Introduction

Purpose and Objective

The Electronic Reflective Portfolio's (ERP) main purpose is to effectively and orderly manage the teaching experience of the Teacher Candidate in a series of reflections based on assignments and criteria as evidence of teaching. The ERP will have electronic versions of the majority of the documents that must be included in the Professional Notebook, but mostly the reflections are the essence of the ERP. Another purpose of the ERP is to expose and share the experience of the Practice Teaching with fellow peers enrolled in the course and even teachers out in the field. The dissimination of knowledge and experience promotes a culture of sharing and to take a look at what other teachers are doing to succesfully guide students into the learning and acquisition of English in our second language context. As an objective, the ERP will help me, as a Teacher Candidate, grasp my growth and progress as a future teacher of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico. Not only will it have the evidence of the clinical experience in the assigned practice center, the ERP will also provide in-depth and personal reflections of the many instances I will encounter in said experience. The ERP provides the opportunity for fellow Teacher Candidates to establish a sense of companionship by maintaining contact through peer-commenting on activities and experiences that will be shared throughout the blog. Overall, I aim to compile a series of experiences and reflections that will explicitly present my transformation into the aspiring educator of society I have always dreamed of becoming. 

Choosing teaching as my profession

Teaching is a profession that requires passion, conviction and sacrifice and I am one of those passionate dreamers that will take on this sacrifice with pride and joy because of its worthwhile and enriching outcomes. Since I was little, I have envisioned myself as an educator and I still have a strong mindset that this is the profession I want to dedicate the rest of my life to. I would line up my stuffed animals and teach them for hours about things I knew so little of, but they were there, all lined up and paying attention to me. During my school years, I would always dress up like in a long-sleeved shirt and formal pants and I was "the teacher of the group" because most of my peers would come to me when in doubt of something discussed in class or if they wished more tutoring on a certain topic. As I've grown, I have set more goals to achieve and the zenith to reach is to become a professor in a field related to Education or English, but a pedagogical aspect must be part of my doctorate degree. If I were to be honest, I do not have a reason to choose teaching as a profession. I believe I was just born to do it because I live, breathe and dream about this profession. Even with the salary cuts, the horrible states of schools, the never-ending battle between parents and teachers, I am firm in my decision and passion. Even if I change the world of one student, I have done my job correctly because it means I have planted a memory, a seed inside the student and that student will be forever grateful that I was there to help him/her when he/she needed it. In one way or the other, teachers are agents of change and are responsible of society's uprising and stability. Some teachers may falter --and I do not blame them because it is an emotional and physically draining career--, but we must not forget that teachers are indeed the beating heart of the world. This is why I was born to teach; I have the drive, the passion and the desire to mold my students into productive beings to their society and even the world. Teachers define the future; this is why I live for.