TEACHING PORTFOLIO

Maria Aladjova

Clinical Mental Health Counseling MS

University of Nevada, Las Vega

 TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
My passion is to teach psychology. As an instructor of an introductory psychology course, I am
aware that the majority of my students would not share my infatuation with this subject as they are
non-psychology major freshmen or sophomores. Additionally, this might be the one and only time,
they would ever take a psychology class. Thus, keeping this in mind, my main objectives for their
learning experiences are: to foster an appreciation for the remarkable field of Psychology; to provide
essential knowledge and invaluable tools which will be applicable to the students’ future careers;
and to enhance self-awareness and understanding of the world around them as well their role in it. I
believe effective teaching is the outcome of a life-long process and selfless devotion. I am dedicated
to continuous personal growth and improvement of my teaching practices in the best service of my
students. In my opinion exemplary teachers never cease to enhance their teaching skills through a
process of self-examination that includes constructive feedback from both students and colleagues.
Additionally, I believe incorporating and experimenting with new instructional approaches enriches
the learning environment, as does staying current with the latest empirical research. Thus, I make
attending teaching seminars and conferences a high priority. In addition to the importance of my
personal growth as a teacher, I outline a common set of course expectations and objectives below.
Critical thinking. John F. Kennedy said: “Too often we enjoy the comfort of our opinion without the
discomfort of thought.” A high priority in all of my classes is to develop students’ critical thinking
skills as I believe they are incredibly valuable for both their personal and professional development. I
think that students come to class with their own personal experiences, perspectives, understandings
and assumptions which may foster a lack of appreciation and understanding for the science of
psychology. Thus, I challenge their current perspectives and provide them with awareness of our
own cognitive biases and distortions in order to become more competent at drawing valid and
objective inferences. I emphasize the empirical foundation of psychology using a variety of
strategies, including experiments that teach students to generate and test alternative explanations. I
often tell my students that psychology is everywhere in our day-to-day lives. Together we ponder
questions such as “Why do we act the way we do?” or we evaluat findings from peer-reviewed
journals and popular claims in the media. Fostering such discussions enhances their critical thinking
which I then supplement with research knowledge to conceptualize their ideas and demonstrate
how psychologists scientifically provide answers to these questions. Over the course of the
semester, this new way of critical thinking solidifies and becomes a habit. High standards. As a
former professional athlete, a current coach and a teacher, I firmly believe in setting high standards
for my students. As the saying goes, “shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you will still be
among the stars.” As a teacher, a psychologist and a researcher, it is imperative that I recognize this
phenomenon and not only address it in class but also provide the students with an accurate and
objective view of what actually the science psychology entails I believe students excel in an
environment in which expectations of performance are clear and attainable, and at the same time,
sufficiently high to present real challenge. When the student is ready to face this challenge, I am
there, approachable, available and sincerely invested in their success. I complement my high
expectations with study aids and frequent opportunities to provide help via study sessions, online
chat reviews, and web discussion forums. My ultimate goal for my students is their personal and
professional development which can be achieved my setting high standards, creating challenging
situations and providing guidance and support so they can overcome them and learn from this
experience. retain in better. M Enriched learning environment. I believe that effective and enduring
learning is achieved by providing students with in-depth and repetitive exposure to the concepts and
theories that are essential not only to the remarkable field of psychology but also to our everyday
lives. To capture their interest and attention, I discuss the theories and show them the connection
with real life issues. I describe fundamental principles to increase the likelihood that a given
perspective will resonate with individual students. I invite them to explore use their life experiences
while learning the course material so they can y classroom activities regularly involve a variety of
elements. My extreme organization and preparedness allows me to incorporate techniques that
often require a great deal of preparation, such as interactive class demonstrations, group discussion,
presentations, and Jeopardy-style review sessions. I am also well trained to utilize the tools offered
by web course-management systems (e.g., Blackboard) to extend the learning environment beyond
the classroom. Using a combination of teaching strategies and evaluation techniques provides the
meaningful engagement that will prepare students for a life in an increasingly complex and diverse
society. I firmly support the notion that as a result of learning, the person is transformed – more
enlightened, more empowered, more enriched which ultimately is my goal for all my students. Social
support and collaborative learning process. An African proverb says that: “Alone we go faster, but
together we go further.” As a teacher, I believe that collaborative learning process between the
students and the instructor is both effective and beneficial in achieving the ultimate goal of personal
and professional development. Together we do go further and reach higher, more challenging goals.
My responsibility as an instructor is not only to provide knowledge, but also support and care. My
main focus are the students. I strive to be flexible, emphatic, and aware of the diversity and
uniqueness of each and every one of them. I foster a conversational atmosphere in which students
feel comfortable sharing their comments and questions. As part of a supportive framework, students
are encouraged to view one another as colleagues, partners, and peers, never as rivals. I would
rather students compete against ignorance rather than each other. Further, I believe teachers
should provide enough emotional support to give students the courage to pursue their greatest
ambitions. In addition to my academic advising duties, I am rewarded by the opportunity to serve as
a role model, inspiring students to become confident and hardworking scholars. My teaching and
coaching experiences have shown that once students are engaged and excited about the material,
they naturally begin think critically, proactively ask questions, and search for the relevance on their
own. I firmly believe that through the collaborative learning process, the students become active
participants in their education. I foster this process by engaging and empowering the students.
Passion is a unique feeling that not every person has the opportunity to experience. I feel truly
blessed to have found mine as I cannot imagine a more fulfilling life than that of a teacher.
Transmitting genuine enthusiasm for the remarkable field of psychology comes naturally to me, as
does forming a personal connection with my students. Even though I am early in my teaching career,
I am confident that this framework represents a set of expectations, objectives and goals that I can
achieve and improve as I am gaining additional experience. I am confident that my skills as an
instructor will be constantly evolving. As a teacher who is passionate about teaching psychology, I
hope to inspire my students to not simply pass the class but to embrace all the incredible benefits
the science of psychology has to offer for personal and professional development. Also, I hope that
through psychology, my students will enhance their selfawareness encouraging them to adopt a
positive and confident outlook for themselves and the world. Being a teacher is a profoundly
challenging and rewarding job. I wake up every day with a smile knowing that I have the opportunity
to positively impact my students and help them unravel and embrace their uniqueness through the
fundamental concepts of psychology.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to psychology including introductory treatment of cognition, physiological psychology,

learning, personality, development, social psychology, assessment, history, psychological disorders
and treatments.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

By the conclusion of the course, you should be able to do the following:

• Understand basic psychological terminology and major concepts in psychology

• Be able to describe how psychological evidence is acquired through the use of the scientific
method

• Understand how differences in human behavior are shaped by biological, social, personal, and
cultural background and experiences

• Have an increased ability to critically analyze behavior and information in order to develop
informed opinions and an understanding how the basic principles of psychology that can be applied
to human history, current events, and daily human life.
LECTURE/Activity /DISCUSSION

• Short assessment on the assigned readings due that day o Function

1: to stimulate reading o Function

2: to provide the instructor with feedback on the overall reading habits of the class o Function

3: to increase and maintain attendance

• Case or a vignette showing a real-life example related to the readings o Function

1: to sparkle interest because every student can relate to it o Function

2: to show that there is a connection between the readings and life o Function

3: stimulate critical out-of-the-box thinking • Small groups discussions o There will be a few
questions on the vignette

o The students are given the opportunity to discuss them in their groups o Then we will discuss as a
class

• KYS Cards o Function

1: to encourage participation o Function

2: to give the student the choice to participate or not

ASSESSMENT

• Formative assessment:

o Goal: to monitor student learning and to provide ongoing feedback used by instructors to improve
their teaching and by students to improve their learning

o Assessment 1: ▪ The short assessment we do in the beginning of class

▪ A few questions assessing their knowledge on the readings and their level of understanding

o Assessment 2: ▪ I will ask a question about a term or a definition the students need to know

▪ I will ask them to write their answers on a piece of paper without putting their names down

▪ Then I will collect the paper and pass them back in a random order

▪ I will provide the right answer and I will ask of the students to grade the answer on the piece of
paper in front of them ▪ In doing so, they’ll improve their understanding of the topic.

▪ I will conclude the exercise by taking a poll to measure how many papers had the right response.

• Summative assessment: o Goal: is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit
by comparing it against some standard or benchmark

o Assessment 1: ▪ The Research Project

o Assessment 2: ▪ The three examinations

Reflection: Teaching as Profession, Roles & Responsibilities of JEST

“Day: 1”

The teaching profession is an occupational field in education that is directly

responsible for the formation of young minds and hearts.This means a teacher ends up
playing several roles simultaneously. A teacher has to have a personality that sincerely
welcomes a learner into the journey of life long learning.

"Day: 2"

Today session was started with recitation of Holy Quran. All CPS presented their reflection
about the previous day. After that we were given in overview regarding topic "Teacher Changing
Role, Reflective Practice and Teaching Portfolio. MTs made us understand about the notion of
reflective practice and its ways to plan class activities, we were assigned to read different cases and
present reflection via own understanding, we know about the use of reflective practice that how it
can be used for self-improvement.

“Day: 5”

21st century learning framework and Skills

Today we discussed about current strategies of teaching education is changed in 21 st century. What
is role of teacher for student in this century. The focus of a 21st century teacher is on student by
developing higher order thinking skills, effective communication, collaboration, and other skills that
they need in the 21st century. The teacher must develop new teaching strategies that are radically
deferent.