Standard 8-Professional Responsibilities
“Fulfills professional responsibilities established by the school district.”
Building relationships is one of the most important things a teacher must do. This extends beyond relationships with students to families, community members, school administrators, colleagues, maintenance staff etc. All of these people work together to support students. Collaborating with colleagues can provide teachers with new ideas, shared data, feedback, and moral support. Collaborating with parents should begin at the start of each school year to build a sense of trust and provide insights on their children. Collaborating with community leaders can form relationships that support students. Bringing in (or better yet, visiting) local community members can help to tie in real-life events to student learning.
Ethics are a commonly forgotten but critical responsibility. Not only should ethical behavior be modeled for students, but ethical principles should be applied to all aspects of a teacher’s career. It is all too easy to gossip, casually share confidential information, or subconsciously discriminate against students. A teacher must always be mindful of the code of ethics to prevent such actions.
Building relationships is one of the most important things a teacher must do. This extends beyond relationships with students to families, community members, school administrators, colleagues, maintenance staff etc. All of these people work together to support students. Collaborating with colleagues can provide teachers with new ideas, shared data, feedback, and moral support. Collaborating with parents should begin at the start of each school year to build a sense of trust and provide insights on their children. Collaborating with community leaders can form relationships that support students. Bringing in (or better yet, visiting) local community members can help to tie in real-life events to student learning.
Ethics are a commonly forgotten but critical responsibility. Not only should ethical behavior be modeled for students, but ethical principles should be applied to all aspects of a teacher’s career. It is all too easy to gossip, casually share confidential information, or subconsciously discriminate against students. A teacher must always be mindful of the code of ethics to prevent such actions.
We collaborated to organize a field trip to the Capitol, Iowa History Museum, Iowa Hall of Fame, and Adventureland!
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CollaborationDuring my time teaching biology I collaborated with the biology teachers and helped develop a new Honors Biology curriculum with my two mentor coaches.
At Regis Middle School, the 8th grade team (left) meets 4 times a week to collaborate. We focus on what we can do to help students who are struggling and planning whole-grade activities. |
Code of Ethics TestOn this exam, I wrote out each of the 10 Minnesota standards of professional conduct in my own words (from memory). Although the standards are mostly common sense, it is important to remember them throughout my teaching career. In addition to knowing the ethical standards, I must be able to understand and continually apply them to my teaching.
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Field Experience JournalIn this journal, I recorded observations related to each of the 10 Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice for Teachers. I then reflected on and analyzed my observations in relation to each standard. I paid close attention to examples of adolescent learning and development in order to further my knowledge on these topics.
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Synthesis
Collaboration and building positive relationships extends beyond the people I directly work with to include administrators, community members, other teacher teachers in the district etc. In addition to fostering positive relationships, I must also keep ethics in mind. The ethical standards set by the state, my school, and myself should never be broken.