9. Professionalism, Leadership, and Advocacy

During student teaching, I was required to give my schedule, reflections, and how I was taking care of myself. This was done every day and turned in weekly. This led to meaningful reflections and caused me to think on my instruction, how my week went, and what I did to help in my mental health. This was something I enjoyed doing every week in thinking about how and what I was doing. 

This relates to the Performance Indicator 9K) which states "...reflects on professional practice and resulting outcomes; engages in self-assessment; and adjusts practices to improve student performance, school goals, and professional growth..." I believe this one connects because I have written proof of how I reflected on aspects of student teaching. I also believe this reflection helped in growing my professionalism and in what I did. I was honest, open, and received comments/feedback from my college supervisor and seminar professor which also helped. 

For my SPED330 class called "Communication and Collaboration" I was able to write a variety of mock letters. The first one was an introduction to a paraprofessional who I'd be working with in a classroom. The second letter was addressed to parents/guardians who had children starting in my fictional 4th grade classroom. Lastly, I created a letter to my "college mentor" and addressed a pretend scenario that happened at school that day. This letter was a request for advice in how to continue in my teaching. All of these letters helped me getting a better idea of how to communicate effectively with others and ask for help when needed. I feel that this shows I not only have experience in classrooms of how to create professional letters, but also shows that I know I do not know everything and I know how to ask others for help; I am humble in how I handle situations. 

I connected this to Knowledge Indicator 9E) which states "...is cognizant of his or her emerging and developed leadership skills and the applicability of those skills within a variety of learning communities..." This standard fits because during this time I wrote my first few mock letters to grow in my development. As a new graduate in the teaching field, I am still learning how to communcate effectively and show professionalism with others.