Welcome!

This e-portfolio is being constructed as I work towards my middle school social studies licensure for Vermont.

Currently I am student teaching at Barre City Elementary and Middle School, working closely with my mentor Cindy Drinkwine and her 6th grade students.

Feedback is much desired, thanks for looking!

Neil Carr

Just a note on the banner image above...

With my fellow TAP classmates using the banner to help convey their personality with their portfolio I thought for a good amount of time what would be an appropriate way to express my own outlook through an image.

Eventually I settled on taking a slice of the Eboy wallpaper they did of New York City. 

I feel like this does a great job of conveying some of the larger themes that I see of myself as an educator. 

• My Childhood - Eboy's artwork points to powerful childhood influences.  The images evoke things such as arcade games (Zaxxon in particular), Lego playsets, and even computer games such as Sim City.  I spent countless hours engaged in these activities and they helped me explore my imagination through the process of play.
• Social Studies - If you survey the output that the team of artists that make up Eboy have done over the years it's quickly apparent that it always stresses a community of individuals socially engaged with each other.  There is always a dynamism to Eboy artwork that celebrates being part of a textured and layered society that stresses diversity and interaction.
• My Vision as an Educator - I am very excited to be entering into the field of education now because I feel as if society and pedagody has caught up with my sensibilities.  I easily identify with with the demands for educating young people in a wide range of mediums, particularly digital, as our information economy moves into overdrive.  I believe a sense of play is vital to engaging students in their learning and helps to promote positive relationships and strategies that our students need in an ever more interconnected world.