I remember watching my grandmother collect many kinds of cloth for quilt, and as she collected, she watched for patterns to create a new quilt. I marveled at how she could see the finished product in her mind before starting. Then she would sew the squares together. Eventually, the whole piece came together as one beautiful, finished piece. The process of learning to teach is similar to how my grandmother created quilts.
Teachers begin with many ideas and constantly collect new pieces along the way.
I have found this document to be invaluable in framing how I see my own learning to be a teacher, which is why I have chosen to use it as a framework for this web portfolio. Each section is headed with an explanation of its contents, much like the stories the maker of a quilt will tell about the fabric that comprises their quilts. So much can be seen by lookingup close at examples of the parts of what makes a teacher, but it is also important to stand back and see the whole picture. In viewing this portfolio, I hope you catch a glimpse of who I am as an educator in the details as well as in the whole.