Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences

Introduction

Through-out this section of my portfolio you will get a deeper understanding of my

educational background, work experiences, school and classroom experiences as well as my

philosophy of education and resume. I plan to connect this reflection of my past experiences with

experts and theorists in the field of education to demonstrate my competencies as a teacher. I

look forward to sharing with you how and why I found this path to education and who I plan to

be for my students in the classroom.

Youll notice while reading that I bring a different lens to the field of education as I am a

mature student who has already had a career in another field, as well as being a mom of two

young children who are just starting their school careers. I plan to bring my personal experiences

and passion for developing others to this portfolio and of course to the classroom as well.

Teacher Candidate Educational Background and Work Experiences

Education experiences.

Ive always loved school and from a young age I knew I wanted to be teacher. I would

dramatize leading my own class with my younger sister and our stuffed animals regularly. I

would create worksheets for my sister as she was three grades below me and I remember helping

her with her speech when she was struggling the th sound. The teaching and training itch has

always been with me. And when I think back on my educational experiences from elementary

school all the way up through grad school, there are a handful of truly impactful scenarios that

have lead me to where I am today, preparing to become a teacher myself.

 In grade 10, I had a teacher go above and beyond her role as an educator for a friend of

mine who had recently lost her mother to cancer. This teacher completely embodied what it

meant to create differentiated instruction, use culturally responsive teaching strategies, and make

accommodations on an individual basis. It was her care and concern towards my friend, and her

ability to think outside the box to allow my friend to complete her grade 9 science work in our

grade 10 science class that inspired me even more to become a teacher. I saw the impact she was

having on my friend and the connections she had with all of her students and I knew that I could

do the same one day.

The next experience that has shaped my path is when my daughter started kindergarten

and I witnessed firsthand how the teacher-student relationship can impact ones experience of

school. My daughter would come home from school and share about what she was learning and

the cool experiences she was having with her teacher and friends. Her zest for learning was so

reminiscent of my time in school and it re-awakened my goal of becoming a teacher. As I saw

her begin the early stages of learning how to read and write, I realized what a privilege it was for

her teacher to be teaching her the most important skills a child needs in life, and I knew I had to

find a way to make my goal a reality.

Work experiences.

Although I am a mature student and have had two other careers before entering teachers

college, every single work experience I have had entails teaching and training as part of the main

job descriptors. Ive always loved the cycle of learning and teaching and was heavily immersed

in this while I worked as a Personal Trainer for a large fitness facility. I was able to work with

clients of various ages, fitness levels, cultures and all with varying fitness goals. I was practicing

differentiated instruction, learner accommodations and culturally responsive teaching strategies

long before I even knew they existed. Once client in particular was a student in grade 7 who was

going through puberty and experiencing some body image issues. We worked together regularly

for almost two years targeting her fitness level, nutrition habits, mindfulness and self-leadership

skills. She was one of my most challenging yet rewarding clients to work with as I had to modify

all movements and information into pieces she could understand and action. It was through

proper planning, instruction and assessment that I was able to help her reach her goals all

aspects of being a teacher in a classroom.

Another experience in the workplace that has greatly impacted me in becoming a teacher

is my role as an assistant store manager at a large retail chain. Here I am responsible for

managing thirty to sixty team members with the common goal of hitting our store targets. In

doing so, I engage heavily in product training and personal development with my team and have

witnessed firsthand how important it is to make connections with each individual person, and be

aware of how they best learn new material, what their strengths are and how they are motivated.

This role has me teaching every single day and utilizing the same strategies and competencies I

will need for the classroom.

School Observations and Classroom Application

In working towards becoming a teacher, I have observed many different classroom

settings and plan to apply what Ive learned in my own class. Below I outline an observation that

highlights key behavior management techniques, culturally responsive teaching strategies,

differentiated instruction and learner differences. Ill take my learnings from this observation

with me into every classroom I walk into as an educator.

Best Practice Focus:

The best practice that I observed was the implementation of two different behavior

management strategies with a student who was exhibiting challenging behavior that was

disrupting the rest of the class. The teacher had been keeping a running record of what preceded

the behaviors and had tried a variety of techniques to curb it with no luck. When I began, I was

able to provide the extra set of hands in the class to support her next technique of creating a

redirection center for this child as well as a token reward system, which rewarded him for

exhibiting positive behaviors. This is an example of operant conditioning where a student is

rewarded for exhibiting desired behavior in the hopes that the behavior will continue. (Skinner,

B.F., 2011) It was important for me to see the process and follow through as I was able to see

firsthand the results in the classroom and differentiated instruction, which has provided me with

techniques I can use in my own classroom.

Settings:

The classroom I observed this in was a JK/SK class with students between the ages of 3-5

years old. The class was evenly proportioned between male and female students and was located

in a suburban neighborhood with primarily Christian belief system. There was one student

identified with being on the spectrum, who was also a Jehovah witness. The remaining students

varied in their ethnicity with a mix of Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Pakistani, and

Asian. The social economic status of the school neighborhood could be classified as middle-

class, with a small population being of high class, and a small population being of low class. The

children in the class were primarily middle class with a few identified as having a lower income

status. Being it was the end of September and being it was fairly early in the school year, the
teacher and her ECE were still getting to know the students individually and assessing what level

each student was at. My regular observation time is Monday morning, when the class is

completing writing activities by sharing stories from their weekends. The class has a high

number of students at 28, in class designed for numbers around 22, creating a cramped

environment. The teacher has sectioned the classroom into different centers like Drama,

Technology, Sensory, Reading and whole class instruction. There are literacy center bins and

math bins in shelves lining the walls of the classroom. At the center of the room is a projection

screen, an easel and a class laptop that the teacher uses in her literacy lessons. The students are

seated at rectangle tables in groups of 6 denoted by different colors so each student knows where

they are sitting. Around the room you can see pictures of the students with their goals for their

year in Kindergarten, the word wall, class schedule graphic, as well as other literacy prompts and

anchor charts. Everywhere you look there is an educational aid to help the students.

With each lesson the teacher gives, she provides differentiated instruction for her student

with autism as well as those students in SK who are performing ahead of the class. This teacher

has been teaching Kindergarten for almost 10years and it is evident she is familiar with this

grade level. There is an EA who travels from class to class and spends around 30minutes in the

class during the literacy portion of the lesson to assist the lower performing students. The

behavior management in the classroom works perfectly for all but 1-2 students who each have

their own behavior strategy in place to support them. The teacher addresses the students with a

compassionate tone and never appears flustered, even when things are not going as planned. You

can tell she is an experienced teacher and I learned a lot of tips and tricks on how to manage a

class of 28, 3-5 year olds. These are also techniques that can be adjusted to suit most grade levels

and are easy to incorporate into the classroom.

Description:

Its Monday morning and the students are coming in from outside and putting their

jackets and outdoor shoes away in the cubbies. As they enter the room they have three things

with them; their mailbags which they put in the mail bin, their lunch bags which they put on the

bottom shelf of the welcome center, and their water bottles which they place on the top shelf of

the welcome center.

After this, they place their star cut out that has their name printed on it, into the

attendance chart. A quick glance at this and the teacher can easily see who hasnt checked in yet

or who is absent. Once they are checked in, they take a seat on the carpet and wait for class to

begin. During this time the teacher is signing a song which reminds them of the steps they must

take before sitting on the carpet.

When all the students are seated, the teacher starts their day by reading the welcome letter

she has printed on chart paper to the class. She encourages her students to help her read it and

asks for volunteers to read as much as they can. Once the welcome letter is read, she brings up

the star of the day student who has brought a bag of items from home that they have collected

which starts with the same letter as their name. The student sits in the star chair and presents

their items to the class.

While this is happening, the child with the behavior issue is having a hard time sitting

appropriately on the carpet without disrupting the rest of the class. Multiple alternatives have

been attempted to continue to have him be a part of this morning routine from giving him

specific jobs to do on the carpet to help the teacher, to sitting on another area of the carpet, to
having him sit right beside the teacher. Any mode of correction usually triggers this child to start

misbehaving rapidly to the point of hitting or spitting in the teachers face.

On the morning that I was there the teacher wanted me to ask this boy if he could be my

special helper during the lesson. This instantly made him feel good about himself and he was

eager to come with me. We sat at a table close to the carpet and I instructed him to do helper

tasks like cutting straws and pipe cleaners for the sensor bins, practicing writing his name on

the whiteboard and other small busy tasks.

During this time, the teacher put a movie on the screen about a witch as they were

gearing up to complete fall and Halloween related activities. The student who was a Jehovah

witness was seated in the technology center with the ECE with headphones on while he watched

another fall related video as he doesnt celebrate Halloween. This is a perfect example of the

teacher utilizing culturally responsive teaching strategies as she was able to celebrate the culture

of majority of the classroom while continuing to respect the needs of all her students.

Once the video was over, the teacher started doing a retell with the students, asking for

volunteers to answer her questions. She also used the whiteboard to write out the answers for

those who are more visual learners than auditory. She then models what is expected of the

students for the activity as they complete a mock example together as a class. It was obvious that

the students were eager to get to their desks to complete their activities.

When they arrived at their desks the students were to cut out and paste the retell pictures

in order on a sheet. The student who is a Jehovah witness completed his own sheet that had to do

with his video that he watched and had the help of the EA while doing so.
 During this time, we noticed that the boy who was completing the tasks with me was

actually listening more to the teacher and answering her question prompts, even though he

looked so preoccupied by the tasks. It appeared that he was able to concentrate more intently on

the lesson while his hands were busy.

At this time, we also implemented a coin system to reward his appropriate behavior with

the goal of collecting 10 coins which would give him 10minutes of iPad time. Throughout my

time with him completing the tasks I would give him a coin here and there when I saw him on

task and completing his work.

Once all the students were back at their desks I started to circulate the room providing

assistance to any student who needed it. I was still very aware of the boy at his desk and

continued to reward his positive behavior with coins.

Once the students are done their activities, the expectation is that they hand in their work

to the complete folder, then select a literacy bin and play quietly on the carpet while the rest of

the class finishes.

Many of the students group together to complete the literacy bins and play relatively well

together with very little need of interjecting from either myself, the ECE or the teacher. Each bin

has a game with a literacy base and creates a fun environment for the students to learn to read

and write without realizing that it isnt just fun game.

Through the entire morning we are rewarding the boy with his coins and he attaches them

to his chart with Velcro. His eyes light up every time he earns one and it seems that the teacher

has identified his currency and how he is motivated. He exhibits positive behavior for the

remainder of the class, and when I followed up with the teacher later that day, she mentioned that
he was able to earn his iPad time and behaved appropriately the entire day. This use of

technology in the classroom, even in the form of a reward system, helps prepare the students for

future educational situations where other forms of technology are used to enhance the learning

process, and increase student engagement (Linik, J.R., 2015).

On my subsequent visits to the classroom these techniques were still in use and continued

to help keep him on track most of the time. Some adjustments have been made to the helper

activity center as he only behaves well when he has 1:1 support.

Analysis (Connections/Links):

After watching and being a part of this scenario first hand I can see direct links on how

this relates to what weve learned in class with regards to classroom and behavior management.

In this case, the use of a reward system was an immediate solve for this student as he responded

well to positive reinforcement. This relates directly back the work of BF Skinner (1938), in that

rewarding the behavior that we want to see will elicit more of that behavior, and that was evident

in this case. What I did notice is that other students in the class were becoming distracted when

he was receiving the coins as they were curious as to what was going on. Reflecting on this, I

may choose to introduce a tool like this in my classroom differently and enroll the entire class in

having a chart to collect coins. I might also give the students to ability to hand out coins to each

other so they too can reward the positive behavior so its not just the teachers in the room

acknowledging this but rather create a leadership culture where students feel free to give

feedback to each other.

Another take away from this experience for me was the story behind the child. This boy

for example spends much of his time outside of school in a daycare facility and spends very little
quality time with his family as there have been some challenges. Although his behavior was

disruptive to the class, I was sensitive to the fact that many of his outbursts were just a cry for

attention and all he wanted was to be seen and heard. Knowing this, I may approach the situation

completely different and provide more opportunities in the class as a whole for students who

need extra praise or extra attention so the inappropriate behavior isnt what always gets them the

attention. I do realize this teacher is in a very large class and there is only one of her and her

strategy she implemented worked extremely well, but if Im reflecting critically about the

scenario I do see opportunities for improvement.

Overall, I saw the importance of being a flexible teacher with a wide variety of strategies

and tools to implement in order to minimize this behavior issue with this child. Like we have

learned in class, its crucial that we dont attach ourselves to one specific idea if its not

working, we have to try something new!

Applications:

This experience has given me so many things to think about as I enter into the teaching

field. I have been able to create a list of resources just from this class that I know I can utilize in

any grade level that I am placed in. The way the teacher was able to teach her lesson in a variety

of different modalities (auditory, visual etc.) showed me how important the use of technology is

in creating differentiated instruction. This technique allows the teacher to accommodate the

various cultures, needs and learning styles of their students and can provide more opportunities

for student engagement in the classroom (Subban, P., 2006). This is definitely an area that I will

aim to regularly incorporate into my classroom.

 Another strategy that I will be borrowing from this teacher was how clear her processes

and transitions were between times of day and different activities. She left no room for

improvising which created the structure her students needed and thrived in. Having clear

expectations is something that needs to be implemented from day 1 in the class and the

importance of this was seen with how seamless her students moved from one activity to the next.

I intend to create solid process strategies for my classrooms and then invite my students to share

their input on how they are running to encourage critical thinking and problem solving. These

structures were ones that were inspired by the work of Harry Wong, who strongly advocates on

the premise that if your classroom is managed correctly and consistently from the first day of

school, then student discipline wont have to happen (Wong, H., 1991).

I want my students to feel encouraged to question everything and to be innovative. I am

all for doing what has worked well in the past, but I am just as willing to disrupt the norm and

create something even better!

Philosophy of Education

The school.

The role of the school changes in relation to the societal needs of the time. Looking back

to the Colonial time period, the school system became a representation of the European class

system and schools were run by different churches. During this time period the goals of the

school were based on the belief was that well-educated individuals who knew the word of God

would be more likely to withstand the devil, and therefore follow in line with the Puritan

ministers (Ornsetin, Levine, Gutek & Vocke, 2014).

This changed in the 1840s-1850s when the common-school movement began which led

to females entering the teaching profession as they were thought to be more nurturing and
domesticated and well suited to be in the classroom (Ornsetin, Levine, Gutek & Vocke, 2014).

At this we started to see the goals of the school shift to be that of preparing our children to work

for a living and become contributing citizens. The belief here is that the more education you

have, the more money you can earn.

Moving forward into the 19th and early 20th centuries, we see the continuation of the

goals from the early 19th centuries but we also see the effects of Americanization in schools.

The objective here is that the dominant American ideologies are pressed upon the immigrating

minorities in order to make new comers more American (Ornsetin, Levine, Gutek & Vocke,

2014).

Its clear that the role of the school is impacted by societal demands as seen with time

periods marked by desegregation in schools, the civil rights movements, feminism and now in

our current time period, being culturally responsive in our teaching practices. As teachers its

important to recognize the needs of the current time and how this impacts the roles and goals of

the schooling system.

In reviewing the historical data of the role of the school and my current knowledge base,

I do believe there is a significant impact the school plays on preparing our children for becoming

respectful, contributing citizens in our global economy. We need to encourage the acceptance

and celebration of our differences in the classroom in order to set our students up for success

when they venture into the real world post-graduation.

The curriculum.

There are 2 main influences on curriculum development. In looking at the Perennialist-

influence, we see that the main purpose of this focus is the teaching of the best of the past, while

the Essentialist-influences is subject-centered with emphasis put on 6 major areas of study, and
the belief that there is essential information that teachers should be held accountable to imparting

on their students. Both of these views do feel that the curriculum should focus on testing and

training that can only be accomplished by studying certain subjects.

If we fast forward to the early to mid-1900s and review the work of progressive

education, we see the shift from subject-centered curriculum to that of student-centered, where

there is a greater emphasis placed on the interests and desires of the students. The belief here is

that students will be intrinsically motivated and that student performance would increase. I feel

there is a lot of merit to progressive education as students will naturally excel in subjects that

excite and intrigue them.

Learning

My belief of learning in the classroom stems from the work of a few different educational

theorists and follows a constructivists view of learning. My goal is to blend these into a

workable mosaic that will create a class culture that values different methods of learning to

support the individual differences of my students.

My main inspiration of learning is that of the work of Benjamin Bloom. His theory is

based on a hierarchical model which he believed could breakdown the learning objectives of the

curriculum in to 3 different domains: cognitive; knowledge-based, affective; emotive-based and

psychomotor; action-based. The goal here is higher order thinking, starting at knowledge or

remembering and graduating through to understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and

ending at creating. Its this process of assimilating information that gives teachers a workable

framework for planning, teaching and assessing within the classroom. Teachers can utilize

Blooms verbs in the setting of objectives and expectations of their lesson plans to create

concrete differentiated learning opportunities for each of their students. This incorporation of
differentiated instruction aligns with the constructivists view of building on past understanding

through exploring their environment rather than just regurgitating from memory, with the goal of

increasing each students potential (New World Encyclopedia, 2013).

Combining the Blooms Taxonomy with what is known as Culturally Responsive

Teaching, I believe it is imperative teachers base their curriculum and lesson plans to the

everyday lives of the students within their classroom. By incorporating resources and materials

that are already familiar to the students, teachers can enhance learning in the classroom. This

method of teaching celebrates and acknowledges the cultural differences present in the class and

creates an inclusive environment where every student feels seen and heard. I believe that this is

paramount in building confidence and self-worth in our students, which only leads to more

effective learning and experiences in the classroom.

The learner.

Looking at the 4 developmental stages of the child, as theorized by Jean Piaget, we can

see that there are concrete cognitive tasks that the child must achieve before moving on to the

next task, and I feel that as teachers its our responsibility to ensure we are giving our students

the opportunities to develop these skills in the classroom. As a constructivist, this is where

creating experiences for students to explore and experiment with their interests in unique

opportunities that correspond with their level of readiness will be what fosters learning in

classroom.

Creating lesson plans utilizing differentiated learning strategies will ensure that each

learner is given the individual support needed to reach their full potential. Aligning with the

Realist point of view, I believe that every child has the capacity to learn and its the effectiveness
of the teacher in creating appropriate learning opportunities to create the space for the child to

learn. In saying that, I do also know that students have varying strengths and will excel or

struggle in different subjects. My goal as a teacher is to encourage my students to do what makes

them feel strong and to celebrate the differences present within my class.

Assessment.

The purpose of assessment in the classroom is to guide teaching and learning by helping

teachers and students set learning goals. But before teachers can assess their students, they must

first outline the goals and objectives that they are trying to meet with their lesson plans, in

accordance to the learning standards or curriculum guidelines. Once these have been established,

teachers need to give students multiple opportunities to show their understanding of the material

in both summative and formative methods of assessment.

If we look at Gardiners multiple intelligences, then its also imperative that not only do

we give our students plenty of opportunities to show their understanding of the material, but we

must also create a variety of different applications to show this so those students with auditory,

oral, or kinesthetic learning styles can not only learn, but show mastery of the given subject

matter as well.

Classroom management.

Managing a classroom is a skill that teachers perfect continually over their career but

what most effective and successful teachers do that is similar is utilizing a wide variety of

classroom management techniques. This is imperative as your students are always changing and

what has worked in the past isnt guaranteed to work in the future.

A few of the most important practices are ensuring there are clear guidelines and

expectations so the students are clear on what you want from them, letting them know what they
can count on you for as a teacher and how to ask for support, ensuring that there is an inclusive

environment within the classroom, remaining flexible and adaptable as a teacher when dealing

with unexpected complications and giving students appropriately challenging and varied

activities to maintain their interest. Utilizing B.F. Skinners (1938) positive reinforcement is

another method to celebrate and elicit appropriate behavior in the classroom. The goal would be

to distinguish how each student is motivated and harness that to create a variety of methods of

classroom management that you could implement at any given time.

When classroom behavior is managed correctly, instructional success is easier to come by

as the students are more engaged and you can create a better experience for the class. Engaging

students in critical thinking and asking questions is a great method to enroll students in the

learning the process and allows them to develop these skills which will be needed in life outside

of school.

The teacher.

Historically, teachers have been known as agents of change as they are the primary

point of contact students have during their day and the impact teachers have is lasting. The role

of the teacher is not limited to teaching the curriculum to their students to ensure they are

reaching ministry standards, but they are also presented with the task of teaching life skills and

preparing them for working in a global economy. This is accomplished by collaborating with

fellow teachers, parents and the community while also incorporating culturally responsive

teaching strategies into the classroom through the use of technology and familiar materials.

Academically, teachers must complete a post-graduate program that provides them with

the credentials to be hired as a teacher. In Ontario, it is becoming increasingly difficult to be

accepted into these programs as there have been many years with a surplus of teachers. This
imbalance of certified teachers versus available teaching positions causes many teachers to find

employment outside the education field in order to make ends meet.

The characteristics of successful teachers are also those that we want to foster in our

students. Being compassionate, have a strong leadership ability, taking initiative, thinking

critically, and being great problem solvers are important traits to display in the classroom.

Resume

Introduction.

Below you will see a copy of my resume which discusses my past work and education

experience as well as any additional training or workshops attended that would be of benefit to

me in the classroom.
 Kari Russell
957 Fetchison Dr. | Oshawa, ON L1L 0G5 | 905.767.1539 | [email protected]

I am a teacher by nature and have a passion for training and development. I bring
individualization to all I do and am skilled at adapting my teaching methods to my audience.

Experience

Assistant Store Manager August 2012 Present

lululemon athletica Oshawa, ON

- Started part time in 2012, moved through leadership levels to current role in March 2014
- Supports Store Manager in the operations of a high-volume, luxury brand to produce
results that meet and exceed company goals
- Responsible for ongoing training of team of 30-50 through coaching, facilitating retail
training programs and leadership development workshops.
- Manage and elevate relationships with community influencers and affiliate partners

Lifestyle and Wellness Coach October 2004 Present

GoodLife Fitness/Self Employed Aurora/Oshawa ON

- Ability to quickly build rapport allowed me to consistently hit and exceed sales targets
- Designed and implemented wellness programs utilizing current health trends, educational
background and personal experience in a 1:1 and small group setting with ages ranging
from 10 65 years old.
- Facilitated wellness trainings and leadership workshops in small midsized groups

Summer Student Associate July 2003 August 2003

Kerrys Place Autism Services Queensville, ON

- Supported individuals with autism perform daily living tasks

- Administered required medications and overseeing medical appointments
- Planning and implementing daily outings for clients

Education & Training

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology 2004-2006

York University Toronto, ON

Early Childhood Education 2003

Seneca College Toronto, ON
Professional/Personal Development Highlights:

- March 2017, DASA

- March 2017, S.A.V.E
- July 2016, Standard First Aid + AED/CPR C, Canadian Red Cross
- June 2016, Development Training, lululemon athletica
- August 2014, Leadership Training, lululemon athletica
- April 2013, The Landmark Forum, Landmark Education
- March 2012, Precision Nutrition Coach Level 1, Precision Nutrition
- June 2010, GoodLife Personal Training Institute, GoodLife Fitness/Can Fit Pro
- January 2009, Personal Mastery, Klemmer & Associates

Volunteer Experience

Classroom Volunteer April 2016 June 2016

Grade 1 Classroom, Blair Ridge PS Brooklin, ON

- Manage and support students in various play-based centers

- Assist students in preparation for recess and transition times
- 1:1 reading support with various students

Classroom Volunteer November 2015 June 2016

Grade 1 Classroom, Valley Farm PS Pickering, ON

- Manage and support students in various play-based centers

- 1:1 reading support with various students
- Assisting teacher in preparation of lesson materials

Childcare Volunteer September 2010 June 2012

JUMP Childcare, GoodLife Fitness Aurora, ON

- Create and implement games for children of varying ages

- Manage and support children in co-operative and dramatic play
- Plan weekly activity centers

References available upon request.

Conclusion

My hope is that after having reviewed this section of my portfolio it will be clear to you

my high level of competency to be in a classroom. Everything I have experienced in my past has

led to me where I am today, and who Ill be for my students. Ive outlined my philosophy of

education, critical experiences that have shaped my desire to teach as well as my ability to

connect real classroom observations to educational theorists and experts. My intent with the next

section will be to highlight my abilities to plan, instruct and assess through the review of many of

my artifacts.