Grading Rubric for Philosophy Paper — Portfolio II tune ©. Name yore _ Date: ae ‘You will write a 5-page paper using APA style, re-examining your philosophy. ‘The philosophy paper for Portfolio, I should be different from the one that was written for Portfolio I, and should describe how your personal philosophy has evolved since submission of Portfolio I. Your evolving philosophy should be based on your Aextbooks, tescatch, field observations, reflect wings, and dis Las othe resources, You should examine various philosophies of education, including constructivism, and discuss how these philosophies impact your personal philosophy. ‘The Portfolio LI paper should exemplify growth in the understanding and articulation of yaur philosophy of education, One of the essential questions is: “How does my personal philosophy reflect the tenets of the Education Department's Conceptual Framework?” CATEGORY 1 2 3 4 Length of | Less than Three ‘Three double- | Four double-spaced | Five or more double- Paper double-spaced pages spaced pages pages Lf spaced pages [Introduction | There is no clear The introduction The introduction The introduction is inviting, introduction to the states the purpose, but | clearly states the | encourages the reader to purpose ofthe paper or | docs not adequately | purpose of the paper, | learn more about the its structure. preview the sructure | previews the structure | candidate's philosophy, and ofthe paper and does | of the paper, but does. | clearly states the main not engage the reader. | not engage the reader. | pojats and the purpose of per. Tnformation inclodes | Taformation includes | Tnformation includes, Coverage of Teaching | vety few, ifany, ofthe | few of te knowledge, | some of the thorough delineation of the Dimensions | knowledge, skills, and | skis, and knowledge, skills, | knowledge, skills, and dispositions of effective | dispositions of ‘and dispositions of - | dispositions of effective teachers; articulates few | effective teachers; | effective teachers; 7] teachers; clearly articulates best practices of autculates some best | clearly articufates “V } many best practices of effective teachers, practices ofeffective | several best practices | effective teachers us teachers of effective teachers Does not include Offers few examples | Offers examples, | Offers quality details and ‘examples of personal | of experiences, values, and beliefs to. | examples about personal experiences, values, or | values, and beliefs to | illustrate the ‘experiences, values, or beliefs related to illustrate commitment | commitment to most | belief to illustrate support dispositions to disposi dispositions ispositions Examples add litte to ___| the discussion, ‘Connections between | There is ‘There is some "There isa strong connection the writer's expression} connecti connection between | between the writer's of philosophy and the weiter's the writer's expression of philosophy cerriculum theory, expression of expression of —- | and euriculum theory, practice, constructivist | philosophy and philosophy and practice, constructivist theory aid readings curriculum theory and readings completed in courses are | practice, practice, completed in courses. All ‘unclear or unrelated. | constructivist theory | constructivist theory | points are supported with and readings and readings references. completed in courses. | completed in courses. Few points are Most points are supported with supported with references. references Page 1 of 2Grading Rubric for Philosophy Paper ~ Portfolio IT unt Name Date: a “CATEGORY 1 2 3 4 Sequencing/ | Many points arenotin | Some points are not in | Pointsare made ina | Points are made in a logical Transitions | logical order. The paper | logical order; the way | logical order; the way | order; the smooth flow. lacks organization. ‘The they are presented they are presented effectively maintains the jons-b kes the swriting | sometimes makes the | interest of the teader and. paragraphs and/or ideas | difficult to follow and | writing difficult | increases the ease of are unetear or less interesting. Some | follow o less reading. A variety of clear nonexistent. transitions work well; | interesting for the | transitions are used. ‘They but connections reader, Ti clearly show how ideas are among ideas are fuzzy. show how ideas are comected, but there is litle variety. ‘epnnected, Conclusions There is no clear conclusion; the paper ends with no summary statement, It simply ends. “The conclusion is recognizable; but does not tie up several Foose ends, The conclusion is recognizable; tes up almost all loose ends ina summary, statement, The conclusion is svong and leaves the reader with ‘an understanding. of the \weiter’s points; offers a LBef tothe Fine, wes a ibe, ces a unis the etrors interrupt the flow. punctuatios; the paper is easy fo experience, etc. Mechanical | Many grammatical, | Several grammatical, | One or two errors in| No grammatical, Errors spelling, or punctuation | capitalization, grammar, capitalization, spelling, or errors; erors interrupt | spelling, or capitalization a punctuation errors; the the flow. punctuation errors; paper is exceptionally easy to read, Proper Use of Tradequate number of ‘Atleast 5 sources ‘Ai least 3 sources 5 sources information and Philosophy. documented. acewately accurately Evidence of | Indicates that Cites one clear and Cites at least two Cites at least three clear and — mee evolved 30/40 score with no ‘I'sRunning head: MY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION My Revised Personal Philosophy of Education Sydney Bohannon Wesleyan College Author Note: This paper was prepared for Portfolio ILMY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 2 On the first day of my sophomore year of high school, I entered the building extremely under confident and apprehensive about the year to come. “Introduction to Early Childhood Education” was listed on my schedule- a class I decided to take just for the fun of it, My alma matter had an incredible Early Childhood Education Program that even included an accredited on-site laboratory preschool. Although I had babysat from time to time, I was exeeedingly skeptical of working with children in an academic setting, From the first moment I picked up a book in that preschool library and read to a carpet full of wide-eyed children, I knew in my heart of hearts teaching was my life's se that the revelation came during reading time either, because 1 ieee eases + Love heoricg H believe emergent literacy to be one of the biggest components in my personal philosophy calling. Itis no sur of education, although T was unaware there was an actual name for it at that point in my jouney, After having my epiphany in the Introduction to Early Childhood Education course, I could not get enough and went on to complete every subsequent course on the ECE track. I was fortunate to receive that strong foundation in both theory and practice before even receiving my acceptance letter into college or declaring Barly Childhood Education as my major area of study. From my early study of educational theorists in these courses, there was always one that stood out above the rest. Maria Montessori's theory of “learning by doing” has always been and will always be the theory that mine is based around. This is one thing that has been left unchanged since formulating my original philosophy of edueatio EDU 201.MY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 3 In my research of the merits of Montessori’s methods, I have discovered that students who are taught according to this philosophy are also more physically active. This is also a very important component in my personal philosophy of education because when students are physically active, their brains become more stimulated and they are st a able to release the stress and pressure of sitting in a desk for hours on end. Physical health and mental health go hand in hand, Because of this, my future students will never be left seated in their desks for too long before they are up moving around and engaged in a task. In my own experiences teaching lessons thus far, I have seen a much greater a success rate in what my students retain when I plan for them to actually “do” the ac ity and become engrossed in the process of creating, formulating ideas, posing questions, op bbe and responding to the questions that I pose. It was extremely difficult early on in my practice to release the responsibility of leaning by doing to my students. When I taught my first integrated unit in EDU 308, I kept the majority of the control and taught mostly from the board. Each time J taught another unit thereafter, it became more and more easy to not only integrate the content, but also to allow students to be active participants in their own learning as well. I realized through building my own oo asa teacher — OY | pe OF ball nc that my students are much better offthe less Lhand to them. pe)>? As recently as two weeks ago, I conducted an activity wherein my second grade students created the phases of the moon using Oreo cookies as apart of my EDR 390 unit. Not only were they extremely engrossed due to the fun, unusual material we were using, but also because they were having to use their own two hands to create the images that 1 had introduced through a trade book.MY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 4 My worst fear in planning this lesson was that they would get so excited by the cookies that they would completely tune me out and begin playing, however, I began the lesson by establishing firm rules for behavior and explaining that anyone who I caught being off task or misbehaving would not receive the treat I had waiting for them. With that precedent set, not even one student even tried to misbehave and they were all duly rewarded with Oreos of their own for being so attentive to my directions. Having strong, classroom management from the beginning of the activity helped it to go of as smoothly as it did. When I conducted my post-assessment several days Tater, many if not all of the students were able to recall even the most difficult moon phase names (such as waning gibbous and waxing crescent) with ease, Ihave no doubt that if Thad given them a simple ‘worksheet or simply showed them a video that they would have had such excellent retention,“ Lalso believe that activity was so successful due in large part to the trade book what we were going to be doing before I even pulled the Oreos from my bag. Although 1 have loved reading to my students from the very first moment I knew I was called to be a teacher, it was not until my EDR courses at Wesleyan that I leamed the true merits of literacy integration. Until taking EDR 390, I had never heard of the term “trade book”, nor was I fully aware of why they should be used fo support the content found in textbooks, As stated by Vacea, Vacea, Mraz trade books appeal to a wide range of reading levels, give exposure to multiple perspectives, and ultimately help students develop a much richer understanding of the topic.a MY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION Without a strong reading foundation, students, struggle and even fail as content gets more difficult in each grade. Although the other methods courses had great merit and ideas that I will carry with me and implement in my teaching career, none of those are can be executed to ther fll effectiveness if my students are unable to read and comprehend text Building my student's self efficacy is also a critical component to my personal philosophy. If can teach them how to regurgitate answers back on a test, my job as an educators only halfway doe is only until they have the confidence to raise their hands and be unafiaid to ask questions and pose their own ideas amongst one another that ‘The best example of building strong self-efficacy in students came from reading = fhabst bias? Ron Clark’s The Essential 55 and visiting the Ron Clark Academy as apart of EDU 402. Each one of those students had confidence and manners that would rival any adult, and bet they were only in middle school! It is because Mr, Clark runs his school according to his Essential 55 rules that they are so successful and well rounded. He insists on nothing less than everyone’s personal best, and as far as T could tell, all of the students were rising to we the occasion marvelously. All of the pomp and circumstance around the Academy every day is no doubt fun and entertaining, but that is just the icing on the cake, The students of RCA eam so much more than just content, and it is my ultimate goal to model my classroom after it (although the giant blue slide may be a bit of an insurance liability!). . ae Conelusion Itis imperative to me that my students view me not only as a teacher, but also as someone they trust with their thoughts, ideas, happy news, and even issues that are goingMY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 6 on at home. This isa pat ofthe teaching profession that eannot be taught through anything but real-life experience. All of the best practices, such as think alouds and discrepant events, will surely make my classroom full of teaming. However, by building strong, exciting, dynamic classroom community, I will ensure it is one filled with love and respect as well. Teaching is so much more than worksheets and YouTube videos. The core mission of the profession is to build our students up so that they ean become the ultimate goal in implementing my independent, active seckers of knowledge. That personal philosophy of education. 0/4!MY REVISED PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 7 References Bohannon, 8, (2013). My Personal Philosophy of Education. Unpublished manuscript. Wesleyan College, Macon, GA. YY Clark, R. (2003). The essential 55: An award-winning educator's rules for discovering the successful student in every child. New York: Hyperion. Pate, R.R., ONeill, J. R,, Byun, W., Melver, K. L., Dowda, M., & Brown, W. H. (2014). Physical Activity in Preschool Children: Comparison Between Montessori and ‘Traditional Preschools. Journal Of School Health, 84(11), 716-721 6p. de 0.111 1fjosh.12207 Vaeca, R., Vacca, J., & Mraz, M, (2011). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum (0th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson, Webb, Dean L., Metha, Arlene., Jordan, Forbis K. (2010). Found: Education. (6" ed.). U.S.A. Pearson.