Portfolio Entry #1 Professional Autobiography

Portfolio Entry #1 Professional Autobiography

Assignment Objective: Students will be able to identify factors from their life that may have an influence on their career choice or interest in early childhood education.

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A professional autobiography attends to the details of your life, in a factual, historical context, focusing on how events shaped your character and individuality.

• Focus in on the lifetime events and the people involved in those events who have influenced you to pursue a career in early childhood education.

Planning or Drafting your Assignment:

• Identify personal characteristics that you possess and the possible reason why you possess these characteristics.  For example, is there someone who acted as a role model for you or who coached you and encouraged you to be a fighter and determined individual?

• Create an outline of the key people and events in your life.This can be a simple list that names the key moments in your story, with a focus on the events and individuals that have influenced you to make this professional decision.

• Was there an event that was not exactly pleasant and it has caused you to decide to enter the education field so that you can make a difference.

Additional Questions that may help you to gather details for your assignment include the following: (These do not have to be answered, they are just Suggestions to generate ideas/information for your paper)

• Is there a teacher or person in your life who has influenced you to pursue early childhood education?
• Did you participate in any sports or teams and have a coach who possessed qualities that you admire and would like to share with young children in your professional career?
• Do you have any hobbies that you are involved with that allow you to develop personal or professional characteristics such as creativity, playfulness, team work, etc.?
• Are there any events that happened in your life, good or bad that you feel contributed to your decision to become an early childhood educator?
• Did you have any jobs, full or part-time, that have allowed you to develop your skills in working with young children?  Perhaps, working during the summer as a counselor, or volunteering to read to young children in a kindergarten, or tutoring or mentoring a young child may have influenced your decision as it helped you to realize your talents for connecting with and working with young children.
• Writing Your Final Autobiography

• Organize the information that you have gathered so that you have a clear introduction with a thesis statement. Middle that includes details that provide supportive evidence to your written statements. And a Conclusion or Closing paragraph that restates and ties the autobiography information together and concludes the relationship of the events and people that you identified to your connection to the field of early childhood education and working with children.

Details to also check for:

• Is Your paper typed 12 font (Times New Roman, Ariel ,Calibri or Verdana)
• Is your paper 1.5 or double spaced
• Does your paper meet the requirements for number of pages (not to exceed 1 ½ pages)
• Did you include a heading with your name and our class number (EDU 119) in the upper left hand side of the page?
• Did you check for spelling and mechanical/grammer errors in your writing?
• Did you check the Rubric to make sure that you have met the grading criteria for the assignment?

Did you know that the ILC is available to Proofread your paper and for offering assistance with your written assignments?  When in doubt, Check it out…   Individualized-learning-center/writing/procedures  (Opens in new Window) (https://www.waketech.edu/student-services/individualized-learning-center/writing/procedures).