Education Portfolio
On this page, I have included different assignments with a brief description to demonstrate my progress throughout my Second Language Education program at the University of Toledo. Please click on the pink links to view the attached texts.
Movie Talk
This unit was called Movie Talk. I used the short, animated film called “Alma” from YouTube, which is about 5 minutes long. The movie has no words to it, so it was perfect to narrate and discuss. I stopped the movie every 3-7 seconds to ask questions to the class about what was happening. The movie was short and captured students’ interest because it was creepy and cute at the same time. It was essentially the same to what we do when we run stories (using TPRS), but to the students, it was something completely different. We still had an actor that we spoke to in order to hear different forms of the verbs, but the focus wasn’t so much on them as it was on the movie. The students were raving about the movie and asked if there was a part 2. This is something I will definitely do each year as a “putting it all together” piece towards the end of the class.
Healthy Living Unit
During my Methods Placement in Monroe High School, I created an implemented a unit titled "Healthy Living". It was a three week unit and was focused around the Teaching Through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) methodology. During my senior year, I have researched and practiced this methodology, as well as having a focus on Comprehensible Input within my classroom. I have found great success in the proficiency of my students and hope to use these methods in my future classrooms.
Statement of Philosophy
I must admit, I had a difficult time when I was starting to write my statement of philosophy. However, after I wrote the first sentence, everything after came naturally. I incorporated much of what I learned in my Teaching Colloquium class because everything I learned was relevant, useful, and exciting. My first draft contained the same content, but Professor An Chung Cheng made a few grammatical suggestions that can be found on my first draft. After I made the changes, Classmate Donna Sharper, a graduate student studying Spanish, provided this attestation to my work: "Your statement shows that you are just bursting at the seams to start teaching Spanish. You show so much enthusiasm, so much passion, so much desire to make your students 21st century spanish-parlantes. You have made teaching Spanish using the latest in L2 acquisition your biggest desire and I know you're going to achieve it because you're a hard worker and you know that it's your calling. I can't wait to come visit your classroom two or three years from now."
Unit Plan
In the beginning of my Teaching Colloquium Course, we were told we would be making a full unit plan that incorporates all of the new ideas about second language acquisition we have learned. I was excited about this; I had never made a full lesson plan in regards to a Spanish class using the state standards. When I started, however, it was so overwhelming. I asked myself, where do I even begin? Then I remembered I should use Backward Design- I will start with the end goals for students and work from there. Please click on the link above ("Unit Plan") to view my first unit plan. You may also be interested in viewing my Unit Plan Rationale in which I explained the process of how I came to the finished product. I also wrote the benefits of each of the activities I designed, as well as a little more explanation about the different types of communication and assessments that accompany them.
Analysis of Foreign Language History
In order to become the best teacher I can be, I need to reflect on my own history of foreign languages and relate it to what I have learned in my teacher education. Prior to this essay, I believed I had the best Spanish language education in high school I could have possibly had. After writing this essay and comparing it to the current best practices, I feel I could have had the potential to learn so much more and have had more advanced skills. However, times are changing and so are the ideas about second language acquisition, and my teachers did the best they could given the research they had available to them.
Individual Learning Goals and End of the Semester Reflection
My individual learning goals for the Teaching Colloquium course were very specific and relevant to what we were going to learn throughout the first semester of my junior year. The focus was on standards, methods of teaching, and creating lesson plans for second language teaching. A few weeks after I wrote my first learning goals, I added to them. At the end of the semester, I reflected on my progress of these goals.
Movie Talk
This unit was called Movie Talk. I used the short, animated film called “Alma” from YouTube, which is about 5 minutes long. The movie has no words to it, so it was perfect to narrate and discuss. I stopped the movie every 3-7 seconds to ask questions to the class about what was happening. The movie was short and captured students’ interest because it was creepy and cute at the same time. It was essentially the same to what we do when we run stories (using TPRS), but to the students, it was something completely different. We still had an actor that we spoke to in order to hear different forms of the verbs, but the focus wasn’t so much on them as it was on the movie. The students were raving about the movie and asked if there was a part 2. This is something I will definitely do each year as a “putting it all together” piece towards the end of the class.
Healthy Living Unit
During my Methods Placement in Monroe High School, I created an implemented a unit titled "Healthy Living". It was a three week unit and was focused around the Teaching Through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) methodology. During my senior year, I have researched and practiced this methodology, as well as having a focus on Comprehensible Input within my classroom. I have found great success in the proficiency of my students and hope to use these methods in my future classrooms.
Statement of Philosophy
I must admit, I had a difficult time when I was starting to write my statement of philosophy. However, after I wrote the first sentence, everything after came naturally. I incorporated much of what I learned in my Teaching Colloquium class because everything I learned was relevant, useful, and exciting. My first draft contained the same content, but Professor An Chung Cheng made a few grammatical suggestions that can be found on my first draft. After I made the changes, Classmate Donna Sharper, a graduate student studying Spanish, provided this attestation to my work: "Your statement shows that you are just bursting at the seams to start teaching Spanish. You show so much enthusiasm, so much passion, so much desire to make your students 21st century spanish-parlantes. You have made teaching Spanish using the latest in L2 acquisition your biggest desire and I know you're going to achieve it because you're a hard worker and you know that it's your calling. I can't wait to come visit your classroom two or three years from now."
Unit Plan
In the beginning of my Teaching Colloquium Course, we were told we would be making a full unit plan that incorporates all of the new ideas about second language acquisition we have learned. I was excited about this; I had never made a full lesson plan in regards to a Spanish class using the state standards. When I started, however, it was so overwhelming. I asked myself, where do I even begin? Then I remembered I should use Backward Design- I will start with the end goals for students and work from there. Please click on the link above ("Unit Plan") to view my first unit plan. You may also be interested in viewing my Unit Plan Rationale in which I explained the process of how I came to the finished product. I also wrote the benefits of each of the activities I designed, as well as a little more explanation about the different types of communication and assessments that accompany them.
Analysis of Foreign Language History
In order to become the best teacher I can be, I need to reflect on my own history of foreign languages and relate it to what I have learned in my teacher education. Prior to this essay, I believed I had the best Spanish language education in high school I could have possibly had. After writing this essay and comparing it to the current best practices, I feel I could have had the potential to learn so much more and have had more advanced skills. However, times are changing and so are the ideas about second language acquisition, and my teachers did the best they could given the research they had available to them.
Individual Learning Goals and End of the Semester Reflection
My individual learning goals for the Teaching Colloquium course were very specific and relevant to what we were going to learn throughout the first semester of my junior year. The focus was on standards, methods of teaching, and creating lesson plans for second language teaching. A few weeks after I wrote my first learning goals, I added to them. At the end of the semester, I reflected on my progress of these goals.