Standard 8

Standard 8

Fulfills professional responsibilities established by the school district.

 

a. Adheres to board policies, district procedures, and contractual obligations.

(2012)One of the comments I receive after substitutes have been in my room, is that they can easily follow my plans. One of my responsibilities established by the school district is to have plans for another adult to come into my class during my absence. This is one of my  obligations as a teacher if I am ever absent.

https://docs.google.com/a/fairfieldsfuture.org/open?id=0BxU0ncIPGuG3OF9UVmlObVBaUDQ

Here is a screen shot of one a lesson I had for a guest teacher when I was ill. The link above will take you to a google doc in order to see the full days plan. I like this format because it allows the guest teacher to see what time the activity should take place, what is needed, and what they are doing. I will often also add in what to tell students so that similar language is being used.

(2017) I have continued to use the same lesson plan format as the 2012 document, and I have also had more feedback from substitute teachers in my classroom. We have switched to using an online data base to request subs. From that data base, substitutes can leave teachers feedback on how the day went. The attached photo was from Kathy Ghent who had subbed in my classroom. She has told me she enjoys the class and that I aways have great lesson plans that are clear for her to follow.

b. Demonstrates professional and ethical conduct as defined by state law and district policy.

(2012)One way I document parent contact is to use a spread sheet and record when and how I talk to parents or guardians. I also documented what our conversation were about. This helps to ensure and demonstrate my professional and ethical conduct between teacher and parent. This record also helps me to remember what was said and when we discussed a certain topic or issue.


 This is a private document shared between the administrator and myself. This also helps to ensure confidentiality for the student and keeps the administrator in the loop as to the communication between myself and the family.

(2017) I began using Class Dojo last year. I have discovered this to be a more useful and safe tool to communicate with parents. I know that all of our correspondences are saved and documented. It allows me to also download and print all content from one parent, or all parents if needed. It is easy to access. I also like that I can use our page to share progress with parents, projects from our class or issues students have had in private. The only people allowed to see what is posted are those who have signed up and use the provided class code. Outsiders are unable to see what content is shared, unlike on Facebook. I can share information for the whole class to see, or individual parents. Each student also has a digital portfolio I can add content to and only those that have that child's code can see the information.  The attached document is portion of a parent conversation I was able to have through the dojo app. I love that I can quickly contact parents. Parents can also choose to have the messages sent to their phone or have it sent to their email.

c. Contributes to efforts to achieve district and building goals.

 This is a pamphlet/brochure that another teacher and I created in order to give out to the families in our district. The tri-fold informs families about the implementation of PBIS in the school and how in effects the different areas of the building. It also lets families know the rules and expectations of the students.

 This is a document I am proud of because it was successful in that it relayed the information needed. PBIS helps reinforce our districts goals in the buildings, and helps students to learn about how to carry out the positive behaviors in the community. PBIS helps support goal 5 of our districts long term goals "Students will feel safe and connected to the school."








newsletter 


2019 - The first grade team have been working on this document and updating it for a few years now. We use this for our standards and benchmarks. As a team, we were able to meet and discuss how and where we can find assignments to demonstrate student learning.  This is only a small piece of the document. On the right side of the standards, we labeled with units and assessments that we use in class. Then while reporting out, we can be more consistent in what we use for grading students.

The district vision is captured in the words, “Dream, Think, Lead, Act.” As a district, we believe that...

·all kids can learn

· we serve learners

·  we collaborate to learn

· we solve problems together

· clear communication is critical

· we define and follow best practice

· we serve compassionately

· trust is essential

During the 2018-2019 school year I borrowed the ideas to start up a class donation for scholastic books. Each month scholastic offered a book for $1. I asked my facebook friends if they would be willing to sponsor a student for $9 to receive a book each month. I was able to receive enough for the students to each get the dollar book every month and I was also able to purchase a $5 book for each student at Christmas! This project collectively put over 120 new books into our community. The great thing about giving books to students is that they can then share these book with their brothers and sisters as well. 

d. Demonstrates an understanding of and respect for all learners and staff.

Emailing is one of the biggest forms of communication in today's ever moving world. One thing I ask my parents at the beginning of the year is how they would like me to communicate with them. This email below is between a parent and myself discussing a students absents and what she needs to complete when she is gone. I understand that when students are gone for a vacation time, homework and worksheets is the last thing that they will want to spend energy on. This particular student enjoys writing and sharing her writing. As a way to respect her mother's wishes to have an assignment, and to respect their time together, I asked the student to write a journal while on her trip and tell about what she sees. This way she is using her experience and making real world connections.

After her trip, I had the student share the writing with the class and answer questions that they had. We also google mapped where she was and looked up the distance she would have drove from Fairfield Iowa. This way I was allowing her to share her experience with the class in a productive manner, rather than just having a show-and-tell time.

(2017) I was able to support a student this year and learn about their heritage and culture. I enjoy supporting students in and out of school. This year one of my students performed in a Diwali festival at the Arts and Convention Center. After, she was able to tell her classmates about the experience as well. While in attendance I was able to talk to other students from Pence that I have had in the past and they were delighted I was able to be their and support their cultural traditions. I learned a lot from the experience about Indian culture and ate some delicious food!

e. Collaborates with students, families, colleagues, and communities to enhance student learning.

(2017) I volunteered at the Middle schools first health fair. I was placed in the craft room with the middle schools art teacher. This was a great experience to collaborate and get to know other staff in our district. We helped students create caterpillars out of socks, animals out of clay, bags out of shirts, and color! Art is a great way to get students to think more creatively and engage in authentic conversations. It was great to work with students of all ages and from different buildings in our district. While creating the caterpillars I was also able to have authentic conversations with students about insects and the parts of an insect. Even though this was not the intent of the activity, it helps students know that we can create and learn!

(2019) On February 6th 2019 the first grade team met at the ACT office to learn more about PLTW. This is what our district chose to use for our science curriculum. Together, we worked through different modules and learned about the program. We were also able to see what the students are expected to learn before having to teach the lessons to the class. It was great being able to work as a team so that we were all getting the same information and able to be 'on the same page'. We also prepped materials in order to help the lessons go more smoothly.  My artifact is a screen shot of the email confirming I joined the course.