1. Professional Development Portfolio
Timothy M. Bower
Residence: Personal:

2. Table of Contents About Me: Timothy M. Bower
Standard #1: Content Pedagogy
Standard #2: Student Development
Standard #3: Diverse Learners
Standard #4: Multiple Instructional Strategies
Standard #5: Motivation and Management
Standard #6: Communication and Technology
Standard #7: Planning
Standard #8: Assessment
Standard #9: Reflective Practice: Professional Growth
Standard #10: School and Community Involvement
Resume: Objectives, Experiences, and Goals

3. About Me… Name: Timothy M. Bower Hometown: Clay, NY Age: 24
Content Specialty: Social Studies
Goals:
Obtain my Masters Degree
Start my teaching career
Complete the Boston Marathon
More About Me…

4. Standard #1: Content Pedagogy
Description of Standard: The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Resume
Hegel’s Theory of History
History Thesis
History of Napoleon

5. Standard #2: Student Development
Description of Standard:  The teacher understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support a child’s intellectual, social, and personal development.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Vygotsky's Cognitive Development Theory
Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory
Historical Perspectives and Theories (Eras of Education)

6. Standard #3: Diverse Learners
Description of Standard:  The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Textbook Analysis
Collaborative Teaching Strategies

7. Standard #4: Multiple Instructional Strategies
Description of Standard:  The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Encouraging Student Development (New Technology)
Encouraging Student Development (ELL Students)
Major Characteristics of an Effective Literacy Program

8. Standard #5: Motivation and Management
Description of Standard:  The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Tim's Teaching Philosophy
Seating Arrangements

9. Standard #6: Communication and Technology
Description of Standard:  The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Communication & Technology in the Classroom

10. Standard #7: Planning
Description of Standard:  The teacher plans instruction based on knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Lesson Plan (How a Bill Becomes a Law)
Seating Arrangement Ideas
Lesson Plan Calendar Tips

11. Standard #8: Assessment
Description of Standard:  The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Quiz: How a Bill Becomes a Law (Assessment for Standard #7)
 Assessment Strategies

12. Standard #9: Reflective Practice: Professional Growth
Description of Standard:  The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
Reflection
Artifacts:
Resume

13. Standard #10: School and Community Involvement
Description of Standard:  The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.
Reflection
Artifacts:
 I have been a member of this organization since I was 13 years old.  I spent my summers here waiting tables for the elderly and conducting museum tours for boaters from all over the world that happened to be passing through Phoenix.  Now I volunteer my time mentoring children who live in the village that are dropped off at the Bridge House during the day.
 I have been a member of this club since high school.  Over the years I have helped to train my peers, colleagues, and eventually I plan to get my students involved in this running club.  When I become a teacher I also hope to be the school’s track and cross-country coach.  I think it would be neat to get my students involved in an activity outside the classroom.  Ultimately, I plan to introduce them to one of my main hobbies and maybe they can introduce me to one of theirs in return.
**Both of these organizations have helped in connecting me to my community and I hope to join more clubs as time goes on.  Organizations like these are important to me in that they help me to form new relationships with colleagues, my peers, and in the not so distant future, my students.**

14. Standard #1: Reflection
This standard, to me, is the most important of all of the INTASC standards.  Basically, this particular standard shows that the educator does in fact know what they are talking about.  It is simply saying that the teacher must understand the central concepts, tools that are used in the teaching process, and structures of the discipline he/she is teaching in order to be an affective teacher.  This in turn will help the educator create learning experiences that make these aspects of the subject matter more meaningful to the students.

15. Standard # 2: Reflection
There are so many different types of young learners, and they are all at different levels in their development. Due to this, there are many similarities and differences that can be observed from each and every classroom. All of this being said, it is crucial that the teacher knows how and when to cater to the different stages of development for each individual in the classroom. Ultimately, the teacher must find a way to meet the needs of as many, if not all, of the children at the same time.

16. Standard #3: Reflection
This standard focuses mainly on the fact that different learners are in need of different teaching approaches. For example: some students are visual learners, while some students learn better by group collaboration, one-on-one instruction, and/or by cooperative group work.

17. Standard #4: Reflection
This standard focuses on the idea that in order for an educator to encourage cognitive development, critical thinking skills, problem solving, and other performance skills, you need to first find the most affective way to teach the material to the diverse group of students, and at the same time, make the content being taught interesting to learn. The incorporation of word prompts, brainstorming, and group projects can help in fostering all of these skills in a more fun and interesting way.

18. Standard #5: Reflection
This standard, to me, is very important due to my belief that in order to be most productive in the classroom, you must be motivated and well-organized in the subject matter being taught. In my opinion, good organizational skills need to be stressed in the classroom at a very young age, as well as, the establishment of rules and guidelines that must be followed while in the classroom. Once these components are enforced and respected by the students I feel motivation and management will be easy to promote.

19. Standard #6: Reflection
I find this to be a very important standard due to the fact that my specific content area, Social Studies, is viewed as one of the more boring subjects to the majority of young learners. Luckily, the internet helps in a variety of ways in regards to making the content less “dry” and/or “boring”. Today’s students can now surf the web for pictures of the people and places that we are discussing in class, can go on WebQuests, and can go on virtual tours of countries, museums, and historical monuments throughout the world. Ultimately, technology has helped tremendously in regards to making Social Studies more interesting to today’s students. Also, technology has made it easier to communicate. Students can interact with each other over the internet when they have questions on their homework, and can check their teacher’s websites for classroom schedules, assignments, and announcements.

20. Standard #7: Reflection
This standard is very important due to the fact that it deals with what is actually being taught in the classroom. As a teacher, it is crucial that you plan for all areas of your lessons. It is important to at least know what it is that you want to accomplish. For example, you might have every detail written down when it comes to what you want to do before, during, and after the lesson, but your planning might not work out the way you imagined due to the fact that there are many different types of students that make up your classroom. It is important that when you are planning your lessons that you allow extra time because not all young learners work at the same pace and you do not want them to feel rushed if you don’t have to. Throughout your teaching you will get better at estimating the time needed in order to complete your lessons, until then, you will have to get used to the idea of a “tentative schedule”.

21. Standard #8: Reflection
There are many different types of assessments; assessment is not just creating an exam at the end of every unit. Not all students learn the same way, and this is why I feel that students should not be evaluated in only one way. I feel that each student should be provided with an equal opportunity and in order to make this possible you need to evaluate them in a variety of ways using multiple assessments. It is a good idea to keep records on each student in order to find out how they retain the information presented to them the best. The use of alternative assessments are a great idea; they may take longer to construct, but higher levels of thinking are promoted, which makes it worthwhile in the long run.

22. Standard #9: Reflection
This standard stresses the issue of experience in the education profession and what you, as a future educator, are willing to work at, build upon, and adopt in regards to your strategies, goals, and overall teaching approach. This standard gives me the chance to show onlookers of my blog the experience I have thus far in my quest to become an educator, the strengths I posses in result of these experiences, and lastly, it provides the viewer with a descriptive outline of who I am as a person and what I am willing to do in order to become a successful educator.

23. Standard #10: Reflection
To me, this standard is basically saying that the educator is not only interacting with parents, students, and colleagues in the classroom, but is also attempting to try and build relationships outside of the classroom. I think this is important because by doing this the teacher is making themselves more approachable to their students and peers. In my experiences, I have found this to be very helpful due to the fact that young learners will respect you more and understand where you are coming from on a whole other level if you open yourself up to them and go out of your way to get to know them better.

24. Acknowledgement
This portfolio is based upon Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium’s Core Standards. For more information about INTASC Standards Development, please click here.