In an effort to assist prospective employers in fully evaluating my qualifications as a teacher, I have constructed this electronic portfolio to highlight my most critical professional competencies in the field of education. This platform affords me an opportunity to highlight the skills that I possess that are so necessary to effective teaching. It is laid out in a concise and meaningful way so that the potential employer can focus in on particular attributes.  This portfolio is itself demonstrative of a critical skill for teachers in the 21st Century; the ability to create and manipulate information in an electronic medium and in an online environment.

     As you peruse, you will find examples of documents, photographs and other artifacts that demonstrate the depth and breadth of my understanding of and ability to apply the standards that all teachers should embody. These 10 important standards are separated for ease of reading and so that each skill set can be evaluated individually.

     In my undergraduate studies at the University of Maine at Augusta from 2001 to 2005, I gained a highly beneficial set of skills, abilities, and knowledge upon which my work in education has been built. Dual Bachelor programs (B.S. Administration of Justice, B.A. Social Science, magna cum laude) taught me to apply critical thinking skills and to conceptualize topics from multiple perspectives. In addition, because each major demanded specific skills and hands-on application of them, my undergraduate training provided me with a wide-spectrum of knowledge upon which to base further lifelong learning and specialization.

     In addition to my undergraduate education, I have also pursued graduate-level education through Liberty University in that institution's Marriage and Family Therapy (M.A.) program.  However, after some thoughtful consideration, my plans for graduate-level education have changed.  Since my career aspirations have shifted to education, I have returned to Husson University working to complete an alternative certification program that will allow me to become a certified teacher in the state of Maine. Completion of this program is anticipated in December of 2008.  In the long-term, I plan to return to graduate school to pursue a Master’s degree in school guidance.

     Having worked as a social worker in children's mental health, I frequently sat on the opposite side of the table from administrators and teachers, advocating on behalf of children with psychological challenges that negatively impacted upon their educational experience.  As a prospective teacher, I recognize that classrooms are comprised of children from all socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds facing all manner of challenges. I believe my advanced training, my personal history and my educational aspirations stand me out as not only a qualified teacher, but a teacher who can teach and reach kids across the spectrum and with equal respect regardless of ability.

     Not only have I worked as an advocate for children, I myself have four special-needs children of my own. As a former social worker, parent and a future teacher, I see the enormous value of an integrative team approach to educational planning using a 'wraparound' philosophy. In this kind of stakeholder-rich process, students, their families, clinicians, specialists and school personnel work together to help the student meet his or her academic and personal potential by supporting student needs while utilizing student strengths. This approach also ensures that the student's input is heard and made an important part of his plan, which increases student buy-in and ultimately his success.  As George Bernard Shaw once said, "what we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child."  Indeed, to foster a love of learning in a child is the most important job of any teacher!