Purpose
A professional profile is similar to components of a resume or teaching portfolio. As you begin this journey to becoming a professional educator (or a professional in another field), you want to develop a profile and think about ways to broaden your skills and experiences to enhance your qualifications so that you can acquire your ideal teaching position or career. A profile should be a snapshot of who you are, what you want to become, and what you are capable of doing. Your profile will also focus on demonstrating your growth in the course and understanding of the core course questions and themes.
Introduction
You will be creating a professional educator profile as a personal website. There are several options for creating your own free website. Some common choices include:
Google SitesLinks to an external site. (recommended)
Google Sites Terms of ServiceLinks to an external site.
Google Sites Privacy NoticeLinks to an external site.
WixLinks to an external site.
Wix Terms of ServiceLinks to an external site.
Wix Privacy PolicyLinks to an external site.
Wix Terms of AccessibilityLinks to an external site.
WeeblyLinks to an external site.
Weebly Privacy NoticeLinks to an external site.
Weebly Terms of ServiceLinks to an external site.
WordPressLinks to an external site.
WordPress Terms of ServiceLinks to an external site.
WordPress Privacy PolicyLinks to an external site.
This profile should be written as a narrative with a first-person approach. Be specific and unique – this is a snapshot of you. Feel free to include appropriate photos or relevant images. Showcase your strengths, beliefs, and passions. Reflecting on who you are and where you want to be will help you focus and prepare for the future and find your niche in the teaching profession. Remember the importance of spelling and correct grammar in professional writing.
Here are some examples that you can explore: Teaching Portfolio ExamplesLinks to an external site.
Instructions
First, select a platform to use to build your website. Become familiar with the tools and how to add features.
You will be creating your webpage using the required components listed below.
Decide if you want your webpage to be a single page with the different sections OR if you want to create “tabs” or individual “pages” for each section. Either way is acceptable as long as you include the title of each section.
For each of the sections listed below, include the required components to include in your profile to help you provide a complete description of who you are as a future educator or professional.
You may include additional components to each section to personalize further.
Each section should consist of 2-6 phrases written in either a bullet form or a brief paragraph form under each section title.
Submit a link to your website once completed.
Confirm that your link is not set to private so that I can access your website.
Required Sections and Components
Education/Career Profile
Include the following:
Current major, # completed credit hours, GPA, any previous schools attended, degrees earned, etc.
Where you want to teach (district, state, and/or country) and/or what type of school you want to teach in; ideal grade level and/or subject;
Explain why you are interested in this type of school/grade/subject.
If you don’t want to teach, explain your career goals and how this course is impacting you.
Include the following:
Relevant background and experiences that align with your future profession.
Membership in clubs, organizations, professional organizations, etc.
How are you building your professional network?
Skills and/or knowledge that you possess that can benefit you as a future teacher/professional.
Accomplishments or awards received.
Goals for Future
Include the following:
Goals for yourself and your future students.
What do you want to accomplish?
What are you passionate about?
Do you have any interest in new techniques, technologies, or activities?
Where do you find inspiration?
Core Questions
Respond to each of the three core questions.
Each question response should be approximately 300-400 words in length.
Include the question as a header for each response under this section title.
Citing course readings and resources is required. Include at least 3 cited works – at least one per question response. Correctly cite your sources within the text and include a list of references at the end of this section.
What does it mean to teach?
This question focuses on the activity of teaching and will require you to consider the role of a teacher (historically, currently, and in the future). Sub-questions to help you develop a rich response include:
What makes a good teacher? Who decides?
How can you tell when teaching and learning are occurring?
What can teachers learn from and with their students?
How does your individual identity inform how and/or what you teach?
Why is critical thinking important in teaching?
How does the subject matter taught in schools reflect and impact the lives of students and larger social issues?
What is the purpose of school?
This question focuses on the setting of teaching. Sub-questions to help you develop a rich response include:
What are schools for (historically, currently, and in the future)?
What is the purpose of schooling in a democratic society?
What do students learn in school, both explicitly and implicitly?
Do teachers, students, and parents want the same things from their schools? Who are schools serving?
How do the multiple and conflicting purposes of schooling affect what teachers do and what they ought to do?
How do college students become transformative teachers/professionals or community members?
This question examines the process of learning to teach/become a teacher/professional that can engage with diverse students/people. Sub-questions to help you develop a rich response include:
How do you define a transformative teacher?
What do teachers need to know about their content areas? Their students? Their school, community, and country?
What can you learn from firsthand experiences both inside and outside classrooms? From current teachers and other professionals? From research? From communities?
What should you be learning about yourself to prepare for teaching/being a professional?
Is there anything you need to unlearn to prepare for teaching/being a professional?
Teaching Statements
Select 2 of the following 6 prompts to respond to in this section only AND clearly identify the prompt you are responding to within your profile. Each response should be about 150 words.
Explain how schools have impacted current social inequalities.
Explain how one should teach to increase students’ success.
Describe ways to celebrate diversity in your classroom.
Describe how to implement culturally and contextually relevant curriculum and pedagogy.
Describe how to apply global perspectives in a classroom, school, or community.
Describe how you will actively participate in a democratic society.
Reflection
Include a response to the following:
Discuss your experiences as a learner to internalize, understand, remember, and use the new concepts introduced so far in this course so they become personally meaningful and useful.
Have you experienced ideas that have challenged what you previously thought about students/teaching/schools? How did these challenges impact you?
What component (activity, resource, etc.) of the course has either had the most impact on you or has helped you develop the most as a learner? Explain
Grading
This assignment is worth 150 points.
Review the rubric to determine assignment expectations and grading.
Check for proper spelling and grammar.
Turnitin Feature is applied to check for academic dishonesty and plagiarism. Review University policies and confirm that your assignment is not flagged with a high similarity score.
You can submit late work up to one week from the original due date, but with a deduction of 10% per day, up to 50% off.
