how much you know in comparison to others at the conference.

Prepare two copies of your portfolio, one for you and one for the Department of Educational Studies. Electronic portfolios on a CD are required, but you are also strongly encouraged to create a paper one for use during interviews. You are also required to have a live version of your portfolio posted as a website during the student teaching experience. Each of you will acquire off-campus website space and begin posting your materials there as early as the first seminar. You will maintain this site in up-to-date working condition at least until Nov. 16, 2007 or the end of your student teaching experience, whichever comes latest.

IX. Expectations and Grading

A. Criteria for final grades is based on work at and for the school site, the portfolio, and seminar participation. Evidence of work in each of these areas must be achieved in order to receive credit for EDUC 340. For example, not attending seminars or attending but not participating or not turning in a portfolio would result in the need to repeat EDUC 340 for credit. If work in all three areas is attempted, your final grade will be determined according to the following scale.

Classroom teaching 70%

Portfolio 20%

Seminar Contribution 10%

B. General Guidelines:

1. Student teachers must earn at least a "C" in EDUC 340 in order to receive a positive recommendation from the Department of Educational Studies for teacher certification.

2. Completion of EDUC 340 with a grade of "C" or higher does not guarantee a positive recommendation from the department of Educational Studies for teacher certification. In addition to successful completion of EDUC 340, all program requirements must be successfully demonstrated. (That is, merely passing student teaching doesn’t guarantee that you will be recommended for certification by the state. Without a recommendation from your college, the state will not certify you to teach.)

3. All work must be edited for grammatical, punctuation, and spelling conventions.

4. Label all portfolio entries and assignments clearly by using the assignment name (e.g., Lesson Plan, Curriculum Unit, Journal Entries).

5. The abbreviation "etc." should be avoided in academic work because the reader

may not know what additional examples would fit the series.

6. If you are having trouble starting or completing work for EDUC 340, whether it is outlined in this syllabus or part of your cooperating teacher's requirements for you, discuss it with us as early as possible.

7. A common grammatical convention that we hold teacher candidates accountable for is subject/pronoun agreement. For example, if you write a sentence using “a student” as the subject, appropriate pronoun agreement is demonstrated with either “s/he,” “she/he,” or “she or he,” not “they.” Another option you have is to change your subject to the plural form and state “students. . .”

8. We expect teacher candidates to use gender-sensitive language; therefore, using only “he” or only “she” is only appropriate when speaking specifically about a particular individual whose sex is known to the reader. It is not appropriate when talking about generic human beings whose gender is not known to you.

9. We expect accurate and appropriate documentation. Education is a social science, which generally follows the APA formatting style. Please adopt the APA style for this course

C. Grading Policies

1. Attendance at all seminar sessions is required.

2. Portfolio entries may need to go through a series of drafts. It is the responsibility of individual student teachers to get drafts of portfolio entries to us in a timely manner if you desire feedback before final submission.

3. Because EDUC 340 is the last required course in the teacher certification program at Knox College, student teachers are expected to achieve at least a "Meets" for each Knox College Teaching Standards listed below. Your portfolio will need to be organized around the standards. (I will provide you with a template you are expected to use.)

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X. Portfolio Guidelines

Your portfolio should be a selective collection of artifacts or evidence that evokes your dispositions as a teacher and demonstrates that you have attained the goals of your teacher education program. These goals include the following:

1) an understanding and respect for the multicultural, multiethnic nature of American society in your work with students, parents, and peers.

2) a sensitivity to cultural, racial, social, class, and gender differences and the ways in which they affect teaching and learning.

3) the ability to carry out your intentions in the classroom and to articulate why you are doing what you are doing.

4) the exploration of a wide variety of teaching strategies that reflect your pedagogical knowledge.

5) the ability to maintain a classroom environment that facilitates meaningful learning.

6) the promotion of critical inquiry on matters of personal and social significance in your classroom.

7) reflection on your own teaching and work.

While your portfolio may include as many items as you wish, it must include each of the following:

1. A case study. During the student teaching term, student teachers will no doubt encounter a student who is involved in a problematic situation or is especially interesting in some way. Write a narrative that conveys the student’s situation and its context. Provide reflections on the study and its meaningfulness. It is not necessary to resolve the problem, but a thoughtful analysis and discussion of related issues is expected. You should create an alias to protect the student. This case study should not be posted on your public website. (KTS B, E)
2. Assessed student work. Include two or more examples of work completed by a student and graded by the student teacher. These must be scanned and sized appropriately for inclusion in the electronic portfolio. Copies will suffice if the originals are unavailable for the presentation portfolio. Information identifying the student should be removed. (KTS D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K)
3. Assessment tools. Include representative examples of assessment tools constructed and used during the student teaching experience (e.g. project, worksheet, test, group activity, etc.), including a description of what was learned by using these tools. Again, the documents need to be scanned and then sized appropriately. (KTS D, F, G, K)
4. “Big picture.” Include a statement of the “big picture” of the discipline, the importance of what you have chosen to teach. Include motivational “hooks” available to teachers of the subject and grade level. Possible sources of information for this artifact include professional literature and interviews. (KTS A)
5. Teachers’ union or school board meeting attendance. Collect documents to be scanned and sized appropriately for the electronic portfolio. (KTS A, C)
6. Professional conference attendance. Collect documents to be scanned and sized appropriately for the electronic portfolio. (KTS C)
7. Philosophy of education. Explain your philosophy of education based upon your college studies and school experience. Reflect on questions such as: Are you sensitive to the processes through which teaching and learning occur effectively? How do you plan on developing academically, professionally, and personally in your teaching career? How do you intend to apply and adapt your knowledge to the needs of your students? What are your professional ethics in relation to your students? Your educational values? What will be your role relationships within your school? What is your understanding of individual and cultural differences in your school and classroom? etc. Include your goals and objectives and what “drives” you as a teacher. (KTS B, C)
8. Involvement in broader life of the school. You need to experience the life of the school outside of the classroom. You may serve on a committee or become involved in a particular activity that teachers routinely participate in after the teaching part of their day ends. Collect evidence of your involvement to be scanned and sized appropriately for the electronic portfolio. (KTS A, C)
9. Selected journal entries. Include the journal entries and a discussion of why you selected these particular journal entries. If your entries describe “successes” or “mistakes,” be sure to describe why you consider them to be such. (KTS B, J, K)
10. Review of an article from a professional journal. Select an article in conjunction with your College supervisor that will help you address questions you may have. Then, write a review that includes a discussion of the main ideas of the article and their application to your teaching. (KTS B, C)
11. Unit and lesson plans. Demonstrate your ability to do long term planning with a unit plan based on your teaching assignment. The plan generally should contain at least two weeks of learning activities. Its topic should be cooperatively identified by you and your cooperating teacher. The plan should display originality and creativity in the preparation of its learning activities. (KTS D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K)
12. Facility with technology in teaching and administrative tasks. You need to have two or more examples of your use of technology, one from your classroom practices, for example the use of particular web sites during a classroom lesson as well as an example of how you use technology to keep roll, track student performance, grade, etc. (KTS D, E, F, G, H, I J)
13. Classroom management plan. This needs to be a one or two page statement of how you will manage the classroom. This should include both your approach and your classroom layout. (KTS D, E, F, G)
14. Video clip and reflection. You need to include a short video clip (2-3 minutes. Remember the video should focus on you and not include video of the children. (KTS B, H, I, J, K)
15. Annotated resource list. Every time you use a book, a web site, or published material enter the information into your list. You want the full reference and the way in which you used the resource. (KTS H)
16. District, school and student description. “…The most valuable resources available for teachers to relate classroom goals to the cultural diversity of their students were those that most often were overlooked: their students, the members of the local community, and the teachers themselves.” (Nieto, 1999, p. 154)

I require of you a digital portfolio suitable for distributing at interviews.