Molly Rozga

Prospective Educator
5323 S. 13
th
Street
Milwaukee, W 53221
Alverno College School of Education
Faculty Committee for Admission and Advancement
3400 S. 43
rd
Street
Milwaukee, W 53234
4/1/2010
Dear Committee,
am a non-traditional student, returning to Alverno after establishing myself in the professional
world. made the decision to return to college and do what believe was destined to do
teach. have completed some entry level education courses, and await being fully immersed
in the education course work. As have read, listened and absorbed course material, have
been getting to know the Alverno Education Abilities and the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher
Development and Licensure. have chosen 2 artifacts that display my understanding of
Standards 1 and 3, and Alverno abilities of conceptualization and coordination.
The first artifact that selected is a lesson that worked on with 4 graders last semester.
believe that this lesson demonstrates my understanding of Standard 1 and the ability of
conceptualization. One of the dispositions related to Standard 1 is that "the teacher has
enthusiasm for the discipline she teaches and sees connections to everyday life (DP). Math
is something that have always enjoyed. Working through exercises, you have to make your
brain think about things differently. Not only did enjoy working on the lesson with the 4
th

grade class, but used some application questions to connect it to real life. My lesson also
connected to the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards in Mathematics, and so connects to
my understanding of the major concepts within the discipline.
MoIIy Rozgu


z O


n the words of the Alverno student handbook, a student can demonstrate conceptualization
through planning "material to meet learners' current needs and to lead to the next level of
development (Alverno Handbook, ). According to my cooperating teacher, the kids were
struggling with finding information in text. designed the lesson so that the students would be
able to find the data in sentences, connect the two data points, and put them into a T chart.
Doing the lesson in this way, thought the students would be able to practice finding usable
information within text. Another component to conceptualization is that the student can change
"the plan appropriately in response to the unexpected (Alverno Handbook, ). After reviewing
my lesson, my cooperating teacher said that the students may need to work on the entire
lesson as a large group. While was working on the lesson, the kids picked it up rather quickly
and were able to start working independently. We decided to review answers as a group to
give the students a chance to display their new knowledge.
The second artifact that chose was the portfolio that created after taking the mathematics
preparation classes (MT 243 and 244) at Alverno. The purpose of these classes is to prepare
a student to teach mathematics in elementary school, knowing the hows and the whys. This
artifact demonstrates my understanding of Standard 3 as one of the performance elements is
"the teacher identifies and designs instruction appropriate to the students' stages of
development, learning styles, strengths, and needs (DP). Now that have some fundamental
work with various algorithms, feel that am able to design instruction that meets the needs of
my students. will have a variety of ways to approach mathematical concepts. Because one
of the dispositions of Standard 3 is to value the differences in students' varied talents, knowing
the various algorithms, can design instruction to bring out the talents in my students. Not
everyone will catch on to the concepts the first way it is presented. n valuing the differences,
will not be afraid to try to explain and teach until we are on the same page.
was able to tie the portfolio to the Alverno ability of coordination. One of the key components
of coordination is that the student will "use resources appropriate to learning goals (Alverno
Handbook, ). believe that is a part of why we take the mathematics preparation courses.
MoIIy Rozgu


O


&pon accepting a job in an elementary school, one has the opportunity to teach mathematical
concepts to your students. f the only resource that you have is the textbook, you may struggle
to find ways to explain some concepts to your class. can explain addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division in a variety of ways using multiple strategies and manipulatives.
When one explanation doesn't suffice or a child needs it explained in another way, will not
hesitate to reach into my bag of tricks, exhibiting my "self confidence through initiative and
flexibility (Alverno Handbook, ).
am only about half way to my journey of becoming a licensed educator and helping to build
the future. As continue, will become more immersed within the Wisconsin Standards for
Teacher Development and Licensure and the Alverno Education Abilities. will gain more
experience and knowledge as get closer to my destination.
Sincerely,
Molly Rozga
Prospective Educator