The Reflective Teaching Portfolio of Shelly Spallees-Hansen

1. Reflective Teaching Portfolio of
Shelly Spallees Hansen
Family & Consumer
Education

2. Welcome to a showcase of my professional teaching
experiences. In this portfolio, I hope to demonstrate
my philosophy of education through reflection on the
three guiding questions that you will find on the
index page, while also providing artifacts as evidence
of this reflection process. Thank you and I hope you
enjoy my portfolio!
Shelly Spallees Hansen Click here to hear Shelly

3. Reflective Introduction Statement
Hello, my name is Shelly Spallees Hansen and I am currently teaching FCE
in Walworth, WI while attending UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI in the Masters of
Science in Education program. I have been teaching for a total of 11 years both in
Norway and in the USA. I would like to give you an overview of my eportfolio. This
portfolio is a working portfolio where I highlight or showcase my thoughts and
reflections on my teaching experiences. The purpose of this portfolio is to allow for
reflection and assessment of my own professional growth and to help me focus on
where I want to go as a future educator and leader.
I hope it is easy for you to navigate. On the next slide you will find more
information about me personally along with links to my teaching philosophy and
resume. Please use these to discover more about my qualifications. On the Index
slide, you will find three reflective questions about my thoughts towards teaching
with links to artifacts and responses in support of these questions along with links to
the Wisconsin Teacher Standards that support my reflections. The last slides of my
portfolio contain my conclusion and my contact information. In my conclusion I will
identify my strengths and the areas that I discovered need further growth. The
conclusion also contains identified strategies of how I plan on achieving these goals.
My hope is that you will see, by the way I have laid out this portfolio, that I
am a creative, organized, detailed, and outgoing person that LOVES working with
children and feels blessed to be a teacher! I believe that the artifacts I have chosen
and reflections that I have written will give you a good feeling towards what kind of
teacher I feel I am and what work or goals I have yet to accomplish. I believe
learning is a life-long process and I believe that my portfolio of information will
highlight this. Enjoy!

4. Personal Information
It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment
rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to
things. This is my life's motto. I happen to things. I don't let things happen to
Index me, or at least I try not to. I am a seeker of activity, new challenges, and new
risks. I have a varied educational background and I have lived in 26 different
places so I like change. I have traveled to 17 different countries and have been a
Teaching missionary to Guatemala and Mexico. My children are from Colombia and my
Philosophy husband is from Norway. I LOVE DIFFERENT CULTURES. People are a
mystery to me and my life is filled with people all the time! I have been fortunate
enough in my life to have met and had coffee with a Prime Minister and I have
Resume met Princes, Princesses, Kings and Queens. I have met movie stars and rock
stars and I have been friends with prisoners. Who else can say that about their
life?
I am currently living in Elkhorn but I lived the last 10 years in Norway. I
am originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I teach Culinary Arts and Child
Development at Big Foot High School and in Norway I taught English as a
Second Language to Norwegian 8-10 graders and 5th and 7th graders. I also
have taught Family and Consumer Education both in Eau Claire, WI and
Menomonie, WI. My interests include my
family, reading, talking, traveling, shopping, and being with young people. I
enjoy a variety of cultural activities and I love being involved in community
activities.

5. Index
1. What kinds of critical incidents in teaching or my professional practice
have helped define me personally and professionally?
• My Response Supportive Artifacts & Reflection
Wisconsin State Teaching Standards-#2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
2. How do I best demonstrate that I am a competent educator?
• My Response Supportive Artifacts & Reflection
Wisconsin State Teaching Standards-#1,2, 3, 4, 7, 10
3.What do I need to contemplate further as an educator or in my practice
and why?
• My Response Supportive Artifacts & Reflection
Wisconsin State Teaching Standards-#1,3,4, 6, 7, 9,10

6. Conclusion
Conclusion
Young people today, deserve teachers who will take an interest in them personally and
inspire them to want to learn. I feel that I have demonstrated throughout this portfolio that I am
this kind of teacher. I feel that my strengths of creativity, organization, and enthusiasm for
working with young people are some of the things that I bring to the classroom. As demonstrated
in my artifacts, I feel that I have diversified my teaching strategies and assessment practices in
order to provide an interesting, unique, student centered and hands-on learning environment.
Allowing the students to choose the method of how they will learn and the method of learning
has provided motivation and a desire for learning. Becoming involved in the students lives
outside of the classroom as shown by the pictures of activities I have worked with, has been a
Index great reward for me.
I have tried to demonstrate that learning is progressive and in order for learning to take
place, students must be taught according to their own interests, talents, and needs. My
curriculum is experientially based. This philosophy, I feel, can be demonstrated through my
lesson plans. Such as the artifacts I have included for question three. As I mentioned in my
philosophy, the role of a teacher should be as a manager or guide. One of the areas that I would
personally like to work more on is this. I feel that I am connected but I would like to be able to
handle classroom management more effectively. I am completing my Master of Science in
Education at UW-Stout. My thesis is on improving the professional practices of an individual
diagnosed with ADD. Through my research, I hope to gain information and practical knowledge
that I can apply in my classroom to help myself as well as my students to be more focused and
organized.
In looking at what I need to contemplate further, I know that I need to be prepared for
changes coming in my subject matter. This was also mentioned in question 3. It is important for
me to gain exposure in other teaching fields in order to maintain my marketability. I feel, that as
a Reading Teacher, I will still be able to make a difference in students’ lives while also teaching
a subject that I am passionate about. So what I need to ask myself is 1). What more do I need to
do to prepare myself to be a Reading Teacher? 2). What future competencies do I need to work
towards in order to continue developing a strong Family and Consumer Education program? 3).
How can I become even stronger in classroom management? And after taking this class, I have
found myself also asking, 4). “What more can I do to incorporate technology into the
classroom?”

7. The strategies that I have for answering these questions would include the following:
Conclusion
1). Continue completing coursework and student teaching as a Reading Teacher. I would also
like to look at my FCE curriculum and discover what ways I can incorporate reading into the
program. In addition, I would like to attend summer institutes in Culinary Arts to better
prepare me for this program as well.
2). I need to research the other career areas in FCE that I am not certified in, which would
include, Health Occupations and Child Care Services. These certifications would require
working in these environments in order to achieve the necessary hours needed to be certified.
This means that I would need to work either in the evenings or over summers to become
certified. I would also like to continue taking courses in Culinary Arts to stay up-to-date with
Index this area.
3). After completing my thesis on management techniques and ADD, I would like to apply
my research into my own personal and professional life to ensure an even more organized
classroom. My goal is to complete my study this fall and finalize my paper in the spring.
4). I plan on taking continued credits in using technology in the classroom. I would like to
incorporate the use of reflective e-portfolios in either the Reading classroom or in the FCE
classroom.
As I reflect on the process of developing this portfolio, I am reminded of the need
for lifelong learning. Teaching is an honor and I do not take this honor lightly. My future
goals are evidence of the need for continued learning and development. Teaching is the
“road less traveled” and I am glad to be on this road with so many other talented and
remarkable individuals!

8. Contact Information
Shelly Spallees Hansen
W4809 Overlook Drive
Elkhorn, WI 53121
(262) 723-4828
hansens@uwstout.edu