What I Do to Strengthen and Improve the Teaching Profession?
Having a son with a learning disability and an attention deficit allows me to see my profession from an additional perspective. I understand the feelings of frustration, heartache and even anger that many parents suffer when they feel that the system is too large or too uncaring or just not capable of helping their children with educational success.
Through such experiences, I have gone through a renewal in enthusiasm and a passionate reclaiming of the ideas that led me into teaching in the first place. I am constantly honing my skills and seeking to improve myself, both as an educator and as a personal model to my students. I enthusiastically praise members of my profession that I see doing a good job, and encourage those educators who seem to need it. I openly exchange ideas and techniques with other teachers and enjoy developing a sense of comradery with my peers and supervisors through honesty, sincere friendship and humor. I actively participate in meetings and forums from my grade level up through the system level, and write letters to administrators, board members, newspaper editors and legislators. When educational issues come up in a social setting, I confidently assert the positives of public education, admitting our weaknesses but stating our strengths. I invite doubters into my school to view education at work and quickly remind them that support from individuals outside the schools is a great asset in strengthening young people who will eventually work with them in jobs and with community issues.
By modeling knowledge of and quality performance in my specialized field, and by exhibiting beliefs that I strongly support, I strengthen and improve the teaching profession at the ground floor, making a foundation on which others can build. By being a strong individual teacher that works well with others, I help produce a stronger school, which adds to the integrity of our system and the profession as a whole.
What I Do to Promote Professional Accountability?
Accountability must be related to the percentage of students that successfully get productive positions in society after leaving school. This is most often related to a student finding success in his/her first years of school.
Teachers of very young children are responsible for encouraging growth in all areas: social, emotional, physical, creative and academic. Therefore, I must be held accountable for making certain that the children in my classroom experience every opportunity to learn to trust educators and to develop a joy of learning! I must also be held accountable for instilling in them the proper conduct and citizenship skills that will enable them to positively contribute to the creation and continuation of a classroom environment that promotes individual student achievement and the productivity of a school.
Furthermore, I must establish active goals for my students that are clearly stated, attainable and measurable through evaluation instruments and observation. I must be ever mindful that each student in my classroom is treated with understanding, dignity and fairness so that he or she may leave me with a sense of personal accomplishment and self-worth that will allow the student to be motivated toward a lifetime of learning! I must, therefore, be accountable for setting up a classroom environment that guarantees respect, courteous cooperation, and effective instruction.
I should be expected to allow my students to express their individual needs, wants and ideas without fear of reprisal or disapproval. I must consciously strengthen my emotional and mental health, avoid prejudice and stereotyping, and maintain a high level of energy to possess the stamina needed to meet the challenges of students and career.
As one of the first teachers with whom students come in contact, I am responsible for developing the attitudes and foundation that will produce academic achievement. Therefore, I must always remain faithful to the basic philosophy of kindergarten as a developmental, "readiness" year. The activities and techniques used in my classroom must be appropriate to the age of the students and be targeted to the abilities of each particular group of students that enter kindergarten.
I must make every effort to challenge the stronger students to strive toward further progress and to patiently love the struggling students into persevering. Through the use of encouragement, praise, and the spotlighting of individual successes, I can promote self-confidence and self-worth, and a feeling of accomplishment at each level of instruction for each student. Because I am always aware of my competence as an educator, I am intent on tracking the progress of my students as they leave me so that I might change and upgrade my approach and enhance my effectiveness.
