Change: This website displays two examples of work that show evidence of change in my thinking and my teaching. The two examples are my ten day lesson plan and my teaching strategies page. A careful look at my ten day lesson plan will reveal a heavy dependence on direct instruction. I believe that my teaching in this first year rarely pushed students to upper level thinking because I rarely employed diversified instruction. This is evident not only in the grade I received on the project, but also feedback from the class. The majority of my first year Geography students found the class very easy. Furthermore, classroom management was difficult because the students were not pushed to curiosity. I see the results of the lessons I learned from this first year on a daily basis. First, when I use direct instruction I now make a point to include either visual or audio components in the lesson. Secondly, I ensure that my lessons are well organized and that they build on one another. I have learned that clear, well-prepared lessons coupled with video/audio features maintain interest which, in turn, cuts down on discipline issues. A wonderful byproduct of these changes and results is that the students' curiosity encourages me to try and prepare my very best lesson every day. A measuring stick I use is considering what would keep me interested, and then integrating those ideas into the lesson.

Pride and Joy: To name two items in the portfolio I am most proud of, I must begin by mentioning the portfolio itself. In reading through the detailed list of portfolio components I felt that the best format to showcase my work would be in the form of a website. Having no experience in web design, I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of “learning by doing.” Each feature I discovered how to add was a little celebration. I could not be happier with the finished product. Now, two items within the portfolio that I am particularly proud of are the “teaching strategies” pages, and the course assignments. I have designed my “teaching strategies” pages to help the browser experience a day in class. These pages include turned in assignments, pictures, lesson plans, and a detailed description of the result of the assignment. In these pages I hope to convey the amount of time and effort that has goes into planning my lessons, and display student reactions. The second item that I am pleased to present is my course work. Two pieces that I am especially proud of are the County Assessment and the Group Research Paper. Both items are the products of long hours of work with colleagues, personal interviews with community leaders, and putting the pieces together on my own.

Teaching Profession: This portfolio showcases articles and projects I have completed by myself and with others to advance scholarship in Education. These pieces were not merely written to complete an assignment, the goal has always been to advance my knowledge of Education as a discipline and attempt to enrich the discussion of education methods. My leadership skills are reflected by the drive for constant improvement which is displayed in my portfolio. The portfolio documents how my work has improved since the first summer. Improvement is the result of careful planning based on the successes and failures of previous experience. It requires leadership to assess oneself on a daily basis, consistently striving to eliminate causes of failure. My educational philosophy is perhaps the greatest evidence of my growth. It has taken me nearly two years of experience to realize that discipline and inspiration are in my job description. Incorporating both into each lesson, and wanting to do so has been the growing trend in my career. Have I achieved mastery? In my mind, mastery is a far off concept that will never be reached. My professional growth will only stop when I am retired. Perhaps the most obvious form of growth can be seen in the portfolio on the “lesson plan” and “teaching strategies” pages, because the lessons in these two pages are so different from one another. The teaching strategies were engineered this year, while the lesson plan page displays lesson plans from over a year ago.