Portfolio Handbook for Elementary / Secondary Students
Submission I: Admission to Professional Education

Admission to Professional Education

(Follow the Submission I Checklist to gather your items for this submission. )

Your first portfolio submission must be successfully completed as one of the requirements for achieving full admission to your professional education program. All of your documentation for admission should be included. The required items are listed in the Submission I: Admission to Professional Education Program Checklist . The criteria for evaluating these items are listed on the Evaluation Rubric and Score Report for Submission I: Admission to Professional Education . Insert the checklist and the evaluation rubric into the inside front pocket of your three-ring portfolio binder. Check with your Program Coordinator to see if there are any requirements in addition to those on the checklist.

Most of the items included in Submission I are credentials (resume, letter of recommendation, transcript, etc.) The necessary release forms and record forms are available below. You will also include two written essays: a teaching philosophy and a statement of your professional goals. The guidelines for those two essays are available below.

If the portfolio does not meet the standards for admission to the Professional Education Program, the portfolio reader will complete the Plan of Improvement Form. You will then follow those instructions to prepare your portfolio for resubmission.

Guidelines for Assembling the Portfolio

You will have purchased a 3-inch binder for your portfolio. Insert a cover page with your name and program information into the vinyl sleeve on the cover and on the binder spine, and also as the Title Page on the inside of your portfolio. Insert the Table of Contents behind the Title Page. Tabbed dividers should be used to label the seven portfolio sections: Submission I Documents, Submission II Documents, Submission III Documents, Philosophy Statements, Integration, Diversity, and Professionalism. Arrange your documents and tabbed dividers according to the Table of Contents .

Guidelines for Required Forms

Print the following forms and complete the information as required:

Additional documents:

You will need to record information concerning your observation and field placement experiences. Complete the Field Placement Record Form for Submission I and update the form for Submissions II and III. In the Higher Education Field Experience section, include all experiences that you have had in any OSU education course. In the Community Field Experience section, list all community volunteer work or jobs you have held working with children. A Sample Field Placement Record Form is included below. You will need the School District Database to complete the Field Placement Record Form.

Guidelines for Field Placement Evaluations

Collect teacher, peer and self-evaluation forms from your field experience class and field work, and from any other relevant courses.

Guidelines for the Teaching Philosophy Statements:

What is the purpose of the essays?

It is important that you establish a purpose and a focus for your professional career as an educator. It is also important that you learn to articulate your views, reflect upon your actual practice, and evaluate your personal beliefs about teaching and learning. Your Philosophy of Teaching statements are descriptions of your own values and beliefs about education in general and about teaching and learning in your content area. You will refine, augment, and develop your philosophy for the rest of your career.

When do I write the Teaching Philosophy essays?

As part of the pre-service teacher education program you will write two essays about your teaching philosophy. You will write the first essay as you reflect on your early field experiences and seek admission to the professional program (Submission I). You will write the second essay as you complete student teaching and apply for your initial teaching license (Submission III). You must include both philosophy essays in your final portfolio submission, so that readers will see the professional growth and development you have achieved as a result of the knowledge and experience you gained throughout the pre-service teacher education program.

What are the guidelines for writing the First Teaching Philosophy?

You will want to begin the planning process by reading the OSU Core Concepts and Goals Statement and any philosophy statements of the program s to which you are applying. Reflect on how these concepts and professional stances relate to your own beliefs and ideas about teaching and learning. Think about what you have observed in your visits to public school classrooms, and about your personal experiences working with young people. Consider how these experiences have impacted your understanding of the importance of education in the United States and in your community.

Head your paper with title, semester, and year, as indicated below. Then, based on your reflections, develop your essay by discussing the following points:

First Teaching Philosophy

Semester, Year

Introduction

What do you believe to be the value and purpose(s) of pre-K-12 education in the United States , and what is the value of your particular content-area or program emphasis?

Body

a) Describe what you believe the classroom teacher's responsibilities are for helping students to achieve the purposes you identified and to benefit from studying your content area.

b) Likewise, discuss what the students' responsibilities are for achieving those purposes, and what value education will have for them.

c) Describe the role that families should play in achieving those educational purposes.

d) Describe the role that members of the community play in achieving those educational purposes.

Conclusion

Complete your essay by summarizing your thoughts in a concise and forceful way.

How will the First Teaching Philosophy be evaluated?

Your essay will be evaluated on the clarity of your thinking and the support of your ideas through the use of details and examples drawn from your own experiences and classroom observations. Your essay should be logically organized and clearly written, and should exhibit your control of the mechanics, grammar, and usage of Standard English. See Evaluation Rubric and Score Report for Submission I.

Guidelines for the Professional Goals Statement

What is the purpose of the statement of goals?

A statement of goals guides your development by helping you to focus on your future professional plans and reflect on the steps required to achieve your goals and to be successful in your career as an educator.

When do I write the Professional Goals Statement?

You will write the Professional Goals Statement as you reflect on your initial education courses and seek admission to the professional education program (Submission I).

What are the guidelines for writing the Professional Goals Statement?

The Professional Goals essay is a personal statement of the goals that you feel are most important to you, and a description of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that you will need to develop in order to achieve success as an educator/teacher. For the purposes of this essay, you may choose to focus on three to five goals.

You will want to begin the planning process by reading the OSU Core Concepts and Goals Statement and any professional goals statements or teacher performance objectives of the program to which you are applying. Reflect on their implications for your own educational and professional development. Think about the knowledge, skills and dispositions that you have seen exhibited by successful teachers whom you have observed, and whom you may wish to emulate.

Head your paper with title, semester, and year, as indicated below. Then, based on your reflections, develop your essay by discussing the following points:

Professional Goals Statement

Semester, Year

Introduction

Begin your essay with a statement of your career objective(s): the subject area and/or grade level you wish to teach, and a statement of the professional skills you intend to exhibit as you pursue your career. These essential skills should relate to OSU program goals.

Body

a) Briefly describe the teaching position you imagine you will have five years from now (geographic location, the type of community, the socio-economic or ethnic groups with whom you might be working, the type of school, the type of classroom environment you will establish).

b) Discuss in detail the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (dispositions) that you will need to develop in order to succeed as a teacher and be satisfied with your work in the setting you described.

c) Based on the knowledge, skills and dispositions you said are necessary to be successful as a teacher, discuss several future professional and personal experiences (not limited to the remainder of your pre-professional program) that should help prepare you for your teaching position.

Conclusion

Summarize your 3-5 professional development goals and conclude your essay by listing the specific steps you will take to achieve them.

How will the Professional Goals Statement be evaluated ?

Your essay will be evaluated on the clarity of your thinking and the support of your ideas through the use of details and examples. Your development plan should realistically guide you in accomplishing professional goals that reflect the skills and attitudes needed by educators and espoused by the OSU program goals. Your essay should be logically organized and clearly written, and should exhibit your control of the mechanics, grammar, and usage of Standard English. See Evaluation Rubric and Score Report for Submission I.

Links needed for Submission I:

Forms for faculty use only

OSU Professional Education Unit
325 Willard
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: (405)744-6252
Fax: (405)744-1834
Email the Professional Education Unit