Teachers demonstrate professionalism through ethical conduct, reflection, and leadership.
We have a responsibility as teachers to our peers, our students, the families of students and our community to always be professional and ethical. Students are observing us at all times and modeling good behavior can have a positive impact on the classroom. I have often said to students that I want the classroom to be a safe and positive environment for them and part of keeping the environment positive is not to allow negative talk, even if students are joking. This does not mean students must project false positivity at all times, but instead means it is my job to help them foster a growth mindset. Another way I demonstrate professionalism is by my choice in work attire. Even at the elementary level where things are messier I always wore dress pants and dress shirts because I believe for people to take my content are seriously I must project a professional image. Leadership is trickier during student teaching because we are so new, but by getting my one year certified substitute teaching license I demonstrated to my cooperating teachers and the school administrators that I was ready to substitute for the art classes on my own, which helped out the school. I rate myself as proficient in this area because I always present myself professionally to peers, families and students and I am constantly reflecting on my teaching practice.
ELEMENT A: Teachers demonstrate high standards for professional conduct.
Part of excellent professional conduct is being responsive to feedback. Being under constant supervision can be stressful in the student-teaching experience, but it is so valuable to have someone to provide feedback on areas of success and areas that need growth. I could always count on my cooperating teachers to give me honest feedback. In one situation my cooperating teacher had observed that I was not spending as much time with a few of the back tables in one particular class. I made sure to adjust my teaching practice and take the time to get to know those students better. I won't pretend I had a complete breakthrough with all of them, but we did make progress in building some trust. The artifact example I have attached here is a portion of the evaluation form from one of my cooperating teachers demonstrating my positive response to feedback and how I use that feedback to help students.
ELEMENT B: Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.
One of my professional goals as an educator are to connect with teaching peers from other school districts. In January 2020 I had attended the Colorado Teaching for Artistic Behavior conference in Denver. Those connections I made were helpful even during the time of the coronavirus lockdown because I was able to attend a virtual TAB coffee and donuts meetup and talk to other secondary teachers and see how other schools were handling the remote learning situation. It was nice to hear other teachers being honest about the successes and frustrations of remote learning. These events let me share my experiences with others and I learn new information from my art teacher peers. It is nice to be part of a community of caring and professional teachers. Attached is the certificate from my most recent Colorado TAB meetup.
ELEMENT C: Teachers respond to a complex, dynamic environment.
I don't think anyone going into their student teaching semester could be prepared for such a complex and dynamic environment such as school districts moving to remote learning for the remainder of the school year. Electives at the middle school level and below were optional but we still wanted students to know we were thinking about them and to provide them with enrichment activities to give them something positive to due. My cooperating teacher is one of the lead art teachers in the district and I had the opportunity to help work on this art activity matrix for district 6. During one of our online class meetings one student mentioned that he visited one of the virtual museum activities from the matrix. This student was mostly on task during in-person school, but wasn't particularly passionate about art. It was a nice surprise to hear him mention doing one of the optional art activities during an online art class.
ELEMENT D: Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school, the community, and the teaching profession.
I was pleased to find out we were allowed to get our one year certified substitute teacher license in Greeley-Evans District 6. This meant that if our cooperating teachers gone we were allowed to be their substitute teacher on our own. In week three of student teaching my elementary cooperating teacher asked if I would be her substitute. I said yes even though I was nervous about taking on the elementary classes by myself. I was lucky in that I had my other cooperating teacher to call if I needed help. Even though I was new at all of this I made sure the students were cleaned up and lined up ready for the classroom teacher. I set alarms on my watch that quietly reminded me it was clean-up time and I made sure to use the same clean-up song that my cooperating teacher used. Although I may have been flustered on the inside I kept a positive and calm attitude on the outside and this helped make the days I acted as a substitute go fairly smoothly. Getting this license demonstrated leadership on my part because District 6 had a substitute shortage and usually another classroom teacher has to cover for the teacher who is gone. Since I could act as a substitute I was able to make a positive contribution to the school climate and community. I have attached a copy of my substitute license as an artifact and it is one of my proudest accomplishments.