IA Teaching Standard 8
FULFILLS PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES ESTABLISHED BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
The teacher:
a. Adheres to board policies, district procedures, and contractual obligations.
b. Demonstrates professional and ethical conduct as defined by state law and individual district policy.
c. Contributes to efforts to achieve district and building goals.
d. Demonstrates an understanding of and respect for all learners and staff.
e. Collaborates with students, families, colleagues, and communities to enhance student learning.
Each of the artifacts and their rationales below demonstrate professional responsibilities set out in A. through E.
Partnering with Families &
Building a Program that Works
I believe partnerships build a bridge to success. The more partners you have along the educational path, the stronger your success can be. This is why I work so hard to collaborate with all educational stakeholders: students, families, educators, and community members. Not only does this philosophy demonstrate professionalism and respect for all learners and staff, but it also adheres to board and district policies and my contractual obligations, as well as contributing to achieving district goals.
To the right is the ELL Plan & Program Guide that I developed as ELL Coordinator for Atlantic Community School District. As you will see in the guide itself, the purpose of preparing the guide was threefold 1) to give teachers/staff, ELL students/families, and the wider community a complete summary of the district's plan, 2) to foster communication between all involved by increasing the working knowledge of our plan, and 3) to provide staff and faculty with a base reference source on the general needs of ESL students. In light of these goals, the guide is divided into three main sections: 1) the actual ELL Plan (Lau Plan) and its protocols, 2) Family & Community Resources for the ELL families, and 3) ELL Teacher Resources, which is a mini-professional development starter for the new ELL teacher or staff. Therefore, each partner in our bridge to success can use this guide.
In addition to the legal reasons for this document, the other main reason for this guide is to develop the partnerships of all those involved in the education of the English language learners, a group of people who definitely need a bridge to success. Since one key factor in the success of any program is having everyone on the same page, I tried my best to make sure every ELL teacher, every secretary, and every administrator had a copy of this guide so that all parties involved in the program had the same information. I also provided a copy of this guide to preschools in the area so they had a professional development tool for successfully teaching their ELLs, as well as to encourage consistency between how the preschool operates and how our district operates, which ultimately adds success to the ELL and his/her family.
Attached is a file entitled "Year End 2007 ELL Letter." This is the letter I sent out to all ELL families to encourage them to help their child(ren) continue learning over the summer, encouraging them to be partners with us in the education of their child(ren). In the letter, I give examples of things in which the parents can do to help their child(ren). I also did some legwork in finding out what vacation Bible schools were being offered during the summer so that they could partner with not only the school but the greater community in helping their child(ren) continue learning and growing over the summer. I feel constant communication with the families is the first and biggest step in fostering the partnerships that are so vital to successfully educate and develop strong students.
Partnering to Build Trust
Attached is a file entitled "ell home visit memo 10-10." This is a memo I sent to all of my K-5 sheltered instruction teachers in order to prepare them for home visits with each of their ESL students. Home visits are one aspect of partnerships that I am very passionate about. I feel the one act of making a home visit produces an unbelievable amount of fruitfulness for everyone involved. Not only does it give the families, the students, and the teachers a chance to meet each other, as well as providing a wealth of background information to the teacher in understanding where their students are coming from and what obstacles they may encounter along the way, but it also establishes a basis of trust and care between the home and the school. Without trust and care for the student, no academic partnership can be accomplished; however, with a strong partnership of trust and care between home and school, success is almost guaranteed.
You will also see in the memo that I have also established a strong partnership with both our guidance counselor and our AEA ELL representative. I feel it is vital to partner with all possible entities within the system of education in order to get the most you can out of not only the students but yourself as a teacher. If we try to survive on our own, it will be just that - survival, not success. Only with a multitude of resources, both human and material, will we be able to succeed and thrive.