Section Five:

Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction

In this section of the portfolio, I will outline my learning process throughout the creation

of my own portfolio. I have had many positive experiences throughout my journey at Medaille

that help to guide me to be the best version of a teacher that I want to be. I chose teaching as a

career because it allows me to connect with children in a special way. I love being able to

provide children with an opportunity to learn through many experiences in life. I have been lucky

enough to work in the field for ten years and apply some of my learnings and own philosophy. I

have been able to have both educational and practical experiences throughout this journey. I will

be making connections to the Teacher Education Accreditation Council and the Council for

Accreditation for Educator Preparation. I will be pointing out at some of the courses I feel have

been particularly beneficial to my eagerness to become a teacher, as well as some of my learning

experiences from my experience with the before and after school program, working in a

kindergarten class and my countless volunteer experiences.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

This portfolio highlights some of the work I have done through my work experience as

well as through my educational experience at Medaille. Having this project is a valuable way for

me to see all of my experience at once as well as reflect on it. The work I have done shows

different skills that I have been able to develop throughout my educational experience. There are

other factors that helped to show my work that included planning (time management), I had to

think in order to provide valuable content that fit in to the appropriate categories required for the
development of the portfolio. I also was able to step back and see the process of my learning

happening in front of me.

I believe that throughout this process, the last 6 months have been the most challenging

and I went through a big learning curve. Although we live in a technology-based century, I am

awful with it all. It takes me a while to get use to new programs, and the way of life on the

internet. There is so much potential for teachers to incorporate technology effectively in their

classrooms. I think being thrown into a strict online only process this semester challenged and

pushed me to really learn all the areas needed for technology. Realistically, I want to take in

everything I have learned and apply it to my own classroom one day. Due to unforeseen events,

we as educators were challenged this year to push the boundaries that we were familiar with. We

needed to create a classroom, online. This idea was so odd to me, but I am grateful for the

experience seeing as it is our reality for the unforeseeable future. Medaille’s technology class

helped me to learn the benefits of technology in a classroom and how to create different tools or

activities. I learned so much about creating a google classroom, and a smartboard file. I know

that these two things will help me as a future educator (DOE/CAEP Claim 2: Pedagogy and Best

practices).

I have been lucky enough to have over 10 years’ experience in the field of education and

working with children. That being said, I have had my own time and experiences that have

helped me to become the educator I strive to be. I can honestly say that I fully enjoyed the

experience Medaille offered through the placement of working with the Buffalo prep schools.

This was a unique and valuable experience for the families, educators and most importantly the

children. We do not have a program like this here in Ontario, but I loved that it created such a

close-knit community feeling. These days really brought families the experiences to give their
children that they possibly couldn’t due to other life struggles (DOE/CAEP Claim 2: Pedagogy

and Best practices CAEP Standard 2.1).

There were a few courses throughout my Medaille experience that allowed me to get a better

sense of the world. I enjoyed the child development/ abuse class and the Diversity and Culturally

Responsive course. Both these classes taught and strengthened my ideas around the development

of an inclusive environment (physically and through different lessons). These courses taught me

how to take things from other diversities and included it in my classroom. I want to have my

children know that they are welcomed and respected. A piece of then will be represented through

our classroom, throughout the year. I always say to my coworkers when I have a tough day that

My class is my class for the children that are in it. As hard a class can be, they are no longer the

same if one or two are taken away. I appreciate all learners and what they can bring to my

classroom! (Claim 3: Caring Educators)

There were so much value to all courses provided and they were all so relevant to the

idea of being a teacher. We always need a refresher, in order to keep our practices sharp

throughout our career. This was a great opportunity for me to take in everything and

continuously learn. I was able to learn how to do incredibly detailed lesson plans, that really

highlighted everything to meet American standard and Canadian Curriculum. I enjoyed being a

Foreign exchange learner, so that I could take some aspects of American learning and translate it

when working in a classroom environment here (TEAC/CAEP Claim 1: Subject Matter).

Reediness to Become a Teacher

My love for working with children is not a new idea, I have dreamed of the moment

where I would be working in my own classroom with young children. I was in love with social

studies and psychology and the idea around child development. I entered college to receive a

diploma in Early Childhood Education and headed straight for a certificate in Autism and
Behavioral Science. These courses both provided me with placements that solidified my choice

to be an educator, I knew this was the field for me. I took a year off to work in a daycare and run

before and after programs. I then proceeded to get my bachelor’s in education and had a valuable

internship experience. I thought that dream came true when I was hired to work in a

Kindergarten classroom, although I have a deep passion in my classroom… I wanted more. I am

now reaching close to my final step through Medaille and receiving a Master’s degree, after a

long, hard journey. I know that I am ready, I have built so much knowledge throughout my

education and built a philosophy that represents a lot of what I learned. I am caring, and

knowledgeable of what needs to be taught in classrooms. I want to never stop learning and strive

to be the best of the best.

I am so grateful of this experience through Medaille and the courses they have provided.

They have set me up to learn about different ideas needed in the classroom, including the use of

technology, implementation of different subjects as well as how to manage behaviors effectively.

This degree along with my experience, in other education is what I needed to be the teacher I

want to be today. I learned that the environment in the classroom acts as the third teacher and it

is not only important to have age appropriate activities but that they are set up in an interesting

way to intrigue the learner. Medaille College has showed me that there are key things that are

important to a well-written and developed lesson plan. I want to take everything that I have

learned throughout the eight years of my college experience and hone it to my teaching practices.

Conclusion

They say all good things must come to an end, I feel that the education I have experience

was great and the end of the tunnel is better. I want my next stage in life to start so that I can

finally take everything I’ve learned and turn it into a career. I have had so many great learning
experiences working as an educator including my work in the field as well as my education. I

was able to develop my pedagogy as well as learn from many other amazing educators.

Educators that I felt were not suited for this position help me to create my own philosophy of

how I did not want my classroom environment to be. I learned from negative experiences just as

much as I learned from the positive ones. I think that is important to put a positive spin on life

and the things that you learn in order to make the best of it. I have been waiting for this

adventure to start from the day that I can remember as a little child. I hope that my artifacts and

work have been able to display the type of teacher that I am and want to be in a future classroom.

I have such a passion for working with young children and teaching and creating new

experiences for them that I just want to get started and see where life takes me through this

journey.