bestsupport

CEA has developed the following 8 sessions to help Year 1 teachers prepare for the BEST portfolio assessment. A session guide* will lead you or a group of new teachers through each session, which generally lasts from 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

*BEST Advocate, mentor, or experienced teacher. Talk to your mentor about being a session guide!

We recommend that sessions 1-5 be held in sequential order.

1.	BEST General Overview Learn about the structure of the BEST program, responsibilities of key support people in your district, and one way new teachers can ask for a support structure that works for them.
2.	Portfolio Overview Get the 'big picture' of what the portfolio contains, and how that is similar to, and different from, what new teachers do in their day-to-day teaching.
3.	BEST Discipline Based Teaching Standards Raise your awareness of the content of the discipline-based professional teaching standards that apply to the area in which you do your portfolio, and how those standards 'look' when applied in the classroom.
4.	Bloomin' Lessons - Review how to write student learning objectives that are based on the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. View helpful word lists to use when developing objectives.
5.	Developing your Class Profile Create a profile of your class that gives ‘demographic’ and other notable information that impacts how you provide instruction.
6.	The CCT – Knowledge of Students Explore the knowledge base about students that teachers are expected to have, as outlined in the Common Core of Teaching.
7.	The CCT – Knowledge of Content Explore the knowledge base about their subject content that teachers are expected to have, as outlined in the Common Core of Teaching.
8.	The CCT – Knowledge of Pedagogy Work with your colleagues to discuss how you link your knowledge of students and your content to your knowledge of pedagogy so that you can design effective lessons.
9.	The CCT – Applying Knowledge to Teaching Another exercise, in a different format, that helps you explore your ability to apply your knowledge of students, content, and pedagogy to designing instruction.

You can do these sessions as self-study, but it's much more helpful to do them with other new teachers.

If you have questions or comments about the sessions, please email Linette Branham at linetteb@cea.org. We want to provide you with the best portfolio assessment support possible!