Program+Dispositions

I do feel that I have this quality. Several years ago I would not be able to say that, however, because of several events in my personal life (more than what I went into) I have been able to embrace change. I used to worry about everything. I can honestly say now, that there is very little that I fret about. I believe that the reason for this is because I see change as an opportunity for a new beginning.
 * Dispositions **
 * 1.Values change as the source of opportunity for improvement. **


 * October 2012 **
 * Over the course of this program I have been more reflective than ever. I have been continually looking at myself as a teacher to see how I can improve and better myself. I was trying to implement new things into my teaching at the middle school in order to improve as a teacher. My biggest change recently was to switch jobs entirely. It has been quite the adjustment by I think it is an opportunity for my to be a better educator. Often I feel that leaders in education have a very limited view or limited experience in education. I am hopping by my willingness to take on a new teaching assignment I will continue to have a broader view of education as a whole. I will be able to also share that experience with colleagues if their view might be narrow. **

**2. Display the ability to understand people and relationships and is receptive to the ideas of others.** Again, having my sociology background, I feel like I have an understanding and appreciation for people's differences. I often find that I can see both sides to a situation and understand completely where someone is coming from even if it is a different viewpoint then me.


 * October 2012 **
 * After joining the cohort I started taking on more roles at my job. One of the roles was to be on the Building Leadership committee (BLT). In this committee the members were in charge of discussing and deciding on various building initiatives. Throughout my time on the committee there were times where my opinion changed on a topic based on the discussions with the group. In addition to the BLT group I was also part of PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention System). This group was in charge of the discipline program for the school. I evolved in my thinking a lot as a result of being on the PBIS committee and working with that group. Before PBIS we had a punitive program and I was pretty in favor of it. Through PBIS I learned about research based positive approaches. Data was used to show areas of need and I realized that this was a better, more effective way to deal with student behaviors. **

After spending a year teaching special education, I realized in a way I hadn't before the importance of meeting each students' needs. I still struggle at times with how to do that, but I don't resent it or feel that students should not have accommodations. I am more than willing to learn new ways to accommodate my students' learning needs.
 * 3. Shows a willingness to implement non-discriminatory access, accommodations and assessments. **


 * October 2012 **
 * I do think that I have always been receptive to make accommodations for my students. I felt at the middle level I was becoming really skilled in ways to make and implement these accommodations. For example, I would do two different ways of note taking for the same information. One was a graphic organizer visual way and the other was the more traditional outline format. I allowed all students to choose they way they preferred. Now that I am at the elementary level I feel like I am starting over. It does not come as easily for me to think of accommodations I can make for students because I am still figuring out the abilities of typical third graders. I very willing to make adjustments as needed. Right now, I am relying a little more on the specialists to help suggest strategies and techniques as adjust to this new level. **

I am not sure in what ways I demonstrate my understanding of diversity other than differentiating for my students. I have some room for learning about different ways to do this.
 * 4. Demonstrates empathic understanding of diversity in all domains. **


 * October 2012 **
 * I have a great example of a way that I have demonstrated this recently. It has also been a difficult situation for me as I know that I am taking a stand and this may cause some people to not like me. (When you are new to a place your hope is that people like you.) Anyway, there has been a long tradition at Murray Park to have Halloween parties. The students actually still dress up in costumes. I have chosen not to participate in this event and have gotten a few other colleagues to join me in not participating as well. I know that I have several good reasons to not participate and I have voiced this in a nice manner. **


 * Some of the reasons are as follows: 1. There is nothing in the curriculum to justify having a Halloween party. 2. It is isolating to many students of certain religions who would do not celebrate Halloween. 3. Some students and families may feel a financial burden by having to provide a costume for a school event. 4. In my class I know that a student would be pulled because of his beliefs and we have been focusing on community since the first day of school, I do not see how this would show our sense of community. 5. There are things about fall that do go with our curriculum that I can implement and teach. (For example the life cycle of plants.) **

I do feel that I am a very reflective teacher. I tend to change what I have done from year to year as I come to new realizations or notice how students with specific learning needs responded to something I have done. I don't know that I am continually looking at my philosophical assumptions, or ethical principles often. I imagine I will be doing much more of that while being in the cohort.
 * 5. Regularly reflects upon philosophical assumptions, ethical principles and rationales that guide one's practice. **


 * October 2012 **
 * The program has helped me to be reflective in a more research based way. I now want studies and data to support my practices. I feel like I am more aware of best practices and I more aware of trends in education. I look at my own practices and question myself. I know I am my biggest critic but I am very interested in improvement. I really want to be a teacher who is able to make great gains in student achievement. My goal is to find out the best way to do this in each of the subject areas I teach. **


 * Through the Leadership in Educational Systems class I had an opportunity to learn about theories of leadership in education. There were a couple of models that I related to Sergionvanni was one. His model states basically the following: **


 * Leaders should be servants, coaching, influencing, and empowering subordinates to participate in building learning communities.
 * “Head, heart, and hand” leadership theory.
 * A leader must be prepared to address moral dilemmas that will occur in schools.
 * Leaders have a moral responsibility to make people feel welcome, wanted, and part of the school with which they are affiliated.

I always knew I entered education because I wanted to help people. I had mostly thought of that in terms of my students, but being in the cohort helped me to think of it in terms of my co-workers as well. I also like that Sergionvanni states that it is "a moral responsibility to make people feel welcome, wanted, and part of the school."

I am no sure if I have figured out how I learn best. I think I knew at one time, but I have changed so much since then I am now fumbling to think of how I learn best. I do believe that we all can learn, and I do believe that we all have different learning preferences. I am very adaptable now, so I feel that I adapt my learning style to the situation at hand.
 * 6. Understands oneself as a learner and values learning as a core capacity **


 * This program has helped me to realize that I am capable of doing more than I thought. I am naturally a reflective person so I do think that they areas where we needed to reflect I was at my best. I am ,however, thankful for all of the research things we learned. I am not naturally a scientific data driven person, but I think learning about the research has made me a better teacher because I want to be sure that something is good practice rather than implement things that are fun or easy. **