Standard 4: Demonstrate professionalism through ethical conduct, reflection and leadership. 

 

During my time at Boltz, I witnessed an altercation break out in the middle of the hall during class transition. The students involved were a 6th grader and an 8th grader. It appeared to be a bullying incident, and when I approached the students they tried to brush me off and pretend nothing was happening. For a second I nearly gave in and let them walk away but I didn't feel comfortable walking away thinking there was something more to the circumstance. I found Mr. Vigil, the Dean of Students, to intervene and speak with the kids. A few days later, Mr. Vigil sought me to thank me for not brushing off the situation and shared a bit about what had transpired that day. The students had apparently been fighting off campus as well and bullying each other over limited access to food at home. Mr. Vigil had to do a social contract between the two students in which they agreed to limit contact with each other on and off campus and try to keep the relationship stable and not continue the ongoing fight. I was glad to have been able to assist, even if it was in a limited way, to help stabilize the situation between both students. I've included the P.R.I.D.E Matrix used at Boltz Middle School that was developed to clearly communicate behavioral expectations in all areas of their school for students to follow and staff to reinforce. This connects with Element C of Teacher Quality Standard 4. 

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Since our observations onsite were cut short, our instructor provided us with the opportunity to do three hours of online observations through a platform called My Lab. As disappointed as I was to be doing this online and not in person, I began to do the observations and realized that not only did I have the flexibility to pick and choose the type of observations I could reflect on, every observation posted on the platform was helpful and applicable. I have included my reflections on this and believe they will help me be a teacher that reflects professionalism, ethical conduct and leadership. This links to Element B of Teacher Quality Standard 4.