The fifth and final NAEYC standard meets the professionalism piece of the education world.  All teachers must show an awareness of their place in the early childhood field and act in an ethical and consistent manner.  Collaboration with fellow coworkers is also a sign of professionalism and shows an openness that is needed in the field.  Teachers must act as advocates for their students and be willing to use their authority to help families if deemed appropriate.

This artifact is the schedule from the PLC day I attended with my host teacher during my first student teaching placement.  I had the opportunity to involve myself with the “hidden” side of teaching, meeting with other professionals to develop new techniques and goals to be used in the classroom.  I collaborated with my peers, offering insights I have gained during my education and identifying myself as a professional educator.  Attending the PLC day was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.  

In this letter, my host teacher for my placement in ECE 333 outlines ways I have met the values and principles outlined on the NAEYC Ethics Statement of Commitment.  The letter shows how I understood and internalized NAEYC’s ethical standards while in this classroom.  I continue to uphold these principles and work to stay up to date on the latest interpretations of them.   

During my second grade student teaching placement, I participated in “continuous, collaborative learning” to develop new lessons and assessments that would align with the new Common Core standards.  As the state shifts to using new standards to measure student (and teacher) performance, the way grade levels approach teaching subjects, such as ELA, also has to change.  I worked with a small group of second grade classroom and ESL teachers to develop these new practices.  I then had the chance to watch these group decisions beginning to be implemented when we retuned to teaching the next week. 

My reflection on the implementation of my American Sign Language lesson plan shows that I take time to combine research-based and thoughtful observation of my lessons into a cohesive and accurate self-evaluation of lessons that I teach.  This standard is important because it ensures that educators are using the material they learned in college, as well as the new research constantly being released, to keep their practices fresh and current.  In this lesson, I used reflection as a tool to improve future lessons.

My letter to members of the Ithaca Board of Education shows my achievement of Standard 5E through its carefully worded and thought out arguments in favor of keeping Ithaca’s pre-kindergarten program.  During a time of financial stress when the program was in serious jeopardy, I used statements backed by research and educational theory I learned in my education courses to present a through and persuasive argument on behalf of children and the teaching profession.