Running head: PORTFOLIO AND REFLECTION

Felicia Martinez
12/08/2015
EDU 1010
Portfolio and Reflection

Page 1 of 4

I found the field work to be very important in the course because it supplied real feel for
the classroom, and made it a lot easier to understand how to apply the concepts that were
discussed. It also made it more realistic as to whether or not you really want to commit to being a
teacher. Not only that, but it supplied experience that can be put onto my resume. It was difficult
in the beginning to obtain a background check and licensure I cant imagine the rest of what
teachers have to obtain before they are accepted into the districts.
In being in the field experience, it influenced my philosophies on teaching by recognizing
what I liked and appreciated from other teachers and what I would want to change. For instance,
I really liked the fact that my mentor mostly used games when it came to math to keep the
students interested and on task. I also really enjoyed working with her because she always
maintained a positive and authoritative tone the whole time she was teaching, and didnt put up
with any distractions for other students. In other classrooms that I observed for another class, the
teachers were much more lenient and it seemed that they lost control of their classroom at times.
Classroom management was definitely proven to be important and I would maintain it in my
classroom by taking action with my students when the problem arises from the start rather than
give repeated warnings or ignore it because it was shown to me that doing so only makes it
worse. I would either separate the student(s) or remove them from the area so that the rest of the
class isnt distracted from their learning. It also taught me to be flexible in assessments and
lesson plans because of the different ways that everyone learns.
In presenting my lesson, I demonstrated three different ways, but still was defeated
because of the lack of respect from the students. It seemed that half of the class was participating
and following along while the other half was playing with it instead. In trying to maintain
confidence in my lesson I continuously restarted and reshown the demonstration for those who

were following along, but in the end I didnt have much confidence left. As the students were
gathering their belongings to go home for the day, the teacher told me that she really liked my
lesson and that it was creative, but might have been better presented in smaller groups or in a
different subject. Regardless, she told me that failed lessons give teachers the opportunity to
grow, and that I was headed into the right direction. After presenting a lesson of my own with all
of the prep time and teaching time, it really erased the bias that I had of teaching being easy.
In having biases and assumptions in teaching it will slow the progress of the teacher
because they already have a mindset of what they think they should expect when they need to
maintain open minded and ready for the unexpected. I had the expectation that the experience
was going to be easy because of the previous classrooms that I have visited, but it was much
more different because of the age and location of the school. My feelings did have an impact on
the hours that I volunteered because I wanted to go as soon as I can and stay as long as possible
because I found the class to be so interesting and so much fun to be in. It really did get me
excited to be a teacher in the end.
The course tied into the professional portfolio because it was all useful and insightful
information that can be carried directly into the classroom. The background checks that were
required for the field experience to start can be carried on for a few years which makes it
possible to obtain work in a classroom faster. The portfolio requirements were also handy in
applying for working in the school because I already had a philosophy to apply to my classroom.

Introduction to Teaching by Don Kauchak and Paul Eggen, Published by Pearson in

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458