Welcome

Hello, my name is Larry Lambert and this is my "Professional Portfolio". The creation of this portfolio was one of the course requirements of ITEC 9500 which was the final course of my MEd in Technology Education at Fitchburg State University during the fall semester of 2014. The purpose of this portfolio is to display evidence of my qualifications to become licensed at the professional level in Engineering and Technology within the state of Massachusetts.

I am currently teaching at Minuteman Regional High School under a vocational license in Programming and Web Development. In addition to the typical evidence, the portfolio also includes documents related to the research project and curriculum development project completed as requirements of the ITEC 9500 course.

Reflections on Teaching

I am currently employed by Minuteman High School in Lexington, Massachusetts where I teach Programming and Web Development as a Career Technical Education program. This is my third year in this position and my 11th overall as a full-time teacher. Last year, I assisted in the selection and hiring of someone to become the second instructor in the program. The gentleman we hired was a transplant from industry which gave me occasion to think back and reflect upon my own decision to leave industry and pursue a career in education.

My own path began in 2001, when I was employed as the Software Engineering Manager at Vibren Technologies, a subsidiary of NEC Corporation of Japan. The "Dot Com Bubble" had burst and business was not good. A significant amount of the work that we were doing for the parent company was being transitioned back to Japan and we were being downsized. It was an atmosphere that I was familiar with from my years in industry. I did not relish the idea of being around once again being the one to "shut off the lights" and began to plan an exit strategy for myself.

The idea of being a teacher was one that I had toyed with over the years. When I first graduated from high school and enrolled in college, I considered pursuing a career in education. However, as I investigated the possibility, it immediately became apparent that it was a career path that was experiencing job losses due to the implementation of Proposition 2 ½. I decided to go in another direction but over the years revisited the decision many times. However, the timing never seemed right to abandon the path I was on for the "road not taken". Most times, the decision was strictly a financial one. To embark on this new career path would result in a significant pay cut. I was raising a family and comfortable with my lifestyle. My responsibilities limited my ability to change directions.

When the "Dot Com Bubble" burst, I was finally in a position to give the transition to a career as an educator more serious consideration. I started out working as a substitute teacher while examining my options. Since I had held a wide range of positions in a variety of high tech industries, I decided to take the MTEL exam for Technology and Engineering and passed it on my first attempt. I later took and passed the Grades 5-8 Math/Science exam in order to increase my options as I applied for my first teaching position. During the summer following my year of substitute teaching, I interviewed and was hired to teach in the Emerging Technologies Department at Methuen High School.

During the summer, following that first year, I was asked to write the curriculum for a course that I had developed, Engineering Technology Studies. Luckily, or perhaps not, a senior teacher (23 years experience) took me under his wing and showed me how to develop curriculum. "First, grab the CD that came with the book and print out the syllabus and all of the chapter outlines. Once you have all of that, use the testing software (Examview) and create a test for each chapter. Great, you're done." It became apparent to me that curriculum was a document that you kept on the shelf, to cover your ass during accreditation visits, not something of value to aid you in the classroom.

Soon after that experience, I began my formal education in teaching. I took several courses leading toward initial licensure on the academic side of the house. Among those courses were a methods (it seemed to me at the time and still does that methods are a part of curriculum) course and a curriculum course. At last, I began to understand the true meaning of curriculum; that it was really about planning the interaction of the students with the instructional content. Since that first course there have been several others, including this one, which continue to mold, shape and refine my understanding of curriculum.

Along the way, certain curricular elements have emerged as being critical to the overall learning process. In trying to order them in my own mind, the first step is to refine the idea of instructional content. For me, this begins with words like "essential question, objective(s) and goal(s)". Taken collectively, they force us as teachers to consider what we want the students to learn and more significantly compel us to answer the question, "Why is it important?" Other factors of importance as we consider what and why we expect students to learn certain things is the standards; both the frameworks that we are teaching and any connections across the curriculum to other frameworks that we are able to incorporate. This includes embedded academics as well as academic frameworks containing subject matter than happens to overlap with our lesson planning process. Once we have determined the what, the next step in the process is to outline the how.

As we consider how we will share our content with students, we begin to outline the lesson process, including things like facilities, materials required, resources, time required, methods of instruction, how to activate and access prior learning, assessments, and how to close and summarize the learning that has taken place. This area is one that would require its own reflection but can be looked at collectively as lesson planning. The biggest issue, as I see it is, how do we reach each and every student?

As we become well versed in the way in which the adolescent mind works and develop some insight into how the brain works, we come to recognize that not everyone learns in the same way. As educators, we must develop methods of instruction that will address multiple learning styles. Moving beyond that, we learn of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and ways to address them with instruction. In addition, we must provide adaptations and accommodations to these methods in order to meet the diverse needs of the students who are on IEPs or 504 plans.

However, going beyond this, one area that I had been less cognizant of is the socio-economic effect possible on a student's ability to access the curriculum. In the past, I considered simple things like the fact that all students might not have internet access at home or possibly computers. However, I failed to consider situations that might prevent a student from completing homework because they held responsibilities within their household that precluded them from having the time required to complete assignments outside of school. As a result of my coursework both within the MEd program and my vocational teaching courses, this is an area where I have expanded my thinking to include with respect to curriculum development and my expectations of students.

What I've begun to recognize is that reflection plays a large part in curriculum development process. No matter how many times that you've taught the same lesson, it is possible to make subtle adjustments that will provide a bit more clarity for one or two students. Our reflection may lead us to slight tweaking of some lessons that will better capture and retain the attention of students. Others lessons may be abandoned completely as having missed the mark. As teachers, all we can do is to continue examining how students learn best and be willing to make adjustments in order to reach each and every one of them with the richest learning experiences possible.

As I near the completion of my MEd, I have begun to consider the next steps for my career as an educator. Much of the time that I have spent in the classroom (as a student) has been in courses that are mandatory in order to satisfy either degree or DESE requirements. In the not too distant future, I look forward to taking a course "just for the fun of it". This will allow me to expand my knowledge base in some of the rapidly evolving areas of Computer Science. I have managed to keep abreast of changes but would really like to be able to dig into things a bit deeper.

As I think back over the career in education that I've had to this point; there is no one mentor that stands out. I have been lucky enough to work with a lot of good teachers and learned something from each of them. I've worked in four different school districts and several of them made a point of encouraging, even requiring that you get out and observe other teachers plying their craft. The take-aways from those experiences have gone a long way toward making me successful as a teacher. I've often heard others in education talk about it being a small world and believe in that idea myself. I maintain contact with many of the teachers I've worked with in the past and look forward to many more years in the classroom, shaping the future.