8/3/2019 Scott Assessor Letter

1/1

Brittany Balash

5317 S 22nd

Place

Milwaukee, WI 53221

Scott Lawrence

3400 S 43rd Street

Milwaukee, WI 53217

Dear Scott,

My name is Brittany Balash and I am an Elementary Education major with a support in Social Studies. I

would like to take this opportunity to thank you for being part of this remarkable journey. I am very

excited to share with you many of my wonderful teaching experiences I have had at Alverno College.

Throughout my portfolio you will witness many of my values, these values include: diversity, patriotism,

multiculturalism, artistic expression, compassion and democracy.

You will also witness the passion I have for teaching, helping members of my community learn theimportance of being an active member of our society. This passion combined with the experiences I

have had at Alverno have allowed for me to develop numerous teaching strategies and lesson plans that

will effectively teach my students how to be an active member of our society. Throughout my portfolio

you will be able to witness the importance of having students actively engaged in the classroom, as well

as a strong connection between my lessons and the Constructivist theory of teaching. I feel that

students should be constantly learning about their community and how to be an active member of

society, no matter what subject matter they are learning. This being said, you will be able to witness

evidence of students work that consists of: amendment writing, postcard writing, efficient use of credit

and the ability to make connections from text to self and text to world. In addition to lesson plans you

will also witness in-depth research papers and presentations that connect to my Social Studies minor.

The layout of my portfolio is based on the Wisconsin Teaching standards and it fully intertwined with the

Alverno Education Abilities. For each standard you will find evidence and an ability that relate to one

another. I have titled my portfolio, The Art of Teaching because throughout my field work I have

learned to allow students to express themselves in ways they feel comfortable. I have incorporated arts,

acting and singing in many of my lesson plans as a way for student self expression. In addition, I too

have expressed myself through artwork when completing my field work. At the end of every field

placement I have created an abstract painting demonstrating how I have evolved as a teacher. Finally as

a teacher I believe we need to constantly integrate content areas, the integration of art into my

portfolio emphasizes the importance of this.

I would like to thank you again for taking the time to assess my portfolio. I look forward to meeting you

and sharing my outstanding experiences with you.

Sincerely,

Brittany Balash