Mike White's Teaching Portfolio
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Conference

Standard VIII - Knowledge of Content

That's not my graduation cap. Can't find mine. Went looking for it too. It has a nice black and gold tassle on it because I attended East St. John High School in Laplace, Louisiana. We were the Wildcats. Can't say I miss the school that much, but I did learn a lot there. I also learned a lot at Southeastern Louisiana University. I think I switched majors about 7 times. I ended up with a degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. I've won numerous awards for my writing and even had a little published.

That's what you're gonna find here. Evidence that I know what I'm talking about when I teach. First we're gonna start, like we've been doing, with the information I've already provided you.

Proof Provided Elsewhere - Quite a few items that could be considered proof for this standard have been discussed and given elsewhere. Direct links are listed here:
  • About Me - The about me page contains my resume, my praxis scores based on content, and even my current grades at Morehead State University.
  • Standard I - That standard contains numerous lesson plans that I've designed. Those took knowledge of the content I was teaching. So they are great examples of my knowledge.
  • Standard II - A strategy I've used to help reluctant learners is the "Numbered Heads Together." It's fully documented here. You'll also find a persuasion bulletin board that shows my knowledge.
  • Standard III - Standard III points out my questioning techniques, some technology use, and even differentiation strategies.
  • Standard IV - Make sure to pay attention to the poetry assessment and the writing rubric. Those showcase my content knowledge tremendously.
  • Standard V - Reflections. If you read them you'll find more evidence.
  • Standard VI - If you look at the formal observation you'll notice that it, along with most of the other ones I've had, has max scores for the Standard VIII section.
  • Standard VII - Look at the assignments. Look at the workshops I've attended and what I read.
Research - I figure listing some of the websites where I've done my research let's you know that even if I don't know something, I know where to find it.
  • Wikipedia - I love this site. It's peer reviewed like a lot of journals are. It also has tons of information. It's not limited to the item normally found in an encyclopedia.
  • Google - Best search engine on the Internet for general stuff.
  • Commemorative Speaking - This is the website I found a lot of information on commemorative speaking on. Helped a lot with that lesson plan.
  • Sample Assessment Tools - When I was looking for a rubric, this gave me a lot of ideas.
  • Kentucky Department of Education - It has the Core Content documents and many other resources that are great for a teacher in Kentucky.
  • Glossary of Poetic Terms - As a refresher on poetic terms, I turned to this site.
  • Famous Poets and Poems - This is another great site for poetry.
Those are just a few of the many I visited this year. Again, I'm a tech geek. I love the Internet.
Published Work - Last but not least, I figured I'd show you creative writing pieces of mine that have been published. This is the original submission as my only copy of "Outside the Lines" that this was published in went to my mother. So, uh, "those who teach, can."

Reflection

I know my content. I live and breathe my content. I write and read constantly. Those are my favorite things to do. Have been forever and will continue to be forever. Don't get me wrong, I love to do other things, but those are my favorite. I run a website that constantly needs content that I write. I have a few blogs. I just love reading and writing.

I also love getting the kids to love it too. When they start smiling and laughing with me as we do our English work, it lets me know that they are really getting into the content, at least for that moment, as much as I am into the content.

"The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet."

-Lord Chesterfield
Copyright © 2000 - 2010 Michael White - michaelmwhite.com - Last Edited 5/5/2010
Any part of this website may be copied for any non-commerical reason as long as credit is given to the correct authors.
Student Work Samples