Johnson, Elizabeth 1

Portfolio Introductory Narrative

My name is Elizabeth Johnson and I am a teacher at the Hannah More School
in Reisterstown, Maryland. The Hannah More School is a non-public separate day
school for students who have a variety of different disabilities and educational
needs. In August of 2014 I began teaching middle school (sixth through eighth
grade) Science and Mathematics. Before becoming a teacher at the Hannah More
School I was a teachers assistant and co-taught with the high school Biology
teacher. Prior to working for the Hannah More School I worked at Sheppard Pratt
mental health hospital with adolescents, and I worked for the Devereux Foundation.
At the Devereux foundation I was a direct support professional and an educational
assistant, where I worked with male and female adolescents with emotional and
behavioral disorders. It was at this location that I decided I wanted to teacher
special education, and be involved in these students success.
Rationale for Building the Portfolio
I am building this portfolio to show the professional work that I have
completed throughout my time in the graduate program at Towson University. By
the time I have finished this portfolio it will contain real life examples of the
assignments that I have worked on throughout my internship, and will illustrate the
knowledge gained through each of my graduate classes. This portfolio will allow me
to show administration and employers the ability of my work, my philosophy of
teaching, and my understanding of the standards and needs of the students in which
I teach. This will not only is helping me now in my profession, but will also help me
in the future with creating official documents much like the artifacts in this

Johnson, Elizabeth 2
portfolio. I will be able to look back at my best work from graduate school and
reflect and compare the work done my professional setting.
Reflections on Coursework, Learning Experiences, & CEC Professional Standards
Throughout my time at Towson University I feel as though my professional
competencies have grown a great deal compared to when I first began the special
education graduate program. When I first started the special education graduate
program I did not know how to address educational needs at all, I was more familiar
with the behavioral aspects in the classroom rather than the content that was being
taught and how to engage the students. Through each class in my graduate program,
and the CEC Standards I have been able to gather a better understanding of what
that entails. Through the technology and Universal design of learning class I was
able to gain knowledge of how to motivate students in different ways, and the
content explained that all students have a different way of learning. This enabled me
to understand that all students will learn, it just depends on the time,
accommodations, and the way in which it is being taught. Through other classes I
was able to learn the CEC standards and how I can incorporate them into my
everyday teaching.
The CEC standards have helped me not only understand the skills needed to
teach, but also have helped me with my philosophy of teaching. After gaining the
knowledge of the CEC standards, I know have an understanding of what is needed of
me as a teacher and has helped me through my first year of teaching, and I believe
will enable me to become a better teacher in the future. I now know that it is
necessary to do a constant assessment of student knowledge throughout the lesson

Johnson, Elizabeth 3
in order to ensure students are learning, and that all students learn on different
levels whether they are in special education or in a general education classroom and
to give them multiple forms of engagement, representation, and expression in order
to allow maximum learning. Also, I learned that being able to collaborate with other
teachers allows students to grasp the knowledge in a real life manor and is able to
see the content through multiple classes. I think that through my time in the special
education graduate program I have learned several different ways to teach, and help
students learn the most that they can learn.

Philosophy of Teaching
My philosophy of teaching has developed greatly over the course of my time
in the graduate program at Towson University. I have always thought that all
students can learn, and that all students will learn at their own pace, but after taking
the graduate classes, I have the tools to ensure the students education. My thought is
that all students need to be engaged and motivated to learn, and the only way that
will occur is through the teacher. Students with disabilities need to have
differentiation, accommodations to help them achieve their highest potential,
project based learning and need real life examples of the information being taught.
With these different tools, students with disabilities are able to grasp why they are
learning the information, and are able to look at their own lives and where they see
this information on a day to day basis. These are also great tools for students who
have difficulty reading and writing because it allows them to use other resources
around them to show that they are learning the information being provided. Being

Johnson, Elizabeth 4
able to see that the students are learning and understanding the information that is
being taught is what I value most about teaching. It is my belief that all students
have the potential to learn, it is just the way they learn that needs to change for
them to grasp the different concepts.