Daniel Bell's Professional Portfolio

Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers
Special educators posses a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN. Special educators select, adapt, and use these instructional strategies to promote challenging learning results in general and special curricula and to appropriately modify learning environments for individuals with ELN. They enhance the learning of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills of individuals with ELN, and increase their self-awareness, self-management, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem. Moreover, special educators emphasize the development, maintenance, and generalization of knowledge and skills across environments, settings, and the lifespan.

Artifact

Position on Strategies

Rationale

For my EDTE 689: Advanced Seminar in Teaching, I wrote a paper that includes a section on my beliefs about classroom strategies. In this paper, I discuss how I believe that research-based strategies are vital to an effective learning environment in special education and general education. I also discuss, however, that as a special education teacher, I have to not be afraid to break from the mold and use my best judgment to test out new strategies so that my students’ individual needs can best be met. And then, should I discover new strategies that are effective, I must use my skills of action research to properly reflect upon and document these strategies and make them available for all educators. This artifact meets this standard because it shows that I value the use of evidence-based instructional strategies to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN.

IEP Intervention Strategies

As part of the IEP development process of my EDTE 637: Preparation of Individualized Learning Prescriptions course, I created a plan that applied learning strategies to a chosen language-based learning disabled student’s IEP goals. The goals are across the academic spectrum and include literacy, math, study skills, and occupational therapy. An array of instructional strategies accompany each goal and include strategies such as the utilization of a reader and scribe, organizational strategies, and assistive technology. A plan for support from the special education teacher is also included should this student learn in an inclusive classroom. This was a very helpful experience because it allowed me to analyze an entire IEP and specially decide how to best help this individual student achieve each educational goal. I feel that this plan exemplifies how I select, adapt, and use instructional strategies to promote challenging learning results in general and special curricula and how I appropriately modify learning environments for individuals with ELN. I will continue to analyze my student’s IEPs in such a way and create plans that coincide with the IEPs to ensure that my strategies are effective and individualized as possible.

Cable Access Partnership

At Chelsea School where I am the teacher of Media Productions, I make sure to use every available resource so that my students can gain real world experience outside of the classroom that enhances the skills they learn at school. One strategy that I implement that is not only very effective and useful, but fun, is utilizing Chelsea’s partnership with Montgomery County’s cable access station, Access Montgomery. In my classes at Chelsea, I strategize to help my students garner professional technical skills in the field of media productions. Taking regular field trips to Access Montgomery allows the students to hone and utilize these skills in a professional setting – sometimes even having their content aired on television! Every year my first-year TV students are certified on the studio’s equipment and then they are eligible to return to Access Montgomery to operate the equipment for independent producers and Chelsea-related projects. It is truly great fun for the students and for myself, and has proven to be a very effective strategy. I have included two articles, one specifically about Chelsea students and their experiences at Access Montgomery that I am quoted in as well. The other article is about a producer’s experience shooting their production with Chelsea students working behind the scenes. Pictures from our various field trips to Access Montgomery are included as well. This artifact shows my understanding of this standard because this strategy enhances the learning of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills of individuals with ELN, and increase their self-awareness, self-management, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem. It also emphasizes how I implement instructional strategies for the development, maintenance, and generalization of knowledge and skills across environments, settings, and the lifespan. This is a strategy and a professional partnership that I will continue to use to its fullest potential.

Integer Lesson Plan

This Pre-Algebra lesson plan was created for my MAED 525: Algebra for Teachers, K-6 class, a Trinity University continuing education seminar class. The lesson deals with the introduction of and the adding and subtracting of integers. It employs a variety of instructional strategies for a general and/or special education classroom including real-world relations to money, thermometers, a human number line, and an integer football activity. All of these strategies will help the students grasp the concepts and retain them while appealing to different learning styles. The lesson plan also includes specific accommodations including assistive technology for the ELN student. I feel that this lesson plan supports this standard because it exemplifies my repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies that I use and will continue to use to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN.



Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers Special educators posses a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN. Special educators select, adapt, and use these instructional strategies to promote challenging learning results in general and special curricula and to appropriately modify learning environments for individuals with ELN. They enhance the learning of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills of individuals with ELN, and increase their self-awareness, self-management, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem. Moreover, special educators emphasize the development, maintenance, and generalization of knowledge and skills across environments, settings, and the lifespan.
Artifact Position on Strategies	Rationale For my EDTE 689: Advanced Seminar in Teaching, I wrote a paper that includes a section on my beliefs about classroom strategies. In this paper, I discuss how I believe that research-based strategies are vital to an effective learning environment in special education and general education. I also discuss, however, that as a special education teacher, I have to not be afraid to break from the mold and use my best judgment to test out new strategies so that my students’ individual needs can best be met. And then, should I discover new strategies that are effective, I must use my skills of action research to properly reflect upon and document these strategies and make them available for all educators. This artifact meets this standard because it shows that I value the use of evidence-based instructional strategies to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN.

IEP Intervention Strategies	As part of the IEP development process of my EDTE 637: Preparation of Individualized Learning Prescriptions course, I created a plan that applied learning strategies to a chosen language-based learning disabled student’s IEP goals. The goals are across the academic spectrum and include literacy, math, study skills, and occupational therapy. An array of instructional strategies accompany each goal and include strategies such as the utilization of a reader and scribe, organizational strategies, and assistive technology. A plan for support from the special education teacher is also included should this student learn in an inclusive classroom. This was a very helpful experience because it allowed me to analyze an entire IEP and specially decide how to best help this individual student achieve each educational goal. I feel that this plan exemplifies how I select, adapt, and use instructional strategies to promote challenging learning results in general and special curricula and how I appropriately modify learning environments for individuals with ELN. I will continue to analyze my student’s IEPs in such a way and create plans that coincide with the IEPs to ensure that my strategies are effective and individualized as possible.

Cable Access Partnership	At Chelsea School where I am the teacher of Media Productions, I make sure to use every available resource so that my students can gain real world experience outside of the classroom that enhances the skills they learn at school. One strategy that I implement that is not only very effective and useful, but fun, is utilizing Chelsea’s partnership with Montgomery County’s cable access station, Access Montgomery. In my classes at Chelsea, I strategize to help my students garner professional technical skills in the field of media productions. Taking regular field trips to Access Montgomery allows the students to hone and utilize these skills in a professional setting – sometimes even having their content aired on television! Every year my first-year TV students are certified on the studio’s equipment and then they are eligible to return to Access Montgomery to operate the equipment for independent producers and Chelsea-related projects. It is truly great fun for the students and for myself, and has proven to be a very effective strategy. I have included two articles, one specifically about Chelsea students and their experiences at Access Montgomery that I am quoted in as well. The other article is about a producer’s experience shooting their production with Chelsea students working behind the scenes. Pictures from our various field trips to Access Montgomery are included as well. This artifact shows my understanding of this standard because this strategy enhances the learning of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills of individuals with ELN, and increase their self-awareness, self-management, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem. It also emphasizes how I implement instructional strategies for the development, maintenance, and generalization of knowledge and skills across environments, settings, and the lifespan. This is a strategy and a professional partnership that I will continue to use to its fullest potential.

Integer Lesson Plan	This Pre-Algebra lesson plan was created for my MAED 525: Algebra for Teachers, K-6 class, a Trinity University continuing education seminar class. The lesson deals with the introduction of and the adding and subtracting of integers. It employs a variety of instructional strategies for a general and/or special education classroom including real-world relations to money, thermometers, a human number line, and an integer football activity. All of these strategies will help the students grasp the concepts and retain them while appealing to different learning styles. The lesson plan also includes specific accommodations including assistive technology for the ELN student. I feel that this lesson plan supports this standard because it exemplifies my repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies that I use and will continue to use to individualize instruction for individuals with ELN.