Effectiveness in Teaching

Factors used in consideration of tenure (a) Meeting of all classes as scheduled, use of appropriate and effective pedagogical techniques, organization, fair and clear policies, and appropriate academic rigor. Out of class factors such as availability to students, quality of student conferences and academic advising, and commitment to the best-long term interests of the students are also included. (b) Maintenance of professional competence necessary to remain current in ones field and higher education generally, course revision and development, attending professional meetings, involvement in pedagogical issues, etc. Factors used in consideration of promotion Effectiveness of a greater magnitude implies more than simply maintaining the status quo. Although maintenance of past quality of performance in the classroom and in advising is expected, there should be demonstrable attempts to further expand and improve upon classroom pedagogy and academic interactions with students. Teaching is beyond a career for me. My experience with teaching has been an innate part of my disposition because I have always embraced the Socratic method of teaching and learning. This love of inquiry has been a reason why I view myself as an effective teacher at the University of Mount Union. During my time at Mount Union, I have faithfully met all of my scheduled courses with enthusiasm, knowledge of the curriculum, and a passion for the field of education. However, my reliability to my students and their learning goes beyond the classroom. I serve as a constant support system to my students learning outside of the classroom through the usage of office visits, lunch meetings, and online communication. This support to students demonstrates that I care about my students and demand high levels of performance. In addition to meeting with students, I have worked hard to use a wide range of pedagogical techniques in my teaching. Although I was academically trained in pedagogical techniques and delivery, I often find myself creating and testing new methods. My creative approach to pedagogy seems to serve my students well in my courses. Evidence of my use of effective pedagogical techniques is demonstrated by student feedback. Please note: University administered student evaluations quoted in this portfolio are not comprehensive. The following quotes are excerpts from the original course evaluations across my years of teaching at Mount Union. The quotes in [bold] are my interpretations and connections to factors that attribute to my effectiveness in teaching.

Undergraduate Responses o Dr. Capel scheduled our classes out well, and allowed for overflow if a presentation went too long or a lesson took a little more time. If we were done with something early she always had another lesson prepared so we weren't wasting a day of class [Attention to organizational levels and wise use of class time] o Dr. Capel I thought was a very good professor. She made sure that we understood the information and was always willing to help [Attention to level of care] o I think this class was great and I didn't get bored with the material. I got to think about and learn new things. [Attention to effective pedagogical technique to decrease boredom] o Dr. Capel always brought in stories from when she was a teacher in the school setting. Those are very valuable contributions since everyone who wants to become a teacher tends to be interested in hearing those stories. [Attention to effective pedagogical technique to bring in the familiar and use storying as a learning tool] o She was organized and knew what was going to happen each day. We were able to get started on the day right away. No wasted time. [Attention to course organization] o Though I don't like it, we did a lot of group work with different groups throughout the semester that helped us learn to contribute to a common goal and work together in a healthy manner. [Attention to effective pedagogical technique of collaborative learning] o The projects we did will really help us as teachers in the future! [Attention to effective pedagogical technique of project based learning] o I learned a lot about what it will be like in the classroom. A lot of the projects we did were very beneficial, and I feel as though they helped prepare me for becoming a future educator. I think that every class period was very informative and interesting, I enjoyed coming to class. [Attention to appropriate academic balance of keeping class interesting and informational] o This was not just a class where we sat and took notes, we were made to engage in conversation and Dr. Capel used many different teaching styles to help us get involved and motivated. I loved that aspect of this class. [Attention to effective and preferred pedagogical technique of the Socrative method and professional discourse]

o I really loved the enthusiasm that Dr. Capel brought to class everyday and was always energetic about teaching this class. Every lesson that was talked about during this class, she was able to keep me engaged and thinking outside of the box. I really enjoyed having Dr. Capel as an instructor this semester, because she was always able to keep the class excited and interested. [Attention to motivation and engagement of student learning] o Every assignment of the class is very interesting. There are some assignments which I've never tried. Although it is hard for me to join the discussion or presentation, it is really good experience for me. :-) [Attention to getting students out of their comfort zones] o In my opinion she is a great teacher and I really like going to her classes! [Attention to the high rate of student attendance and participation] o Dr. Capel was always very excited about the material and very helpful inside and outside of the classroom. She was always very helpful and came up with different ways to look at things to help later on in the field. [Attention to instructional creativity and understanding that learning takes places outside of the scheduled course time] o She did a great job in teaching this course. Dr. Capel made it enjoyable for everyone and she did many hands on activities that made it more interesting. [Attention to engaging pedagogical techniques] o She is really nice and kind for both American students and international students. She always cares about the students and answers any question. [Attention to non-bias teaching and care for ALL students] o Very respectful of all students and treated us as adults or equals. [Attention to non-bias teaching and care for ALL students] o Always had a positive attitude in class and always kept us excited about teaching. she pushed us to think outside of our boxes and discuses things with other future teachers. [Attention to critical and creative thinking to be valued] o Very enthusiastic and energetic when teaching this class! She always kept me interested and engaged. [Attention to student motivation as a contributing factor of learning] o I think she really prepares for the class every time. Although that is very important as a teacher, her plan is well-organized. [Attention to organization]

o We always covered what we needed to do during the time we met. If not, she always made sure we covered it during the next meeting time. [Attention to value for content mastery] o Dr. Capel was very organized with all of the assignment and activities that we were doing. The only problem we faced was running out of time for certain things. [Attention to good organization and need for evaluating pacing] o The class is so discussion based and hands on, the teacher listens to us all and bases questions off of our responses. [Attention to evaluating student responses and embracing teachable moments] o She was very motivational and excited about the work. No one was ever upset about an assignment. If someone was confused she would work with them to gain a better understanding. [Attention to student understanding] o The discussions in this class are so helpful [Attention to discussion based pedagogy] o The course truly gave me an insight on what was expected of a teacher. Observations and class discussions helped to ensure that I am on the correct path. [Attention to discussion based pedagogy and experiential learning] o Helped me gain a better knowledge of different things teachers have to do. Also gained knowledge of different ways to get to different students. [Attention to differentiated instruction] o I feel like this class made me want to be a teacher more than I already did. [Attention to showing value to the field of education] o Always very hands-on and informational. [Attention to project based learning] o Dr. Capel is very knowledgeable in all areas of content area literacy. [Attention to content knowledge] o The instructor was very fair in this class and offered a lot of great insight in how to incorporate literacy into different content areas. [Attention to fair mindedness and retrospection to the field] o It was good to learn how to implement reading into Social Studies. I like a lot of the ideas that we got especially the DRTA. That was probably my favorite lesson and I really think I will use it when I teach. [Attention to reaching students through their interests, i.e. Social Studies for this student]

o Dr. Capel cared. She was always available and willing to help and listen. She was always open to new ideas and using technology. When she was asked for students to expand and use other creative techniques she was always encouraging. She encouraged and let me use my creativity. [Attention to utilizing current trends and pedagogies in the field, i.e. technology] o Dr. Capel is a great role model and teacher that I hope to one day be like. She is truly caring and goes out of her way to be sure that each and every one of her students understands the assignments and material covered in class. Her assignments consisted of a wide variety of projects that will one day be useful in my class. She introduced us to many web sites, different teaching styles and different teaching experiences that we can one day use and learn from. Even though I did not plan to teach any English or writing class, Dr. Capel provided many examples and uses of incorporating literacy into my content area. I really liked Dr. Capel and hope to have her again before I graduate! [Attention not only to teaching students, but also mentoring and inspiring students] o Dr. Capel was always prepared and used technology very efficiently to help get much of her lesson material across. [Attention to effective use of technology in the classroom] o Dr. Capel values what she teaches very much, and she tried to help us develop our own level of value for the course material [Attention to empowering students to take initiative for their learning] o Dr. Capel helped make the course interesting and engaging for the students. She also facilitated student interaction well (it was a student-centered course for the most part). She is very approachable and is willing to talk about anything a student needs help with. [Attention to quality of student attention during class] o I really liked doing the 10 minutes lesson plans because it got me thinking about how I will integrate literacy into my content areas. [Attention to the quality of planning assignments that will help students to value the lessons objectives. Integrating literacy into the content area was an objective for the ten minute lesson] o You were always energetic about the subject and willing to help out in anyway. Whenever we were confused you would find out the answer for TPA and I appreciate you being flexible and passionate with everyone and everything that correlated to TPA. [Attention to flexibility as an educator]

o The strengths of the course were Interviews, questions, resume, TPA help and support, giving personal stories to help us with our career [Attention to systems of psychological support as an important factor of learning] o Dr. Capel helped make the class fun and meaningful. This was one of my favorite classes. Minus the TPA. [Attention to creating a meaningful experience for students when the required course content is remarkably taxing for students. Required by the state, TPA (Teacher Performance Assessment) was a stressful project coupled with a difficult semester of field experience and a full time schedule.] o Dr. Capel answered all of our questions in a timely manner. If Dr. Capel didn't know an answer for our TPA, she would find out and have an answer by the next class. [Attention to quality of academic advising] o Always prepared and made sure the whole class understood [Attention to organization and concern for student mastery] o Very interactive [Attention to stimulating student interest in learning] o I think Dr. Capel is a great teacher. She always answered questions and was very easy to approach. [Attention to approachability] o She respected everyone in the class and always showed that she cared about how each student does [Attention to demonstration of care and respect] o You can tell that Dr. Capel truly cares about her students. She has been such an inspiration to me. [Attention to demonstration of care] o The field work was so beneficial and the course allowed for discussion of topics and allowed for questions to be asked which was very helpful [Attention to experiential learning] o This course taught me a lot and was useful [Attention to relativity of content to the real world] o Made my learning fun and was a fabulous professor. [Attention to stimulating student learning] o Made the class so fun! [Attention to stimulating student learning] o Dr. Capel is an awesome teacher. I really got a lot out of the class. [Attention to creating value in the classroom] o Wonderful teacher as well as person, very helpful and very knowledgeable [Attention to classroom modeling]

o Dr. Capel is a very engaging instructor and keeps everyone interested in what's going on in class. I really liked coming to class because of this! [Attention to creating a productive classroom environment] o She has a great attitude towards her students, she is always willing to help! [Attention to valuing all students] o Dr. Capel encourages a lot of student feedback so that it is not just her lecturing in front of the classroom, which I like a lot. Class every day felt like one big conversation between everybody in the class and we were able to have a lot of different perspectives on the things we were discussing. Dr. Capel truly made everyone feel important and a vital part to the class. [Attention to creating classroom community] o The pace of this course was pretty good, although I will say that sometimes Dr. Capel would spring things on us like having us finish a book in just a couple of days. A little more time in advance would've been helpful. But other than that, the course was very organized and well-prepared. [Attention to classroom organization AND classroom spontaneity. Although I like to be thoroughly prepared, creativity will sometimes supersede the plan in order to push the envelopes and thought processes of my students. I strongly embrace the idea of ambiguity and spontaneity. This can release students from the typical rituals of classroom management and imposes a different form of production than the original plan of study.] o I loved this class. It made me so excited to further my dream of becoming a teacher. I look up to Dr. Capel and hopefully I will become a great teacher like her! She is a role model to me. [Attention to the humbled value of teacher mentoring] o This course gave a lot of valuable perspectives to the field of education and really got me thinking about things I've never thought of. We got into deep conversations about ethical issues and many other relevant things to the teaching field. [Attention to depth of field and pedagogical technique of the Socratic method] o We learned alot of things hands on which made it easier to catch on. [Attention to role play as a pedagogical technique. Usage of the UMU Library Curriculum Center as a valuable campus resource for classroom utilization] o The strengths of the course were the open atmosphere that Dr. Capel created [Attention to classroom community building]

o Dr. Capel is so nice and very easy to approach. She makes you feel very important to the classroom. She made us think critically often about how we felt about certain situations and what we would do if we were in them. I think this course provided a good introduction for what was to come in the next few years as an education major. [Attention to critical pedagogy and building reflective habits of mind in the early years of teacher training] o Liked the care to go to every table and ask questions. [Attention to personal student attention] o The professor produced an environment that was comfortable for all students. The professor also made herself available outside of class and really cared about helping each student in their process of becoming a future teacher. [Attention to community building and quality academic advising] o She was always willing to help after class [Attention to my commitment to working with students outside of class time] o She did a lot for the class in making sure that we understood the content. [Attention to student mastery of content] o Very interested in getting to know us. Always felt comfortable in the classroom and that I could trust to talk to you about my educational goals. [Attention to community building and quality academic advising] o Received lots of great ideas on how to teach reading and writing this semester. Great ideas from the literacy block presentations. Also created a website for the final which will be a great resource in the future! Plus, the books we bought at the beginning of the semester had good worksheets in the back of them to use! [Attention to wide variety of pedagogical techniques utilized in classroom lessons and assessment] o She was very well organized and used the time effectively during class. [Attention to classroom organization and planning] o Always prepared. Whole semester was organized at a good pace. [Attention to classroom organization and planning] o Always very respectful to us! She always makes us feel like her equal or her peer not as someone that is above us. [Attention to fair and clear policies in the classroom and non-judgmental teaching] o The course was very easy to follow and everything went off nice and timely. [Attention to classroom organization and planning]

o She was always available when I needed her to be and answered any question we had in a nice timely fashion! [Attention to student appropriate and timely student feedback] o The strengths of the course would definitely be that we had a lot of creative freedom when it came to our assignments and thoughts. [Attention to embracing creativity and student initiative] o Dr. Capel made this course interesting and I think that since it was an online course it helped me learn more since I was able to explore and learn on my own with the help of Dr. Capel's organized guidance. [Attention to enhanced student learning through careful monitoring. This was my first online summer class that was conducted, therefore, I was constantly monitoring the learning of course content and their understanding of new pedagogical tools] o This class was organized very well for the time period we had to complete the course. The syllabi contained all the information for us as well as a Tentative schedule that we followed strictly for the three weeks. Dr. Capel's screencasts and use of technology to help us get a better understanding for what we had to do was very helpful and organized. [Attention to modern pedagogical techniques] o Dr. Capel had a very clear and straight forward syllabi and always responded quickly to e-mails if we had any questions or concerns. [Attention to timely student feedback] o I can honestly say that I did not have one problem with this course. Everything was given to the students to provide them with all the information they needed. [Attention to achievable learning goals and assignments] o Dr. Capel was always available to help. The course was put together well. I learned a lot. [Attention to course organization and planning] o The instructor did an excellent job at explaining new concepts and was always available for further clarification any time of the day. [Attention to quality of student conferences]

Graduate Responses o I really loved this course. Leadership for me is enjoyable. [Attention to keeping content enjoyable] o Dr. Capel made herself available whenever we had questions. The course readings and assignments were varied and supported her clearly stated goals of the course. [Attention to clear and measurable course goals and being available to students] o Dr. Capel was concise and to the point with information and helped to understand the grad school level work. She gave constructive feedback that helped with future assignments. [Attention to student feedback on assignments through written track comments and phone conversations] o I like how she asks for feedback throughout the semester and takes it into account. She was also very willing to help outside of 'class time' and was very encouraging! [Attention to utilizing feedback to adapt course pacing and pedagogy and being available to students during evenings and weekends] o Dr Capel brought great enthusiasm to this course. Her expectations were clear and she was more than willing to help when I had questions or concerns. [Attention to clear expectations by providing course objectives, clear assignment rubrics, weekly conversations, online screencasts reviewing assignment guidelines, and weekly checklists] o She was very caring understanding and supportive. [Attention to value for graduate school responsibilities] o Dr. Capel would answer any emails or phone calls to help at any time. [Attention to quality of academic advising beyond the work day] o I felt that she was accepting and open to hearing our thoughts and opinions on things. She was also very positive and encouraging when it came to ideas/theories that were more challenging or when we were struggling with the work load. [Attention to student needs by encouraging students to rise to graduate level expectations through providing support, flexibility, and reinforcement.] o Mrs. Capel made herself available throughout the course and was very helpful when needed. She is very kind and was optimistic about learning and technology and was very motivating. She helped me with clearing up misunderstandings on assignments. [Attention to student needs by

encouraging students to rise to graduate level expectations through providing support, flexibility, and reinforcement] o Dr. Capel makes it very clear that she wants her students to succeed. [Attention to the value of student mastery] o Dr. Capel treated us with respect and was very encouraging. [Attention to revere for students, their thoughts, and reservations/fears] o Dr. Capel was very welcoming to other viewpoints. I truly believe that she models respect, and in return, we respected each other. Dr. Capel definitely cared about my learning in this course and motivated me to always do my best in the course. [Attention to creating a respectful classroom community in an online learning environment. Attention to academic rigor.] o I appreciate the fact that when we were all very overwhelmed and struggling in the beginning that she took that into account each week and made our work load more manageable. [Attention to flexibility and the realization of mistaken expectations while continually upholding rigorous standards] o We covered a lot of material, I really liked some of the articles we read. I did learn a lot about what it takes to be a good leader. [Attention to the breadth and depth of academic reading. I thoughtfully selected required and optional readings in both graduate courses that would be timely and philosophically and practically grounded] o I enjoyed the work we did for the class, and the readings that went along with it. I also thought that the voicethread 'lectures' were helpful by hearing her talk about the material we were studying, rather than just giving us more items to read. [Attention to pedagogical techniques of utilizing modern technologies to enhance content lecture] o The course offered a wide variety of information about leadership theory. It introduced many different perspectives on leadership and allowed time for reflection. The course work helped to break open the concepts so they could be better understood. [Attention to utilizing several perspectives. This broad utilization of content helps to deter limitation and narrow minded choice] o Really love this instructor. The discussions are powerful and moving. I find Ethics and Leadership a very interesting and important subject. She just makes it all the more interesting. [Attention to student motivation]

o Dr. Capel linked course content to valuable real-world applications. [Attention to adhering to Blooms taxonomy when planning course learning goals and assignments. The higher end of Blooms taxonomy is widely considered in graduate courses] o Dr. Capel really did a nice job of organizing the information and coming up with outside resources for us to use. [Attention to course organization and utilization of supplemental resources to enhance content learning] o The voice threads that we did were often very helpful as they sometimes took the place of a traditional lecture. It was nice to have Dr. Capel go over some of the material with us this way. [Attention to utilizing modern pedagogical techniques, i.e Voice thread] o The class was very organized and fair. Weekly checklists help me keep on track. [Attention to fair and clear policies] o She cares very much about her students. It shows in her discussion with you and her comments back on your work product. [Attention to quality feedback] o Always willing to help and is understanding of personal issues. [Attention to psychological needs of students] o You could tell she truly cares for her students and their success. [Attention to student mastery and long term interest of the students] o Dr. Capel is always helpful and respects students and their time/work. [Attention to professionalism] o Dr. Capel always wanted us to contribute our own thoughts and frame ourselves in different thinking. [Attention to developing student initiative and critical and creative thought processing] o Dr. Capel was a very positive influence and was always very helpful! [Attention to professionalism] o This instructor inspires deep learning of the course content. [Attention to academic rigor and value of content depth and breadth] o Dr. Capel did a great job structuring our class week by week and letting us know what the expectations were. [Attention to course organization and planning and fair and clear policies] o The course opened my eyes to a lot of ideas that I had never considered before in education. Ethics are not covered much in undergrad and I am glad

we had the opportunity to discuss different philosophers and opinions. [Attention to awakening student insight] o The organization was set up very well. The checklists were very helpful as before. I really enjoyed the weekly blogs. These were very helpful for my own reflection process. The content was taught in various ways which was not only helpful but also motivating and kept me interested. [Attention to quality course planning] o I enjoyed the videos that went along with the Justice book we went through. They helped me develop a deeper and clearer understanding of the material. I also enjoyed the project on case studies, and the several of the articles we read. [Attention to quality course planning] o Again a very good instructor who understands her topic and is very dedicated to teaching. [Attention to professional competence] o Strengths of the course were the instructor, the content that she used, and ways to demonstrate our knowledge back to her. [Attention to effectiveness of planning, teaching, and assessing] o The weekly goals were clearly defined and the pacing of the course was manageble. [Attention to quality course organization and planning] o I really valued this course. [Attention to instilling importance to the field of education/leadership] o The issues we discussed were applicable to my career and enlightening. [Attention to relevance of content] o The work we did throughout the course contributed to what we were learning. [Attention to connectedness of readings, assignments, discussions, and assessments] Further evidence of my use of effective pedagogical techniques is demonstrated by my syllabi examples in Section I.B, my rubric examples in Section I.C, and my student work examples in Section I.D. These small samples are a minute illustration of the wide-ranging techniques embraced in my courses at the University of Mount Union. Samples range from student interest inventories, to lesson plan development, discussion questions posed for book groups, weekly reflective prompts, synthesis papers, graduate school blogs, website URLs, and student created newsletters summarizing the week. Coupled with Course Eval, I have included a cross section of mid-semester evaluation in Section I.A. that highlights my effective use of pedagogy, organization, care and availability to students, appropriate academic rigor, knowledge of the field,

and my commitment to my students and their educational journeys. These midsemester evaluations also highlight my adherence to course revision and development. I believe that mid-semester evaluations can help an instructor to make improvements in teaching and learning before the close of a semester. I assess feedback from students in both the midterm and year-end evaluations, and identify any specific issues that should be addressed both during the semester and the year ahead. I also consult with my Department Chair and other members of the department for new pedagogical ideas and ways to best resolve issues. Dr. Pete Schneller has proved to be an invaluable mentor and educational resource in my course planning and personal improvement plan. I am naturally a reflective individual and the course evaluations help me to temper and enhance my own critical insight and reflectivity. My additional effort to improve my teaching is also evident by my willingness to co-teach and collaborate on curriculum planning with other members of my department. Thus far, I have co-planned and taught undergraduate courses with Drs. Askren Edgehouse and Schneller and have coplanned and taught the graduate summer residency semester with Drs. Askren Edgehouse, Gannon, Martin, and OHara (Section I.E). I have also proved that my collegiality and openness for observation goes beyond the normal maintenance of proficiency by inviting all of the aforementioned teachers to be guest editors on my ANGEL courses. This ensues that my co-teachers have access to all of my lectures, syllabi, educational resources, and course planning materials. My dedication to student advising is above the norm. I can assure you that my conversations with my formal and informal advisees are frequent, meaningful, and secure. Although most of these conversations take place face to face during on- campus meetings and conference sessions, I continually provide support beyond the norm by responding to evening and weekend texts, emails and phone calls to support and adhere to the needs of my students. Sample forms of educational requirements are noted in Section I.F. and emails responding to my value as an advisor and outreach beyond the typical role are also noted in this section. I would also like to note that I have upheld this role with a high number of student advisees. During the year of an abrupt leave from a faculty member in the department, I took on several new advisees to aid student transition. Lastly, I would like to mention that although my degrees are all related to the field of teaching, I continually attend university wide, regional, national, and international conference sessions on teaching and learning. Some of the recent sessions in relation to the improvement of teaching that I have attended are Lynn Sharratts presentation on Putting faces on the data, Persida Himmelles Total participation techniques: Making every student an active learner, James Stronges Linking student achievement to teacher performance, Jane Pollocks Minding the achievement gap, Fenwick Englishs Deep curriculum alignment, and Jin-Jy Shiehs Power privilege and textbooks. These examples are just a small sampling of the attended sessions that provide impact on my current pedagogical practices and techniques (Section I.G).