The aim of this anecdotal essay is to encourage college lecturers and classroom teachers to examine and articulate their personal instructional theory. This is important for two reasons. One, doing so brings an awareness of personal instructional practices, and two, it is an important facet of the scholarship of teaching and learning. To achieve this aim the author provides evidence of how the process of constructing and reflecting on a professional portfolio brought an awareness of his personal theory about teaching, and displays practical examples of the extent to which the theory drove his instructional practices.