Standard 8

One of the beautiful things about the teaching profession are the vast opportunities for collaboration and teamwork. Similar to holding our students in the highest regard, we must lift up our fellow educators and help as needed. It is inevitable that with the career we have chosen, there will be some days that are tougher than others. It will be crucial to have supports in place that can help us through those tougher days and to have people that can contribute their talents to make the school a better place and a more effective learning environment for our students. We all bring unique experiences, perspectives, and gifts to our learning environments that we can incorporate to benefit those in our school community. We all have something to contribute to our environment and to make an effective impact.

I grew up in a small community and my dad was a high school teacher there. One of his gifts that I’ve noticed over the years is he is really good at coaching. My sister and I played ringette since we were 4 and he coached both of our teams all the way through. He even coached teams that he had students on during his personal times. He was probably at the rink more than anyone in our community at one point in time. The teams that he coached were successful during his time with them and it helped in build relationships with his students, colleagues, and parents that made of the community. I have always admired his ability to connect with those around him and his willingness to contribute. My dad is a great inspiration to me in why I was drawn to this career and I hope to have that same level of impact on my students and surrounding community during my time as a teacher.  

I experienced such support from my CT’s during my time on practicum. They were extremely generous with their time, classroom, and resources. I always felt supported throughout all areas of my practicum. I have previously stated in other standards pages how my CT’s and Muheim Elementary as a whole modeled how to be an educator who values and abides by the professional standards in a variety of ways.

My CT’s greatly contributed to my personal journey as an educator, but were open to sharing their learning and expertise to colleagues as well. One of my CT’s worked on a “Story Workshop” as a part of her Masters. This workshop is where students utilize a variety of loose part manipulatives to construct a story that they would then write in their journals with a photo of what they created attached. She made the materials required for the story workshop portable on a cart and accessible for other teachers in the school.

The French Immersion Grade 2/3 class did a marble run project that we got to watch and participate in. This student decided to do her story workshop about it. The clear gems represent the marbles running down the tracks. The free standing wooden figures represent the students. It would be impossible to tell what this display is and what it stands for. Story workshop requires students to work on their oral storytelling skills and elaborate on their ideas which is extremely powerful.