Standard 9: Professional Responsibility and Ethical Practice
Standard Nine is about engaging in professional learning and ethical practice. Standard Nine of InTASC demonstrates the importance of how teachers can contribute towards a professional learning community by collaborating with fellow teachers. To demonstrate this standard, I will discuss informal lesson observations, advocating for relevant and purposeful texts, and collaborative lesson planning.
Lesson Observations: During my time student-teaching, the observations and feedback my mentor teacher and university supervisor have allowed me to continually evaluate my teaching throughout the semester. In the beginning of my unit, my mentor teacher gave me feedback between class periods which allowed me to adjust and improve the lesson for the next class period. These informal observations demonstrate standard nine as I used the feedback as a quick evaluation on myself. With this feedback, I am able to adapt my practice to meet the needs of the learner.
Advocating for Relevant and Purposeful Texts (How to Build a Fire): Roanoke City Public Schools is required to use the Hampton City Curriculum (HSC). For a unit, students were taught Jack London’s “How to Build a Fire’ as it was required by HSC. Ultimately, my collaborating teacher and I learned that Jack London was a flawed person whose beliefs are not in the best interest of students as even the text had offensive phrases as well. My collaborating teacher and I told students about the author and apologized for making them read the story. Students took their own initiative by mentioning the author to the superintendent. This demonstrates standard 9 as learning the truth of an author and advocating for the best interest of students impacts not just the learning of students but learning as a teacher with navigating appropriate and relevant texts in the classroom.
Collaborative Lesson Planning: Planning and teaching should be a collaborative experience where teachers can learn from each other and grow as professionals. When planning for my two-week unit, my mentor teacher and I often engaged in conversations about my unit. We utilized technology for communication like voice memos and email. This demonstrates standard nine of professional learning and ethical practice as honest and productive communication between educators foster professional and personal growth.
