Mollie Deuel's Teaching Portfolio

While my philosophy about teaching and learning has stayed the same, I have learned a myriad of new skills to apply to my own teaching methods.  Learning through experiential education has always been important to my teaching philosophy in that students need to drive their own learning through hands on learning experiences.  Through the University of Virginia Masters of Teaching program, my knowledge of science teaching methods and pedagogy has expanded immensely. I now have a better understanding of inquiry based lessons and how to construct lesson plans for different science teaching models and activities such as guided instruction, POE, 5E, and case based learning activities. I also now have experience in creating units for Project Based Science Instruction, Problem Based Learning and Engineering Design.  These all entail collaboration between students and group work which aligns with my constructivist teaching philosophy.  I also have come to the realization that learning cannot occur unless the teacher creates a safe, inclusive and hands on classroom to foster a social-emotional learning environment.

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Being able to observe and teach a lesson in an actual classroom was a great learning experience.  I was in a 6th grade science class during the Fall of 2016 and observed that for middle school students, behavior management is a large component of facilitating the learning process. During the spring of 2017 I observed in a dual enrollment 10th grade biology class. I found in both settings that hands on activities and collaborative work between students is what keeps students most engaged.   I am excited to further my understanding of a high school classroom environment and learn more about what drives adolescent learning from first hand experiences.  I also cannot wait to have my own classroom so that I can begin testing what teaching methods fit best with my teaching style and I can really develop my identity as a High School Biology and Environmental Science Teacher.