Quality Standard Four: Teachers demonstrate professionalism through ethical conduct, reflection, and leadership.

It is our job as educators to always be professional and ethical. Students are always observing us and learning based on our behaviors and actions. I want the art room to be a safe and welcoming environment where students and teachers feel respected. I must model appropriate behavior to set up that expectation. Additionally, I always made sure to dress professionally. Even in the art room where we deal with messy materials, I wore professional dress to show that I am serious about my content. Leadership was difficult to achieve as a student teacher but being able to sub for my cooperating teachers allowed me the chance to have that leadership role in the classroom. I rate myself as proficient in this standard because I always do my best to remain professional and reflect upon my practice and I look for ways to gain leadership in the school and community alike.

Element A: Teachers demonstrate high standards for professional conduct.

For this element I have attached the letter of recommendation my High School  mentor teacher, Katherine Giese,  wrote for me. In this letter she details my strengths in working in the classroom and with students. 

 

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Element B: Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

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During my student teaching at Silver Creek High I had the opportunity for the Principle, Erick Finnestead, to come and observe one of my lessons. After the lesson he gave me his honest feedback and provided me with his observation notes. One of the best ways for me to learn and grow is to gain feedback from others. I find it most helpful to have "outsiders" who don't see me everyday and know exactly who I am to provide that perspective and feedback. After this observation he agreed to give his recommendation for me to be hired at a school I had applied at. His observation assisted with my growth in teaching and with my goal of securing a teaching position for the following school year. 

 

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Element C: Teachers respond to a complex, dynamic environment.

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For this artifact I chose a document where I was brainstorming

different differentiation ideas for the various students with

special needs in my classes. Every students had vastly different

needs and many of them were higher needs than I had previously

worked with. It was a struggle some days to engage some of

these students but more days than not they were engaged in some

form of art making. Everyday was different with these kids and

I was constantly reevaluating my approach to working with these

students. 

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Element D: Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school, the community, and the teaching profession. 

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In my high school placement I had the opportunity to assist with the set up of the district art show. I spent some time after school bringing artwork and easels to the fairgrounds and setting up our AP students work with labels.  I also took the initiative and created a newsletter promoting the art show and inviting parents and the community to come support our students. This letter got sent out to all my students parents. My goal was to try and get our community involved and to create a nice display of students work to promote Silver Creek's art department. Our set up we used was the only one in the entire district that utilized easels rather than boards. I set up the easels in a way that promoted viewers to walk through the entire display, it really helped to set our display apart from the rest of the schools. 

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