Daniel Bell's Professional Portfolio

Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium
The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.

CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers
Special educators understand the field as an evolving and changing discipline based on philosophies, evidence-based principles and theories, relevant laws and policies, diverse and historical points of view, and human issues that have historically influenced and continue to influence the field of special education and the education and treatment of individuals with exceptional needs both in school and society. Special educators understand how these influence professional practice, including assessment, instructional planning, implementation, and program evaluation. Special educators understand how issues of human diversity can impact families, cultures, and schools, and how these complex human issues can interact with issues in the delivery of special education services. They understand the relationships of organizations of special education to the organizations and functions of schools, school systems, and other agencies. Special educators use this knowledge as a ground upon which to construct their own personal understandings and philosophies of special education.



Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers Special educators understand the field as an evolving and changing discipline based on philosophies, evidence-based principles and theories, relevant laws and policies, diverse and historical points of view, and human issues that have historically influenced and continue to influence the field of special education and the education and treatment of individuals with exceptional needs both in school and society. Special educators understand how these influence professional practice, including assessment, instructional planning, implementation, and program evaluation. Special educators understand how issues of human diversity can impact families, cultures, and schools, and how these complex human issues can interact with issues in the delivery of special education services. They understand the relationships of organizations of special education to the organizations and functions of schools, school systems, and other agencies. Special educators use this knowledge as a ground upon which to construct their own personal understandings and philosophies of special education.
Artifact Philosophy of Education	Rationale I have included this paper on my educational philosophies to document my understanding of the field of education as an evolving and changing field. This paper was originally written for my EDCC 541: Foundations of Education class and later revised for my EDTE 689: Advanced Seminar in Teaching class at Trinity University. In this paper I discuss how I truly believe that effective teaching and learning requires the implementation of fun and engaging lessons and activities, and respect in all aspects of education. I also discuss how important it is that I understand and teach to each student’s unique and diverse perspective. I believe this documents my understanding of educational philosophies, evidence-based principles and theories, and diverse points of view and I will continue to reflect and strengthen my philosophy as I grow as an educator.

Foundation Journals	This artifact is a collection of reflection journals from my EDCC 541: Foundations of Education course. I wrote these journals throughout the course as a means of reflecting on class readings and discussions, while analyzing and synthesizing the information to help form my own professional opinions, philosophies, and strategies. The journals discuss topics including the historical and sociological foundations of education, education’s governance and support, and the philosophical and curricular foundations of education. I included these documents because I feel they exemplify my understanding of relevant educational laws and policies, diverse and historical points of view, and relationships of organizations of special education to the organizations and functions of schools, school systems, and other agencies. I will continue to reflect on these aspects of education throughout my career and will use these journals as a basis to gauge on how I've grown as an educator.

Disability Truths/Myths	This artifact is research conducted on the topic of the truths and myths surrounding learning disabilities for my EDCC 530: Education of Exceptional Children and Youth course. For this assignment, I researched truths and myths dealing with learning disability brain research and neuroscience, educational factors, socio-cultural factors, linguistic factors, and gender factors. From doing this research I learned that how these factors influence professional practice and how issues of human diversity can impact families, cultures, and schools. I have also learned how important it is to keep up with current research in this area so that I will always be able to apply best practice to my teaching.

Exceptionality Research	This artifact is a collection of research done in my EDCC 530: Education of Exceptional Children and Youth course. The research covers a variety of topics including special education laws, teaching and learning research, current assistive technologies, and disability definitions. Conducting this research helped me understand and gear my teaching towards this standard in that I learned a great deal regarding assessment, instructional planning, implementation, and program evaluation, along with how human issues have historically influenced and continue to influence the field of special education and the education and treatment of individuals with exceptional needs both in school and society. Again, I will consistently continue to research such topics and imbed the knowledge that I gain into my everyday practices.

Undergraduate Diploma	I have included my diploma for my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Film and Television with a minor in Narrative Video Production from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA where I graduated with honors and was valedictorian of my college. I feel that this artifact exemplifies my grounding and knowledge of my subject matter. I am currently the video and music production teacher at Chelsea School, and this degree is how I garnered my professional knowledge, skills, and techniques in the world of media productions that I bring to my classroom and teach day to day. It is also how I have been able to participate fully in media productions curriculum development and implementation at my school and in my district. I will continue to enhance and sculpt the skills that I took from this degree as I continue my education inside and outside of the classroom.

Foundation Field Experiences	This artifact is the documentation of two field experience observations conducted for my EDCC 541: Foundations of Education class. I observed a middle school math class and a high school English class. The teachers and classrooms were quite different, which helped me better understand the functions of school systems and get a better grounding upon which to construct my own understandings and philosophies of special education. From these observations, I experienced a variety of diverse students, learning styles, teaching styles, and teaching philosophies. I conducted one-on-one interviews with each teacher to discover their personal philosophies, pedagogical beliefs, and educational theories. I will continue to observe other teachers inside and outside of my school and reflect upon these experiences to help me grow as an educator and understand education more fully.