Running Head: PERSONAL LITERACY PORTFOLIO 1

EDEE 223: Language Arts

Heidi Dimou’s Personal Literacy Portfolio

April 11th, 2016

McGill University

PERSONAL LITERACY PORTFOLIO

Table of Contents

Response to non-fiction text…………………………………………...……………….p. 3

Personal Profile of self as a learner……………………………………………….…….p. 6

Personal Narrative………………………………………………………………………p. 7

Free Write…………………………….………………..……………….……………..p. 10

Self- selected item reflecting Language Arts teaching competency………………..…p. 12

Statement of Language Arts teaching philosophy………………………………….....p. 14

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Response to non-fiction text

This is my response to the article ‘When is Creativity’ by Diane Jaquith (2011).

Here is the link to the text: http://www3.kutztown.edu/arteducation/PDF/57549509.pdf .

Diane Jaquith explains that art teachers need to develop strategies to enhance creative

thinking and creative art making. She begins by saying that intrinsic motivation can

activate children’s creativity. Intrinsic motivation, like personal interests and curiosity,

are related to creativity (Jaquith, 2011, p.77). Knowing the student’s interests can really

help spark their creativity and also to creative problem finding and solving. If a student is

curious about something that interests him, he will find different to express that interest

in his artworks;, this will enable the student to develop the necessary creativity skills.

Extrinsic motivation can delay creativity in students. If the student is distracted by

outside sources, for example, strict teacher expectations, deadlines, or importance of

grades, this won’t help the student develop his creativity.

I believe it is important for students to gain independence and autonomy while

doing an artwork. According to Jaquith (2011), “Choice-based teaching and learning

promotes learner autonomy through arts-based practice focused on multiple studio

centers” (p.78). To become curious, independent and able receive help from others,

teachers must know and become aware of each child’s interests. These intrinsic

motivators can help bring out children’s’ personal interests. Teachers need to find their

students’ interest, so they can feel safe to share those interests in the classroom. Intrinsic

motivators can really improve children’s creativity, rather than teachers giving students

problems to solve.

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Self-directed learners help the teacher and her role. Jaquith (2011) says, “the

teacher’s role shifts from instructor to facilitator, living resource, and guide” (p. 79). The

way that teachers motivate and encourage their students have an effect on their artwork.

My favorite passage from the article is “Finding a balance between direct teaching and

facilitating for independent work is critical to support autonomy and creativity in class”

(Jaquith, 2011, p.79). This balance is very crucial for a child’s learning and motivation.

The teacher can support the child’s learner-directed pedagogy and their interests.

Teachers must know when it is time to be facilitators and when it is time to give

instructions and certain expectations.

Something that interested me and inspired me while reading this article by Jaquith

is how can teachers can identify and observe when a student or learner’s creativity is

sparked in school art programs.? Jaquith (2011) mentions a few strategies that can help

encourage creativity during art class. For example, minimize effects of extrinsic

motivators, organize lessons on intrinsic motivators, and let students make choices, help

identify intrinsic motivators that influence the child’s creativity. (Jaquith, 2011, p.81).

This can really help students become independent and it is very important that these

strategies can have effects in the younger years of children.

After reading and responding to this article by Diane B. Jaquith, I realize why it’s

important to ask students to respond to texts, more specifically in a Language Arts

classroom. For myself, it helped me realize that creativity is important in a teacher and a

student’s life; therefore it helps students learn something they didn’t know about. This

gives the students a chance to reflect and communicate their views, opinions, and

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thoughts on a text. It’s good for the students to see things from another perspective and

become aware of the different viewpoints. Students practice their writing as they respond

to the text and use author’s quotes accurately to back up their opinions or statements. The

students’ response can help the teacher identify if they understand the texts, its main

ideas and the meaning behind it. A way to have students to respond to a text could be by

having them read about a topic they are willing to learn more about.

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A personal profile of self as a learner

I think of myself as more of a learner than a writer or reader. I enjoy learning and

gaining new knowledge. Being knowledgeable can really affect my teaching career.

Using my talents, abilities, learning styles, stages of development and readiness can help

me learn new material. As a future teacher, I have learned so much over these years of

schooling that finding something I’m interested in has enabled me to find ways to learn

and discover about it. This is how I would like to be in my class with my students.

Students should have the choice to what they want to learn about in the classroom. This

will help learn to challenge them just like it challenged me to find ways to learn about

something I’m interested in. I also learn with because of my curiosity, therefore I would

want my future students to learn though curiosity, engagement and experiences, and not

because they have to.

I have also learned best by applying knowledge and having hands-on experiences.

When I was in Child Studies at Concordia University, I used the knowledge I learned

from my classes in my field experiences and that is where I learned the most. I learned

more through my hands on experience of being in a daycare setting than being in

classroom at school. The same goes with my first field experience at McGill as well

because I got to experience how it was to be in a school setting and how it is on a daily

basis. By observing and participating, I get to learn how teachers manage their classroom,

their teaching strategies, their schedules and routines. I learn through making mistakes as

well;, I believe that’s when I learn the most from my peers and supervising teachers. It

helped me noticed what mattered the most and deepen my knowledge.

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Personal Narrative: Summer in Greece

In the summer of 2014, I traveled to Greece with my family and I met up with

friends to visit an island. I had the time of my life on this island, where I met so many

people, Greeks and tourists. I felt free being away from my parents and away from my

life back in Montreal. I was more adventurous, social and not afraid to live. We had

stayed on this island for 4 days going out and trying new restaurants. It was something

different every night. When I returned back to Athens, my brother and I met up with my

parents, where I was to see them again.

We traveled to our village a few hours away from Athens. My father grew up in

this village and we would stay at his old house where my grandmother still lived. We felt

very happy when we came to the village, especially my dad because it’s where he grew

up. It always felt nice to be in the village;, it was different than being in a city or on an

island. You knew everyone around you and everybody knew you. I knew where the café,

the supermarket and the restaurants were because theyre weren’t far from each other. The

air felt fresh and the sky was light blue. With the view of the highest mountain in Greece,

Mount Olympus, I definitely felt away from the city life. I enjoyed it. Everyone was so

friendly, always greeting each other and waving. I had a few friends in the village and

some 2nd and 3rd cousins that I was very close with, where as the other people my age I

had only seen them once or twice. During my days in the village, I would wake up go for

a walk then have my coffee and take a nap. In the afternoon, I would wake up from my

nap and start getting ready to hang out with my cousins. There was a certain spot where

the younger adults, like myself, would hang out; it was at this café/bar.

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Around the middle week of August, there was the big festival happening in my

village because of a holiday for 2 nights in a row. The night before the festivals, my

brother, cousins, friends and I went to the café/bar to celebrate the holiday because all the

young people were there. I had fun that because I met so many people from the village.

But one person stood out me. A friend introduced me to him and we just hit it off. He was

sweet but mysterious at the same time. I liked it him and I think he liked me too. A few

days after this night, we were hanging out with the whole group, with my friends and his

friends.

We had this chemistry that I had never felt before even in my last relationship.

The attraction was there;, we had so much to talk about, and, in some way I felt like a

different person when I was with him. I felt free. He made me feel special. This went on

for another few weeks. We had expressed how we felt about each and how strong our

connection was. I never had this connection with anyone before maybe it felt different

because I was on vacation and I was in another country; I wasn’t sure, but I loved the

feeling. When it was my time to go back home, we said our goodbyes. It was hard but it

had to be done. We promised each other we would keep in touch and we did. When I

came back to Montreal, we spoke everyday by texting on ‘What’s AppUp’ and through

Facebook. This lasted for 1 year; I loved him. But I lived in Montreal and he lived in

Greece. In some way and deep down, we both knew it wasn’t going to last because we

came form different worlds, had different lifestyles and different futures. When I didn’t

visit this past summer, it was hard to get that connection back. We both lost touch and

continued on with our own lives. It was hard at first, but as I continued on with my life, I

met someone. He was kind, sweet, and treated me good. But it wasn’t the same

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connection. I hadn’t gone to Greece since the summer of 2014 and I’m not sure if I will

go this summer because of my new relationship. He was my first love, but I guess it

wasn’t meant for him to be my last.

It’s important to ask students to write narratives and stories because they give life

to the information. It’s more interesting and intriguing than an informational text.

Personal narratives give the chance to students to write about their personal life

experiences. It can vary from being a memory, a feeling, to an event or a special moment

that impacted you in your life. It’s personal; therefore the students have the choice how

they want to write and what they want to write about. A way we can ask students to write

stories is that they can write by retelling a story they have read or enjoyed. This helps

them change the language and use their own words. The students can write using stories

they have read and create their own stories with different ideas, characters or events

depending on what they want it to be about. They can write about a story they know but

change the plot and make up their own. This will encourage students to write because

they make all of the decisions in their writing and it gives them that independence of

creating new elements in their story.

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Free Write: ‘Every Morning’

She woke upevery morning

of having the choiceto be anyone she wanted.

It was amazing that she always chose to be

herself everydaywithout hesitation.

I wrote a free write because it gave me the freedom and independence to write

about anything and express myself without using rhymes. For myself, it’s important to be

yourself and not have the choice to be someone you’re not. The meaning behind it is very

powerful. The message is that being yourself is the best kind of person you want to be

everyday and people will like you for who you are.

Poetry is an important art that students need to experience in school. It can help

students develop their writing skills. This can help them engage in their writing by using

words they feel comfortable with. With poetry, they can freely express their emotions,

feelings, ideas, thoughts and opinions. It increases their literacy, linguistic awareness and

it will enable them to expand their oral and written vocabularies. Students can learn that

poems have rhymes and that there are different types of poems. It allows students to

chose the words they want to use in their poems and express themselves in a creative

way. Teacher can ask students to write poems by discussing poetry in the classroom and

to encourage them to think about other students interpret poems. To introduce poetry to

students, they can write a poem that’s title “This is Me”, therefore they would write about

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who they are as a person, their characteristics, etc. This can be a great way for teachers to

get to know their students. They can also write “I Wish…” poems or write color poems

do develop the strategies of creating sensory images and painting word pictures. Another

way to introduce them to poetry is to read poems aloud with the students and discuss the

features of the type of poem.

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Self- selected item reflecting Language Arts teaching competency

An item that I chose that reflects my Language Arts teaching competency is my

online teaching blog/portfolio. I created this online portfolio in one of my classes last

year as I was using the web software called WordPress. Through this website, I learned

all the features of it and found out what I needed to include to make an online portfolio.

The link my portfolio is https://heididimou15.wordpress.com/. In my portfolio, I have

included my teaching philosophy, my professional development, my biography, and work

samples that include resources, lesson plan, units, projects, assessments and an annotated

bibliography. This portfolio is an ongoing learning process for my teaching career and

performance. My online teaching portfolio is where I can freely post anything that I’m

interested and my views on teaching and education as well as to inform visitors of the

kind of teacher I would like to be. This can be a tool that can be useful for employers,

friends, teachers and parents.

This portfolio is significant for me because it represents who I want to be as a

teacher. I update my portfolio with new posts as I write about what I have done in my

classes at McGill from lesson plans to group projects and LES units. My engagement and

development with this portfolio emphasizes two MELS competencies which are

competency 10, to cooperate with members of the teaching team in carrying out tasks

involving the development and evaluation of the competencies targeted in the program of

study, taking into account the students concerned, and competency 11, to engage in

professional development individually and with others. To develop competency 10

through this portfolio, I can visit or follow other teacher’s portfolios and get inspired

from their views on teaching. By visiting other teacher’s portfolio, I can expand my

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knowledge on teaching. I develop competency 11 by having the opportunity to improve

in my teaching career. As I add all my work that I have accomplished and that I’m proud

of to my teaching portfolio, it encourages me to reflect on my journey and connect with

others. As I connect with others, I learn new things everyday about education and the

teaching career.

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Statement of Language Arts teaching philosophy

As for my initial Language Arts teaching philosophy, language arts are essential

to emphasize as the art of communicating in a classroom. In my classroom, I would

introduce the six language arts, listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, visually

representing and relationships among the Language Arts. Before introducing the 6

language arts, as a future teacher, I would get to know my student’s’ prior knowledge and

find out what their interests are. I believe students chose what they want to learn about

because they will become more curious and want to learn through exploration. Students

learn both strategies and skills through language arts instruction. As I have learned in my

Language Arts class and other my other class at McGill, students need to learn a few

strategies related to language arts, such as, visualizing, connecting, evaluating, predicting,

generalizing, finding meaning and organizing ideas (Tompkins, G., Bright, R. &Winsor,

P., 2015). These strategies will help the students, as they read, to analyze what they’re

reading and to respond to it.

I believe my main goal, as a future teacher, is to create a language-rich classroom

where students are encouraged to speak, listen, read, write, view and visually represent

through different means of strategies, techniques and methods. In order to improve these

literacy skills, instructional scaffolding by the teacher is necessary, as it is important

come up with a variety of instructional techniques that aim students toward independence

and a better understanding of the material.

By creating the language arts toolbox, discussing and sharing with peers of ideas,

I have come to realize that the different means of resources, techniques and methods can

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be adapted in the language arts classroom. Students can learn to develop the literacy

skills through a piece of literature, a poem, alternative communicative medias, digital

technology and current social issue. These methods have enabled me to do research on

how they target the language arts competencies and what the students will be doing to

meet these competencies. As I use personal expression to work on my literacy portfolio, I

have come to notice what it means to be a literate person. I have used the strategies of

connecting, evaluating and visualizing, to write these pieces of literature that reflect my

views and my thinking. For my portfolio, I chose what I wanted to write about and what I

was interested about, which made me feel independent and write freely. I made

connections and visualized what I was going to write about which helped me in my

writing of each submission. The language arts toolbox and portfolio will serve as

educational and informational tools for myself in my future classroom.

D (5), Marginal

C+(6.6), Problematic C (6), Very Problematic

B+ (7.6), GoodB (7.3), Acceptable B- (7), Adequate

A (10), Exceptional A- (8),Very Good

A response to a fiction or non-fiction text and a reflection on how/why we ask students to respond to text in a Language Arts classroom

Marginally developed response

Some aspects of the response are superficially developed &/or not connected to LA education

Response is meaningful (i.e., focused, substantive), adheres to conventions explored in class, and is clearly written. Connections to LA education are clear.

Response is provocative (i.e., provokes new ideas on the part of the reader) and demonstrates critical thought. Connections to LA education are compelling

7.3

A personal profile of yourself as a writer, reader, or learner.

Marginally developed profile

Profile indicates some understanding of what it means to be a reader, writer or learner.

Profile indicates a thorough understanding of what it means to be a reader, writer or learner and how that impacts teaching.

Profile indicates a deep understanding of what it means to be a reader, writer or learner and how that will be critically reflected in teaching.

7.3

A personal narrative or story

Marginally

Some aspects of the narrative are

Narrative is well-developed (e.g.

Narrative is well-developed, well-

7.6

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and a reflection on how/why we ask students to write narratives and stories in Language Arts

developed narrative

superficially developed &/or not connected to LA education

descriptive, detailed, focused), well-written (adheres to structural& grammatical conventions) & meaningful (there is a message, purpose, or clear focus). Connections to LA education are clear.

written, evocative (i.e., it evokes feelings, a spirit, or a sense of time/place), and thought-provoking (i.e., it provokes thought). Connections to LA education are compelling

A poem or an example of a “free write” and a reflection on how/why we ask students to write poetry/freely in Language Arts

Marginally developed poem

Some aspects of the poem/free-write are superficially developed &/or not connected to LA education

Poem/FW is meaningful, adheres to conventions explored in class, and is clearly written. Connections to LA education are clear.

Poem/FW is well-developed, evocative, and thought-provoking. Connections to LA education are compelling

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A self-selected item that reflects your competency as a Language Arts teacher and an explanation of its significance

Marginally

developed item

Some aspects of the item are superficially developed &/or not connected to LA education

Item reflects competency as an LA teacher

Item reflects exceptional competency as an LA teacher

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A statement of Language Arts teaching philosophy that is informed by and reflects your Personal Language Arts Portfolio and the content of your Language Arts Toolbox

Marginally developed statement

Some aspects of statement are superficially developed

Statement is fully developed and reflects competency/positioning as an LA educator

Statement is exceptionally clear and compelling.

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47.2Comments: A number of writing issues. Overall, work is well done, particularly your self-selected item. Some work needed in the response and the profile (see feedback in text).

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