Daniel Bell's Professional Portfolio

Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.

CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers
Special educators are guided by the profession’s ethical and professional practice standards. Special educators practice in multiple roles and complex situations across wide age and developmental ranges. Their practice requires ongoing attention to legal matters along with serious professional and ethical considerations. Special educators engage in professional activities and participate in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and their own professional growth. Special educators view themselves as lifelong learners and regularly reflect on and adjust their practice. Special educators are aware of how their own and others attitudes, behaviors, and ways of communicating can influence their practice. Special educators understand that culture and language can interact with exceptionalities, and are sensitive to the many aspects of diversity of individuals with ELN and their families. Special educators actively plan and engage in activities that foster their professional growth and keep them current with evidence-based best practices. Special educators know their own limits of practice and practice within them.

Artifact

Position on Professional Development

Rationale

This artifact is a paper on my beliefs and values surrounding professional development and it was written for my EDTE 689: Advanced Seminar in Teaching class. In this paper I discuss how I believe that educational degrees and certifications, such as my Masters of Teaching in Special Education from Trinity University are very important to an educator’s professional development, yet there are a number of other ways to grow and develop as a professional. Some of these ways include utilizing in-house development like that which occurs at Chelsea School, or out of house development like educational seminars and workshops. Reflection is also an important means of developing professionally as is action research. Professional development and growth can also happen in small ways without even looking for it; I have found that I learn more from my students as I try and teach them than I ever imagined I would. I have included this paper as a representation of my knowledge of this standard because it shows how I engage in professional activities and participate in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and my own professional growth. I also view myself as a lifelong learner and regularly reflect on and adjust my practice.

Professional Observation

I completed this classroom observation for my EDTE 629: Teaching Students with LD or ED course. This was a high school algebra class with learning disabled students. The observation journal includes descriptions of the school, the class, the learning environment, the teacher, and the teacher’s methods, strategies, and philosophies. I also reflect on this observation as a professional learning experience and make professional recommendations in terms of the teacher’s strengths and weaknesses. I chose this artifact to meet this standard because I feel that it shows how I actively plan and engage in activities that foster my professional growth and how I am a lifelong learner who regularly reflects on and adjusts my practice based on what I learn from such professional experiences.

Professional Disposition Test

Ever since I began my teaching career, I have been shown time and time again how important it is to understand and hold to professional dispositions as an educator of young people, especially ELN learners. For my EDTE 636: Psychology of Exceptional Children and Youth class, I created this assessment that is designed to test for the knowledge and understanding professional dispositions in educators. The test involves a multiple choice pre-test and test, and a short answer post-test where educators are meant to justify their answers. I administered the test to several of my co-workers and then wrote a discussion of the results, a plan to intervene should any educators show a lack of understanding of the dispositions, and explanations regarding how I found my test to be both valid and reliable. From this experience I learned that professional dispositions are not only something that every educator should know and practice, but that educators are, for the most part, innately well aware of what professional dispositions they should have. I included this artifact because it conveys my understanding of my profession’s ethical and professional practice standards along with showing my sensitivity to the many aspects of diversity of individuals with ELN and their families.

MANSEF Certificate

This artifact is a certificate of attendance of the 2007 Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) conference in Baltimore, MD. At this conference I attended two professional workshops. The first was titled “Digital Storytelling” and it taught its attendees how to use certain software for making digital slideshows and short movies in the classroom. The other workshop was “Teaching Executive Skills: How to Intervene at the Level of the Student.” In this workshop I learned a great deal about executive functioning and how deficits in this area can affect the whole child, which is something I deal with in terms of my student population everyday. This was a very helpful and useful experience; I garnered new strategies and deeper understandings of how to teach and intervene with my students. It was also a wonderful experience having a chance to meet and mingle with other professional educators from a variety of different types of special education facilities from all over Maryland. There were many very experienced professionals with much knowledge and experience to give. I have included this artifact because it is an example of my consistent engagement in professional activities and my participation in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and my own professional growth.



Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally. CEC Content Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers Special educators are guided by the profession’s ethical and professional practice standards. Special educators practice in multiple roles and complex situations across wide age and developmental ranges. Their practice requires ongoing attention to legal matters along with serious professional and ethical considerations. Special educators engage in professional activities and participate in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and their own professional growth. Special educators view themselves as lifelong learners and regularly reflect on and adjust their practice. Special educators are aware of how their own and others attitudes, behaviors, and ways of communicating can influence their practice. Special educators understand that culture and language can interact with exceptionalities, and are sensitive to the many aspects of diversity of individuals with ELN and their families. Special educators actively plan and engage in activities that foster their professional growth and keep them current with evidence-based best practices. Special educators know their own limits of practice and practice within them.
Artifact Position on Professional Development	Rationale This artifact is a paper on my beliefs and values surrounding professional development and it was written for my EDTE 689: Advanced Seminar in Teaching class. In this paper I discuss how I believe that educational degrees and certifications, such as my Masters of Teaching in Special Education from Trinity University are very important to an educator’s professional development, yet there are a number of other ways to grow and develop as a professional. Some of these ways include utilizing in-house development like that which occurs at Chelsea School, or out of house development like educational seminars and workshops. Reflection is also an important means of developing professionally as is action research. Professional development and growth can also happen in small ways without even looking for it; I have found that I learn more from my students as I try and teach them than I ever imagined I would. I have included this paper as a representation of my knowledge of this standard because it shows how I engage in professional activities and participate in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and my own professional growth. I also view myself as a lifelong learner and regularly reflect on and adjust my practice.

Professional Observation	I completed this classroom observation for my EDTE 629: Teaching Students with LD or ED course. This was a high school algebra class with learning disabled students. The observation journal includes descriptions of the school, the class, the learning environment, the teacher, and the teacher’s methods, strategies, and philosophies. I also reflect on this observation as a professional learning experience and make professional recommendations in terms of the teacher’s strengths and weaknesses. I chose this artifact to meet this standard because I feel that it shows how I actively plan and engage in activities that foster my professional growth and how I am a lifelong learner who regularly reflects on and adjusts my practice based on what I learn from such professional experiences.

Professional Disposition Test	Ever since I began my teaching career, I have been shown time and time again how important it is to understand and hold to professional dispositions as an educator of young people, especially ELN learners. For my EDTE 636: Psychology of Exceptional Children and Youth class, I created this assessment that is designed to test for the knowledge and understanding professional dispositions in educators. The test involves a multiple choice pre-test and test, and a short answer post-test where educators are meant to justify their answers. I administered the test to several of my co-workers and then wrote a discussion of the results, a plan to intervene should any educators show a lack of understanding of the dispositions, and explanations regarding how I found my test to be both valid and reliable. From this experience I learned that professional dispositions are not only something that every educator should know and practice, but that educators are, for the most part, innately well aware of what professional dispositions they should have. I included this artifact because it conveys my understanding of my profession’s ethical and professional practice standards along with showing my sensitivity to the many aspects of diversity of individuals with ELN and their families.

MANSEF Certificate	This artifact is a certificate of attendance of the 2007 Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) conference in Baltimore, MD. At this conference I attended two professional workshops. The first was titled “Digital Storytelling” and it taught its attendees how to use certain software for making digital slideshows and short movies in the classroom. The other workshop was “Teaching Executive Skills: How to Intervene at the Level of the Student.” In this workshop I learned a great deal about executive functioning and how deficits in this area can affect the whole child, which is something I deal with in terms of my student population everyday. This was a very helpful and useful experience; I garnered new strategies and deeper understandings of how to teach and intervene with my students. It was also a wonderful experience having a chance to meet and mingle with other professional educators from a variety of different types of special education facilities from all over Maryland. There were many very experienced professionals with much knowledge and experience to give. I have included this artifact because it is an example of my consistent engagement in professional activities and my participation in learning communities that benefit individuals with ELN, their families, colleagues, and my own professional growth.