Creating an E-folio

Creating an E-folio looks like work, but in fact it is a lot of work. The e-folio is a google site where young teachers can put their lessons, edTPA tasks, information about them, resume, professional organizations, projects, etc. It has taken me a week to complete my e-folio and all the aspects that go with it. The e-folio is very time consuming, but looks great at the end and it is a great way for people to find teacher candidates. Even though the e-folio is very time consuming, not a lot of thinking goes into it. It is mostly putting all your documents together and answering easy questions. Do not stress over the e-folio, just make sure to have time to stop and do some work on it during the year. You will see that putting just two hours into it every other day isn't hard to do, and in the long run your e-folio tasks get smaller and smaller. I believe waiting till the last minute is not a good idea, but spreading out your work and doing a little at a time is the way to go. There is no anxiety or being nervous because things are getting down and your not spending that much time doing it. My e-folio took my maybe two weeks working on it every other day for a couple hours and I wasn't worried about submitting it at all. Just know that being nervous is silly and hurts you more. Live your life, and get rid of these non-sense emotions.

Dr. Smirnova

Dr. Smirnova's class taught me so much before student teaching. It opened my eyes to a whole new type of teaching and how to actually teach a whole classroom. I owe her so much for what she has done for me. Let me go through a couple of things on why she is the best. She showed me what a direct instruction looks like and the concepts for having it. It should be teacher-centered and full of information, given to the kids at a fast pace with minimal critical thinking questions. She taught me about Inquiry/collaborative instructions. Showing me the steps of inquiry and to put it into a classroom. Creating experiments or activities related to problems, and how it is more student-centered. She taught me how to engage the classroom to create a positive environment. This can be from he awesome knowledge of digital tools. Having digital tools and using them in your classroom is fun for everybody and creates a powerful lesson. It can be used in the intro, body, or end of your lessons. She taught me about different projects to give in the classroom: Jigsaw, artifact bag, book trailer, etc. I wouldn't be as confident as I am now for student teaching if it wasn't for her. If you are reading this Dr. Smirnova, THANK YOU so much for your help and everything you do for us.