Characteristic 3: We believe that the novice teacher should recognize that teaching is a professional, moral, and ethical enterprise, should understand moral issues and ethical practices in educational environments, and should have developed ethical frameworks which facilitate effective teaching.
and Characteristic 4: We believe the novice teacher should be a facilitator of learning for all
students.
I have been thinking in depth about these characteristics because in getting to know my students this semester, I realize the significance and value of each student, their lives as students in the school and as members of society. Regardless of whether or not we realize it, as teachers, we have the opportunity to identify and bring out the positives in these students and shine a light on their strengths. We have an impact on these students. How big/how little is this impact? Our effort and motivation to teach these students well determines how much of an impact we leave on our students. In exploring these two characteristics I have realized how big of a responsibility this is, and how excited I am to take on this responsibility.
The "big idea" of Characteristic 3 is outlined well on WVU's Benedum Collaborative Website:
"The terms moral and ethical are used here to refer to those value choices concerning actions and attitudes that affect more than one person or which affect one's own character, thereby affecting others" (Strom, 1989, p.268).
As teachers, we need to recognize that the school is a place for students to learn core subjects and the arts, but it is also a place where students extract moral, ethical, and social cues that will have an impact on their lives. Novice teachers need to practice professionalism and care for their students' wellbeing.
An artifact that I feel would support Characteristic 3 is a contract that goes home with the students at the very beginning of the school year with a template very much like this:
1.) Introduction of the teacher and welcome to the class
2.) Classroom expectations and rules
3.) General outline of the class
4.) Policies and procedures for homework and tests
5.) Contact information
6.) Signature of both parent/guardian and the student
This artifact seems very procedural but I think it is an excellent representation of a novice teacher implementing a moral, ethical, and professional introduction to the class for both the parent/guardian and the student. It lays everything out, and it is welcoming! Students will have this as a guideline and will feel comfortable in getting to know how the class works.
An artifact that I feel would support Characteristic 4 would be a differentiated lesson plan. One lesson plan that I have constructed that is differentiated by assessment is one that explores the civil rights movement of the 1960's. In my classroom there are 3 stations, and at each station there are instructions, materials, and assessment pieces. The following stations are included in this lesson plan:
Station 1: There are mobile laptops on the desk and the students have instructions to copy and paste MLK's "I have a dream" speech into http://www.wordle.com and create a word cloud. The students then, after reading the speech through identify 10 words that they feel best emulate the civil rights movement as a whole and create a word document that explains each of the 10 words they chose and why. They must have historical evidence in each of the 10 explanations.
Station 2: There are 5 civil rights court case summaries on the desks. The students will have to choose a court case (i.e. Brown vs. Board of Education) and write a story as if they were sitting in the court room on the day of the verdict delivery.
Station 3: Students will watch the CNN documentary on Rodney King (1992) and write a paper comparing and contrasting the events of his beating and a civil rights riot of the 1960's. How are they similar? How are they different?
This artifact allows the teacher to be a facilitator of knowledge by presenting the students with information to explore and by monitoring the room while the students complete their assessments. Students learn best in many different ways; every single person is unique. This differentiated assessment piece helps students choose an assessment that best suits them. All of these assessments help students gain a deep understanding of the civil rights movement, and all are equal in their work.
