Early Childhood Education Internship Teaching Portfolio

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” Lee Iacocca

The internship offers a candidate in the Early Childhood Education career pathway a field experience under the direct supervision of a certified early childhood educator (mentor). The internship stresses observing, analyzing, and classifying activities of the mentor and comparing personal traits with those of successful early childhood educators. The candidate intern will develop a portfolio of their skills, plan and teach a lesson or lessons, understand and practice confidentiality as it pertains to early childhood education, meet the needs of special education students, maintain the safety of the students, and practice professionalism and ethical behavior.

1 Early Childhood Education Portfolio

The purpose of a teaching portfolio is to showcase you and your experiences as an educator. It highlights your beliefs, ability to teach and assimilate data.

You will need: *3 ring binder *Dividers (8-10) *Pictures/ Stickers/ Die cuts

TO DO BEFORE YOU START:

Set up TAB Pages Tab pages should be consistent in format and typed to look professional. Pages must have the page title in a prominent place on the paper. Students may add clip art, photo, or other graphics, phrases or words. The following are recommended tabs.  Cover Page - contains - Name, Course name, School name, time in Early Childhood Education i.e. and may have tasteful, related graphics or photos. Remember Cheryl Priest’s tip on cover pages: “Keep in mind that the first glimpse a potential employer or colleague gets of your portfolio is the cover.” Cheryl Priest

 Your philosophy of education: A one page description of what you think a teacher needs to be for his/her students.

 Observation logs: 7 attached

 A completed checklist on a student that you work with on an individual basis

 Work Samples of children you have worked with.

 One lesson plan that you will implement before semester’s end

 Picture journal of at least 10 pictures from classroom.

 Internship memories/moments (A one page reflection)

2 Writing a Statement of Philosophy The Benefits of Developing a Professional Portfolio, by Cheryl Priest, Young Children, January 2010.

A personal statement of philosophy about early childhood education can send a strong message about you, and if you mail it with your cover letter and résumé, it can serve as an introduction well before someone meets you in person. It can share your values and beliefs about children more deeply than a résumé or cover letter. When interviewing teachers for our university preschool program, we often select (or eliminate) candidates based on the contents of their philosophy statement. A philosophy is generally limited to one page. It can begin with an opening paragraph followed by bulleted highlights, or be written completely in paragraph form. To get started, students and new professionals should reflect on and distill their views on ethical conduct, developmentally appropriate practice, values, child development theory, inclusion of children with special needs, diversity, guidance, child assessment and evaluation, and family support and involvement. These points of value are the foundation for the students’ statements of philosophy on early childhood education. Next, the students add additional text on topics of their choice, such as philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of child development that guide their professional practices. They then use their creativity and their own style to format the final statement. As a gesture of commitment, they usually sign or type their name at the bottom of the page.

3 LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Lesson Title: ______

EQ: (Essential question) ______

Objective: (The student will) ______

Activity: (The teacher will) ______

Materials: ______

Evaluation: (How will you know the students learned what you taught?) ______

Lesson reflection: (How’d it go?) ______

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