Licensing Portfolio Entry (LPE) for Dummies

Blog Post: Licensing Portfolio Entry (LPE) for Dummies               submitted by MM

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            NOTE To NON-JSCers: When I wrote this blog, I was unaware that although the themes, standards, and assessment tools are the same for all of us, we don’t all follow the same format. Therefore, please be aware that there may be possible differences in the format that your school is using.

           NOTE to fellow-JSCers: Dr. Brinegar has read and approved my comments. Hope you find them helpful!

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Please don’t be offended by the title. I’m the dummy, not you! 

Here is what I think I’ve learned about writing licensing portfolio entries (LPEs). 

First, I will tell you what an LPE is not. Then, I will describe what it is. There are 5 parts of an LPE.

1. UNPACK THE PRINCIPLE

An LPE is NOT an opportunity to paraphrase what the principle says.

“They” already know what it says. “They” or “their colleagues” wrote it. Actually, I don’t know who wrote it. The point is…don’t just paraphrase the principle.

You need to show “them” that YOU understand what it says.

We keep hearing our professors say to make sure you UNPACK THE PRINCIPLE.

For those of you who think unpacking your luggage means to take all of your stuff out of your suitcase at the same time and shove it in the drawers, or worse, yet, put it in a pile, that’s not how to unpack a suitcase, or in this case, the principle.

   

[BTW when you unpack your luggage, you should take out each item or group of items neatly and place them together so that you can find them.]

For an LPE, read each sentence and explain what it means. It does not matter that you understand what it says and needs no explanation. 

You need to EXPLAIN IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS so that “they” can tell that YOU understand it. They can’t read your mind!

IN YOUR OWN WORDS, write out what the principle means. 

(BTW, I’m not yelling…just trying to make a point.)

2. GROUND THE PRINCIPLE IN LITERATURE

Again, I will begin with what an LPE is not. 

An LPE is NOT a review of every article you have ever read about topics that might be related to the entry.“They” can do their own research. 

It is NOT an opportunity to simply add a quote that has the same or similar word or words that you have in your paper.

Furthermore, grounding the principle does NOT mean that it (the principle) cannot use the family car or go out this weekend.

(If you missed my attempt at humor, don’t waste time thinking about it. Just keep reading.)

Grounding the principle means to find a quote from a scholarly piece of writing that supports what you are saying. Find something that somebody wrote that either agrees or disagrees with what you are saying. 

  

Note: You may want to wait until after you decide upon an episode to look for this. That’s up to you. 

My overall point is that the principle, the literature and the episode need to be interrelated. So…you may want to think about this while you’re choosing an episode. Please see next section.

3. LOCATE AN EPISODE / PROVIDE EVIDENCE

To be consistent, I will begin, once again, with what an LPE is not.

An LPE is NOT a deep, reflective essay in which you analyze a situation and re-think what you could have done better. 

Although reflective thinking is a highly recommended practice that you should do throughout your teaching career, the LPE is neither the time nor the place.

An EPISODE is something that you have seen or done that relates to the principle AND the literature.

Think of an episode of a TV show. It is usually a short part of an entire story. 

If you were to describe it to a friend, as in, “Hey, what happened in last night’s episode?”, you would provide a description of the setting, who was involved, when it happened and what occurred. 

You don’t need to provide TMI (too much information). Your friend will just walk away.

(Again, if you missed my attempt at humor, don’t waste time thinking about it. Just keep reading.)

For the LPE, an EPISODE is a short, concise description of what actually happened, where it occurred and who was involved. Be specific. Don’t just say that something happened over the course of your internship. Provide ONE specific time with details (who, where, when and what). 

EVIDENCE is more obvious. It is the required documentation, such as the actual lesson

plan, unit plan, samples of student work, or activity that you used. 

In any case, it needs to be related to the principle AND to the literature.

4. GAUGE THE CORRESPONDENCE

When I see the word gauge (which rhymes with cage, not George), I think gas gauge, as in, “How much gas is there left in my car before I need to get more?” (If you don’t drive a car, skip this part and go on.) In any case, a gauge is a measurement or a judgement.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

For an LPE, this is when you look at the principle, the literature and the evidence and make a   judgement. How do they connect? Do they support one another? They don’t have to agree. You can explain how they contradict one another.

5. LAST BUT NOT LEAST (You’re almost done…)

Read your LPE from beginning to end and ask yourself:

1. Are all the elements (the principle, the episode/evidence, the literature) about the principle?

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

2. Is it coherent? Are the elements (principle, literature, episode/evidence) linked to one another?

  

                               


 PRINCIPLE     EVIDENCE    LITERATURE

GOOD LUCK!

Technology in the classroom

Hi all,

I'm Megan, a senior at JSC currently student teaching in a kindergarten classroom. Something that has been on my mind quite often these past few weeks is the idea of using technology in the classroom. Many of our kindergarteners came into school this year knowing very few letters, but knowing every trick to using a tablet! Technology is a hot topic these days, especially with kids, and as it is becoming an ever-increasing part of our daily lives, it's no wonder why schools want to incorporate it into their curricula. But as we all know from the last couple of weeks in our seminar courses, sometimes technology does not always work as well as we hope it will...which leads me to wonder, when is it appropriate to use technology in the classroom, and at one point does it become more cumbersome than useful?

In our kindergarten classroom, we admittedly do not use a great deal of technology. We share a classroom set of iPads with the class next to us, and we have a Smart Board on our wall, but we rarely use these things. We typically give our students hands-on activities and projects -- paper worksheets, crafts, manipulatives, and so on. On the few occasions that we have used some form of tech, such as the Smart Board, it has tended not to work as well as we hoped it would. In a class of rambunctious elementary-age kids, something as simple as accidentally dragging the written numbers on the Smart Board too far and making them go flying across the screen can momentarily derail the lesson being taught. Add in a slow computer, near-constant pop-ups requesting updates, teachers or students not fully understanding how to work the technology in the first place, and it seems almost as if the lesson would be easier on a regular white/chalk board. It is hard to teach a lesson (especially if some students are really struggling with a concept) when the tools you are using to teach it are not working properly!

I have not included much technology into the lessons I have planned up to this point. I would like to consider adding more, especially for my unit, but I want to think long and hard about when and where it would be the most beneficial and relevant for my students to use -- as opposed to adding in technology just for the sake of including it. I want to make sure that the activities I am using it for would be made better by using some sort of tech -- something that is relevant to the lesson and adds to it, rather than makes it a burden to teach. I know part of this lies in knowing how to work the tech itself, but even when understanding how to use it, it can take away from the lesson to spend a couple minutes clicking on buttons just to erase something on the Smart Board!

I don't mean to sound totally anti-tech, because I am not at all! But as a student myself, I have had far too many classes that have turned towards technology for every purpose, only to have it end up not working and wasting time that should be spent learning. 

I was curious how others integrated the use of technology into their classrooms. What kinds of things do you think about when planning a lesson using technology? What do you use it for (teaching lessons, playing educational games, reading, assessments, etc.)?

[Also, I came across another blog post discussing some ways to integrate tech into read-alouds, if anyone is interested! As someone who loves reading to her students, I thought these ideas might be a good way to introduce some tech into our class at some point.]

Homework!

Hi! My name is Cassie Clark and am attending Castleton. I am student teaching at Whitehall Central School District in New York. I am currently working with mostly freshman but do have a few sophomores. All of my students are in Algebra, and with math comes homework. So many of my students do their homework and actively want to get it done. There are a handful of students that do not complete any homework assignment, and it drops their grade significantly. My mentor teacher grades homework on completeness not correctness. So in reality, they do not have to focus on getting any of it right, but attempting each problem.

Every class we go over the homework from the night before and those who didn't do it tend to just copy it down or don't do anything at all. The students do not get much credited for just copying the assignment down and handing it in. I personally feel that homework is great practice for the students, especially if they are struggling with certain topics. My question is: How do I get these students to actively try to do their homework? Unfortunately, these students are required to take multiple tests that determine if they graduate or not. So being able to understand and perform the material is important.

Host teacher away, students will...?

Hello fellow student teachers!

My name is Emily Corkins and I am a senior at Johnson State College. I’m an art ed major and I’m student teaching at Lake Region Union High School in Orleans in the art classroom. 

My host teacher was out of the classroom yesterday and there was a sub in the classroom with me.  I was pretty much running the classroom because I’m always in the classroom and I knew what was going on.  I had problems with a couple of students talking back to me when I would give them instructions, tell them to get off their phones, or trying to get them to focus on their work.  This never happens when my host teacher is here. 

I was wondering if any one else had experienced this in their placements?  I wasn’t expecting classes to go as smoothly as when my host teacher is here but I also wasn’t expecting my student’s respect for me to go out the window while she was gone.  

No need to be So Defensive! 😤

Hello fellow bloggees,

       Many of us, when we complete work and it's handed back, beome excited and look through quickly for two things: the grade, and any side notes we may be able to decipher throughout the teacher's chicken scratch and coffee stains. One of two reactions then follow. One may read the comments and understand that the teacher had differing views on the quality of work. This outcome usually results in the student trying a new approach, or strategy, on the next assignment in order to please the teacher. Then there are some students who'd read the comments and become 'up in arms' about the differing opinion of the teacher. They might then decide to defend their work to the teacher in hopes to 'clear things up'.
     For students who know that becoming upset and tiffin with the teacher is probably not the best solution, also understand that taking ownership of the grade and criticism is a way of showing responsibility and maturity, and allows for the most growth. But here's one thing you may not have even realized you've been doing...
   Have you ever taught a lesson or been given verbal feedback, and then feel the urge to quickly rebuttal with the fact that, you're right, but I think that happened because... or, yeah, I saw that happening but...? I know I have, and that's okay. If you ever find yourself in these kinds of situations, just relax and don't be so defensive. It's hard to understand that someone isn't calling you out on your flaws, yet simply offering their point of view on the matter, and suggesting a new strategy in order to better yourself.
   When one responds with certain words such as: yeah but, but, I was just, or other defensive comments, he/she is acting just as the student who felt the need to debate with the teacher about the grade. These defensive gestures are called thinking errors, and they act as verbal excuses for our actions. How will we ever grow as teachers if we are always making excuses? So hey, don't be so defensive. Remember, you don't have to always take their advice, but let them finish their complete though and say "thank you, I never saw it like that before. I'll keep it in mind for next time." This way they're feeling listened to and respected and you can allow the mental growth that comes from teaching! 😆

We have posted a number of blog entries, and many of you have responded to one another. Excellent!  Kathleen, Ai, and I hope you're having fun!   Here's a question for you:  What are some creative ways in which to enhance this process?   Add your ideas here.  Thanks!

Differences in Classes

Hi, my name is Cassie Papandrea, and I’m a senior at Castleton. I am student teaching at Rutland High School, and I work with a class of juniors and two senior classes. I’ve been in my placement for about seven weeks now, and the differences between the two senior classes that I am teaching really interest me. The two senior classes are British Literature, and they are both in the middle of Macbeth. To further explain, there are about eighteen students in my first senior class, which is in the mid-morning, and four in the second class, which is the last class of the day. My class of four really gets into the reading. They are comfortable with one another (I think that this is key in the case of the reading) and make the reading dramatic. My larger class is less enthused about the reading and always tries to be on their phones. It is definitely easier to hide being on a phone when there are more students in the class. This makes me wonder if it is just the students in my smaller class are more interested in the material or if it is connected to the amount of people in the class and the classroom culture. What differences can you see in your classes?