Program Application Requirements

Siena College Education Department

Teacher Preparation Program Application Requirements

Students applying to Siena College’s Teacher Certification Program are required to submit a portfolio containing the following items:

1. Application for Siena College Teacher Preparation Program Cover Sheet available here.

2. Student copies of Form E – Field Experience Activity Record and Assessment from four education core courses (EDUC 210, EDUC 260, EDUC 261 and 365)

3. CAPP Report at time of application.

4. An essay reflecting on your initial preparation as a teacher. In an essay of approximately 3-4 pages [500-750 words], respond to the following:

In a recently published commentary about contemporary education and teaching, the author makes the following observation:

Yet despite these unfortunate consequences of No Child Left Behind (excessive testing and scripted teaching methods), the important work of teachers remains unchanged---the work of connecting personally and passionately, intimately and individually, with teaching real children in real time…

Getting personal simply requires that teachers do what they can to give life to their talents and dreams. Doing so means thinking about what they value in teaching and searching out practices that bring out success and satisfaction. Getting personal asks teachers to trust their instincts and intuitions and requires that they learn from what they do.

In your essay discuss the ways in which your enrollment in Issues in Contemporary American Education, Educational Psychology, Foundations of Language and Literacy, and Exceptional and At-Risk Learners and the field experiences connected to those courses, influenced your desire to become a teacher in ways suggested by the second paragraph in the above quote. Specifically:

How did these courses and field experiences alter or enhance your "talents and dreams" related to teaching?
In what ways did they help you sort out "what (you) value in teaching" ?
What was your greatest "success and satisfaction" associated with these introductory components of the teacher preparation program?
What was your most significant personal learning as a consequence of your participation in the teacher education program so far?

Develop a well-constructed response using the questions as a general framework rather than answering the questions in sequence.

5. A graded paper from your major, accompanied by a written self-reflection. Your self reflection should be no more than 250 words and should explain why you selected this paper for inclusion in your portfolio. You might consider the following questions:

Why are you especially proud of this paper?
What excited you about this topic?
How does this paper reflect the passion you feel for your major?
In what ways might you use your successful experience in writing this paper as a model for an assignment you might develop for your students when you enter the teaching profession?

Develop a well-constructed response using the questions as a general framework rather than answering the questions in sequence.