Hi, I'm Erin, and I teach English. This portfolio chronicles my educational accomplishments. You can e-mail me at ekkross@gmail.com.

Standards

Demonstrations of Artifacts Aligned with the Following Standards

Professional Teaching Standards
  1. Content Knowledge: The teacher understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students.
  2. Human Development and Learning: The teacher understands how individuals grow, develop and learn and provides learning opportunities that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students.
  3. Diversity: The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
  4. Planning for Instruction: The teacher understands instructional planning and designs instruction based upon knowledge of the discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
  5. Learning Environment: The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
  6. Instructional Delivery: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
  7. Communication: The teacher uses knowledge of effective written, verbal, nonverbal, and visual communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
  8. Assessment: The teacher understands various formal and informal assessment strategies and uses them to support the continuous development of all students.
  9. Collaborative Relationships: The teacher understands the role of the community in education and develops and maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and the community to support student learning and well-being.
  10. Reflection and Professional Growth: The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.
  11. Professional Conduct and Leadership: The teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.
Language Arts Standards
  1. Literacy Techniques and Strategies: All teachers must know a broad range of literacy techniques and strategies for every aspect of communication and must be able to develop each student's ability to read, write, speak and listen to his or her potential within the demands of the discipline.
  2. Modeling English Language Arts: All teachers should model effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills during their direct and indirect instructional activities. The most important communicator in the classroom is the teacher, who should model English language arts skills.
  3. Constructive Instruction and Feedback: All teachers should give constructive instruction and feedback to students in both written and oral contexts while being aware of diverse learners' needs. Teachers should effectively provide a variety of instructional strategies, constructive feedback, criticism, and improvement strategies.
Technology Standards
  1. Basic Computer/Technology Operations and Concepts: The competent teacher will use computer systems to run software; to access, generate, and manipulate data; and to publish results. He or she will also evaluate performance of hardware and software components of computer systems and apply basic troubleshooting strategies as needed.
  2. Personal and Professional Use of Technology: The competent teacher will apply tools for enhancing personal professional growth and productivity; will use technology in communicating, collaborating, conducting research, and solving problems and will promote equitable, ethical, and legal use of computer/technology resources.
  3. Application of Technology in Instruction: The competent teacher will apply learning technologies that support instruction in their grade level and subject areas. He or she must plan and deliver instructional units that integrate a variety of software, applications, and learning tools. Lessons developed must reflect effective grouping and assessment strategies for diverse populations.
  4. Social, Ethical and Human Issues: The competent teacher will apply concepts and skills in making decisions concerning the social, ethical, and human issues related to computing and technology. The competent teacher will understand the changes in information technologies, their effects on workplace and society, their potential to address lifelong learning and workplace needs, and the consequences of misuse.
  5. Productivity Tools: The competent teacher will integrate advanced features of technology-based productivity tools to support instruction, extend communication outside the classroom, enhance classroom management, perform administrative routines more effectively, and become more productive in daily tasks.
  6. Telecommunications and Information Access: The competent teacher will use telecommunications and information-access resources to support instruction.
  7. Research, Problem Solving, and Product Development: The competent teacher will use computers and other technologies in research, problem solving, and product development. The competent teacher will appropriately use a variety of media, presentation, and authoring packages; plan and participate in team and collaborative projects that require critical analysis and evaluation; and present products developed.
  8. Information Literacy Skills: The competent teacher will develop information literacy skills to be able to access, evaluate and use information to improve teaching and learning.