Mike White's Teaching Portfolio

There I am again, standing in front of the class. This time it's while presenting a PowerPoint presentation. I use those a lot. It's better than the students having to read my handwriting on the board. It's also just a great way to present a class. Did you know you could write an entire Jeopardy game in PowerPoint? It's possible. I've seen it done. I'm a tech geek as you may have noticed by this website and the lesson plans from Standard I. But we're not truly talking about tech in this standard, are we? This standard is all about if you can do the job. Can you teach a class? Can you be a member of the teaching "guild"? Can you be a team player? Can you... can you... can you? Well, I can. A year ago I wouldn't have said that. But I'm confident enough now to know I can.

Student Work Samples - A large part of proving that one has actually taught a class and can do so is by providing student work. I have created a separate page specifically for student work. Please click on the link and take a look at the numerous samples found there.

Proof Provided Elsewhere - Quite a few items that could be considered proof for this standard have been discussed and given elsewhere. Direct links are listed here:

"Numbered Heads Together" - This group method discussed in Standard II provided cooperative group work for the students. The lesson plans that used it are under Standard I below the heading of "The Actor in You" - Steps 9, 11-12
Technology Use - Technology use can be found throughout the lesson plans in Standard I. PowerPoint was employed often along with library work for the students. The "Voting Slogan" lesson even had them using the Internet to enter their slogans in a contest. Also, you will find they used technology to do a webquest based on the Harlem Renaissance which included them doing a PowerPoint. That webquest information can be found on the Student Work Samples page.
Differentiation Instruction - Examples of this employed would be the Easter assignment found on the Student Work Samples page along with the "Numbered Heads Together" method of group instruction. The Easter assignment was to give a specific student something to do to feel part of the class and the NHT method allowed that same student and many others to work together no matter their styles of learning.
Varied Instructional Strategies - Examples of the variety of strategies that have been used are throughout the different lesson plans I designed that are given as evidence of Standard I. I've tried many methods, from just giving out notes in the Step 9 "The Actor in You" lesson to the Quote Quilt crafting project. I hope you find the variety enlightening. I did.
High level, Essential, and Guiding Questions - All of my formal lesson plans have essential questions that use Bloom's Taxonomy to determine the level of questions asked. I kept those questions in the higher levels. Those lessons are found in Standard I. One particular set of lessons contained numerous questions designed to go with the poetry they asked about. These questions were carefully crafted for the lesson. That set of lessons was on Sara Holbrook's poetry. Evidence of those lessons is not only found in Standard I but also on the Student Work Samples page.
Classroom Management Plan - My classroom management plan is discussed in detail in Standard II and also in the rules I designed for my future classes.

Questioning Techniques

- This is an assignment I did for Morehead State University. It actually took place in the classroom. Data from the questioning techniques I used is referenced and analyzed.

Questioning - Audio - This is the actual audio from the taped class.

Adaptive Technology - The library computers used a program that would read text to the students who needed help with their reading. The students used this often and I encouraged those who needed it to do so. Also, Windows XP contains numerous accessibility options that I helped the students learn to use if they needed them.

Reflection

Wow. Speaking of adaptive technology, a teacher has to be adaptive. Most of the information you find in this portfolio will probably be changed, molded, etc. as the years go on. Teachers are constantly learning new things. Just look at Standard I. The first lessons are surrounded by an orange box. Almost all of the last ones are surrounded by a green box meaning that those lessons contain rubrics. Rubrics became quite important to me when I realized the purpose of them. They help both the teachers and the students. Only reason the final lesson does not have a rubric is because a rubric is not necessary for that lesson. The NHT method was used for assessing the questions.

That would be my advice at this point in the portfolio. You can learn how to create a great educational environment, but that knowledge will change. You must know how to adapt to not only everyday situations (like a bombing lesson plan), but also to the changing times and students. Adapt or fail.

Standard III - Implements/Manages Instruction

Reflection

"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative."

-H.G. Wells