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MSED ELEMENTARY
Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection

Introduction

The purpose of Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection is to articulate the candidate’s

reflection of the portfolio project and teacher education learning experiences, as well as the

candidate’s readiness to become a teacher. These are the two subsections included in Section

Five. Reflection is an important component to an educator’s profession. This section further

showcases the candidate’s ability to reflect upon past experiences.

Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences

Throughout the MSED Elementary Education Program at Medaille College, I have taken

many different courses which have taught me pedagogy and best teaching practices that I will

apply to my future teaching experiences. For example, a few methods courses that I took include

developmental literacy, assessing & evaluating literacy, ELA, social studies, math and science.

Throughout these courses, I researched the curriculum standards to create many lessons which

were taught in front of the class (TEAC Claim 1: Subject Matter). This helped me hone my

presentation skills and make me a better natural public speaker. I was in a very supportive

environment where my classmates and professors offered feedback on my lessons. Throughout

these assignments, we were also given classroom scenarios where we provided accommodations

and modifications in our lesson plans for students with special needs (TEAC Claim 2: Pedagogy,

Best Teaching Practices for Diverse Learners).

During my second semester, I took a course called the Foundations of Special Education.

Throughout this course, we researched and discussed many topics in regards to special education

and students with disabilities (TEAC Claim 2: Pedagogy, Best Teaching Practices for Diverse

Learners, TEAC Claim 3: Caring Educators). We practiced utilizing software technology such
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MSED ELEMENTARY
as PowerPoint to create Pecha Kucha Presentations on different disabilities (TEAC Claim #1:

Subject Matter). The Pecha Kucha Presentation is included as Artifact #7 of this portfolio. This

course also provided the opportunity to complete two seminars, which were Child Abuse

Awareness and SAVE (TEAC Claim 3: Caring Educators).

In my final semester, I took the course, Cultural Competencies as an Emancipatory

Pedagogy, where we learned the importance of being culturally responsive in the classroom

(TEAC Claim 2: Pedagogy, Best Teaching Practices for Diverse Learners, TEAC Claim 3:

Caring Educators). Every child is so unique. Being culturally responsive is so important for

educators, as we need to include and support all of our students’ cultural differences. During this

course, I passed the Dignity for All Students Act training seminar, which I have included in this

portfolio as Artifact #1.

A second course that I took in my final semester, is the course called Technology for the

Elementary Classroom. This course allowed me the opportunity to learn extensively about so

many technology applications that can be used in the classroom, and how to implement them

effectively and efficiently (TEAC Claim #1: Subject Matter). I became an expert in the use of

SmartBoard technologies and many other technology applications can be found throughout my

Weebly website. A presentation that I made using SmartBoard is included as Artifact #3 and my

Weebly Website is included as artifact #2.