Professional Portfolio Assignment

Rationale

In this age of teacher accountability, it is becoming increasingly important for teachers to document their expertise and professionalism. Portfolios are one means to achieve the following aims: (1) to document the quality of students’ teacher preparation and (2) to support applications for professional employment. This assignment has you actively involved in the development of a comprehensive, outcome-based and proficiency-oriented portfolio that will accomplish the above aims. Constructing a portfolio encourages systematic reflection on your developing competence as a teacher by challenging you to capture critical, representative teaching and learning experiences. These then serve as the basis for more sophisticated thinking on the complexities of learning, teaching, and learning to teach. Completed during the student teaching semester, the portfolio becomes an important tool to facilitate reflection about your philosophy of teaching and your actual practice in school contexts. This process should help you develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to become an effective social studies teacher.

Requirements

Each Electronic Portfolio should contain the following:

Introduction to the portfolio, and opening narrative addressing your rationale for teaching social studies.
Current Resume
Six Professional Standard Sections—One for each professional standard. Begin each with a 1-3 page synthesis statement that describes the current state of your development with regard to that particular standard. Each section should contain evidence of your teaching and learning accomplishments in terms of each standard.
Each piece of work or evidence should contain a caption or annotation that indicates how this piece connects to your learning, and to professional standards.

The electronic portfolio is more than just an electronic scrapbook or multimedia presentation. Its contents are a presentation of your identity as an effective social studies teacher capable of translating pedagogical and content knowledge into meaningful social studies instructional practice. Each entry in the portfolio should reflect your principled rationale for teaching social studies, as well as your ability to meet high professional standards.

Professional Standards

The following standards are the expectations Program faculty hold as learning outcomes for pre-service teachers in Social Studies Education. These standards are useful as a tool for focusing attention on the broad range of learning outcomes the Program has adopted, and help to create a common language used throughout the Program. This table also serves as the basis for key evaluation instruments used during the student teaching semester—the Student Teaching Mid-Term and Final Evaluations and the Electronic Portfolio Evaluation.

Five of these standards represent the “core themes” that receive concentrated attention each semester of the Program, including the student teaching semester. These core themes are indicated by a double asterisk (**).

I. CONTENT AND CURRICULUM

1a) demonstrate understanding of foundations, aims, and practices of social studies education and their relationship to democracy

1b) demonstrate knowledge of content and modes of inquiry that are central to the subjects they teach

1c) use subject-specific forms of pedagogy that make content
accessible to students

1d) continue learning in their subject areas

1e) help students to make interdisciplinary connections

1f) interpret and create curriculum that reflects state, local, and national content standards

II. KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS AND THEIR LEARNING

2a) demonstrate that all students can learn at high levels by providing supportive and challenging learning experiences for all students

2b) demonstrate understanding of how students learn

2c) respect and are responsive to students as whole people

2d) demonstrate an understanding that social, linguistic, and cultural diversity play a role in student learning
.

2e) design instruction that adapts to students’ development, learning styles, and areas of exceptionality

2f) establish respectful and cooperative relationships with families and community members in support of student learning and well-being

III. LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

**3a) create an equitable and culturally responsive classroom

3b) create democratic learning communities characterized by collaboration, mutual support, and shared decision-making

**3c) organize classroom experiences to promote active student engagement in the pursuit of worthwhile learning

3d) manage classrooms effectively to promote student learning and safety

3e) motivate students by providing engaging learning experiences

3f) draw on school, district, and community resources to foster students’ learning and well-being

IV. ASSESSMENT

4a) employ different types of assessments based on knowledge of their characteristics, uses, and limitations to promote student growth

4b) use pre-assessment data to develop and support appropriate student learning goals

4c) implement assessments that match instructional goals

4d) involve students in self-assessment to help them develop awareness of their strengths and needs as learners

4e) develop and use valid, equitable grading procedures

4f) use assessment data to communicate student progress knowledgeably and responsibly to students, parents, and other appropriate stakeholders

4g) keep accurate and up-to-date records of student progress

V. PLANNING AND INSTRUCTION

**5a) articulate clear and defensible rationales for curricular and instructional decision-making

5b) develop and implement short and long term instructional plans that progress coherently towards learning goals

5c) vary instructional strategies and materials to support active student engagement in worthwhile learning for all students

5d) adjust instruction appropriately according to student response

5e) vary their instructional roles (e.g., instructor, facilitator, audience)

5f) value and engage in collaborative planning and instruction

VI. PROFESSIONALISM

**6a) systematically reflect on their own practice to improve teaching and learning

**6b) engage in collaborative inquiry

6c) advocate for teaching and learning that support equity and high expectations for all students

6d) examine and further their knowledge of the history, ethics, social conditions, and practices of schooling

6e) follow norms, expectations, and codes of professional conduct in support of student learning

6f) follow laws related to rights and responsibilities of students, educators, and families

6g) contribute positively to the broader school community

6h) learn from and contribute to professional organizations