Spink Master’s Portfolio 1

Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration

Teaching is one of the few professions in which modeling the lessons and strategies
being taught is almost, if not moreso, as important as the material itself. Students at the
elementary level are incredibly perceptive and pick up on social cues portrayed, intentionally or
not, from the teacher in the room. In terms of the most important characteristics a teacher
must focus on, Kramer (2003) boils “the most critical ones into three main categories: attitude,
behavior, and communication” (p. 23). Kramer (2003) goes on to argue that attitude calls for
assertiveness and a willingness to grow and change, often reflected in professional and
personal development, while behavior is linked to ethical practices and communication focused
on students and administrators (p. 24). This importance of modeling ethical behavior, two way
collaboration with students and colleagues, and personal development are all essential
elements to a teacher’s leadership role and can be viewed within my classroom research
project based on literature circles which addresses a personal effort to improve student
engagement in high achieving students and the class as a whole.
The first essential component to a teacher’s leadership role is attitude which can be
reflected in professional and personal development. Dr. Benjamin Washington (2019) states
that “when it comes to the growth and development of teachers there needs to be a system of
feedback, team collaboration, and personal and professional growth goals” (para. 1). The
classroom research project that I undertook addressed an engagement problem that was
occurring during the reading section, particularly with my high achieving students. In order to
solve this problem I used a strong system of feedback with data collection in the research
project, collaboration among my fellow teachers in order to strategize on how best to address
the issue at hand, and goals for myself and the students during the process. All three of these
Spink Master’s Portfolio 2

approaches played a part in establishing this overall attitude of personal and professional
development that are key to teacher effectiveness.
The first part of establishing this attitude was the need for a system of feedback
throughout the process. Burnaford (2011) asserts the importance of this, stating that “effective
teaching is informed by personal knowledge, trial, and error, reflection on practice, and
conversations with colleagues” (p. 29). My classroom research project, which took place over a
three week period with students engaged in literature circles instead of the normal reading
centers, used data from three different sources to provide a strong system of feedback for the
experience as a whole. Rubric graded exit tickets, observation logs, and student interviews
were used to gauge students understanding of the reading strategies used in the literature
centers and feelings towards literature circles as well as engagement in general. With this
system of feedback I was able to analyze a positive trend of increased engagement and stronger
overall exit ticket responses while also noting some anomalies, like one of my high achieving
students falling behind the rest of the class in exit ticket scores. This collection of data helped
me reflect on the practice at hand and informed my personal knowledge through the inevitable
trial and error of trying something new for the first time. The anomaly found in the data then
lead me to the next step in the process, team collaboration.
Team collaboration builds on a strong system of feedback in that it allows a teacher to
strategize with fellow colleagues on how to approach and improve issues or instruction within
the classroom. As Echevarria & Graves (2011) put it, “credential candidates can also benefit
from collaboration with peers and begin the process early in their preparation to think about
working together to solve problems in the schools” (p. 131). As touched on above, one of the
interesting anomalies in the data from the research project showed that one of the high
achieving students was receiving lower exit ticket scores as the intervention continued and was
responding negatively to the literature circles, both shown in the observation logs and the
student interviews. The rest of the class had seen steady improvement each week, making this
a slightly odd discrepancy. In order to gather more information I talked to the other teachers in
the elementary wing and explained the anomaly with the high achieving student. I was told
that the student was very smart but shy around students that he didn’t consider his friends. In
Spink Master’s Portfolio 3

the literature circles I had pre-grouped the students, taking them out of their normal reading
centers and giving them different partners to work with. After conferring with the student, this
was indeed the issue at hand and, after the intervention, when he was allowed to work with a
friend, his work and attitude improved immediately. Solving this problem simply took
collaboration with peers in the building leading to better instruction and a better teaching
approach through social awareness.
Developing an effective system of feedback and collaborating with colleagues leads to
the final portion of creating a strong attitude, setting personal and professional growth goals.
Tomlinson & McTighe make an important observation in regards to this, stating “the stronger
we are as professionals in each of these areas, the more successful our students are likely to be
as learners” (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p. 40). By trying to improve an area of my teaching
practice, reading instruction, in the research project I was forced to carefully construct a well
thought out plan addressing literature circles and my students’ individual characteristics and
learning preferences. Understanding, and studying which students benefited from discussion
roles and which students needed more time for quiet work helped me develop reading group
combinations after the intervention that put individuals into better situations for success. My
goal coming into the project was to become a more effective reading teacher and even though
some of the students struggled with the literature circles, I was able to learn from the
experience and streamline the process for a more accessible learning environment for future
instruction.
While developing the three characteristics of feedback, collaboration, and growth goals
is essential for the necessary attitude of a professional teacher, the second essential
component that teachers need to display is ethical practice through their day to day behavior.
As pointed out by Professional Governmental Underwriters, LLC (2020), “as an educator,
teachers must treat every student with kindness and respect without showing any favoritism,
prejudice or partiality” (para. 3). Both of these elements are shown throughout the classroom
research project, with respect reflected in the leadership positions given to students in different
discussion roles and a lack of favoritism displayed in how I graded students throughout the
Spink Master’s Portfolio 4

process. Developing this ethical practice was one of the cornerstones to the research project
during the three week intervention period.
Displaying kindness and respect towards students is absolutely essential to creating a
healthy, and effective learning environment. Ultimately, this respect should be manifested in
independent tasks that students are entrusted with. As Koechlin & Zwaan elaborate, “what we
want is to move toward developing self-reliance in our students” (Koechlin & Zwaan, 2014, p.
133). One of the main aspects of the classroom research project was the use of discussion roles
within the literature circles. Each day of the week students, in groups of four, would rotate
between different roles including discussion leader, researcher, storyteller, and connector in
order to help the group discussion. Tasking students with these roles helped them take
ownership of the experience and moved them towards more student led discussions and
learning with minimal prompting questions from the teacher at the beginning of each session.
Developing this self-reliance not only showed students the respect and trust that I had in them
as a teacher, it also contributed to higher levels of enjoyment reflected in the interviews at the
end of each week and stronger exit ticket scores throughout the process.
While this development of kindness and respect is one half of the ethical practices traits
needed for a strong and healthy learning experience, the second necessary component is
instruction without favoritism, prejudice, or partiality. Fisher et al. (2018) support this, stating
“the second component of strong teacher-student relationships requires a focus on equity” (p.
32). The way in which I graded students in the research project portrayed this focus on equity
throughout the process. Instead of simply focusing on one source of student artifacts to grade,
I used verbal engagement as shown in the observation logs, written responses through the exit
tickets, and student’s own reflections with the interviews. In order to judge the effectiveness of
the experience as a whole I wanted to give vocal and non-vocal students an equal chance to
display their understanding of the material and not just rely on one trait. This was important
for myself as a teacher as well because I noticed the quietest student in the literature circles
was turning in the strongest exit ticket responses, leading to the realization of how important
listening skills were to the process of comprehension. This focus on equity lead me to an
Spink Master’s Portfolio 5

important teaching discovery that would improve the quality of my instruction in future
experiences and lead to more mini-lessons on active listening.
After the first two major components of attitude and behavior are established in a
teacher’s professional demeanor, the final part of the equation is communication. Silver (2018)
states that “teachers who hone their communication skills are prepared to instruct, advise and
mentor students entrusted in their care. Additionally, teachers must communicate well to
effectively collaborate with colleagues and update administrators on student progress” (para.
1). Throughout the research project ample preparation was taken to instruct and mentor
students in the intervention with reflection opportunities to improve instruction and consistent
communication with the principal of the school at the time.
The first part of communication, being prepared to instruct and advise students, is
understandably the foundation for teaching. Sometimes this involves correcting old teaching
habits that might not be accurate in all cases. Leary (2017) advises that “because of these
biases, a good way to start your analysis is to list as many of your assumptions and
preconceived notions as possible” (p. 332). Although I spent a lot of time preparing for the
three week intervention in the research project, I was still surprised by some of the results.
Going into the project I grouped the four high achievers in the class together and had two other
groups of four to six students depending on the day. While I had originally thought that the
high achieving group would improve the most with the more dynamic approach, this was not
the case in all instances. While three of the high achievers did see gains, the group as a whole
did not improve the most in the class. One of the other groups actually saw the most growth
and, after observation, I noticed that the group dynamics were much better. The students got
along and were more engaged in the process. Realizing that my original assumption wasn’t
necessarily based on the specific individuals in the study helped me remove this bias and led
me to a better instructional approach that took into account group dynamics when
implementing collaborative activities.
While communication with students is the root of teaching, establishing a strong
communicative relationship with administration can also help support the learning in the
classroom. The truth is, when conducting research or trying new teaching practices, “there is
Spink Master’s Portfolio 6

nothing more exhilarating or challenging than finding others who are interested in what you
have discovered in your classroom” (Hubbard & Power, 2003, p. 145). While conducting the
research project, my principal would often stop in to check on how the process was going.
Although he was initially skeptical of the effectiveness of literature circles at the elementary
level, after showing him the results and the advancing scores from the intervention he started
promoting the idea to other elementary teachers, establishing an exercise in which teachers
could sit in on other classrooms and view their colleagues’ instructional approaches. Both this
open communication with the principal and with students smoothed the intervention process
out and made it more viable to perform each day.
While professionalism is an incredibly deep subject in regards to teaching, three broad
categories that encapsulate much of the idea can be represented through attitude, behavior,
and communication. The focus on professional development and growing from the
intervention in the research project shows this positive attitude and the ethical practices of
respect and equity, displayed through the leadership roles given to students and the different
ways to demonstrate comprehension, establish the professional behavior of a teacher. The
final aspect, communication, is exemplified through the attention to students’ needs and
reactions to the project and the open dialogue held with the principal through the three week
period. Although professionalism can cover a wide breadth of ideas and topics within teaching,
the most important characteristics for an instructor to model to their students is a positive
attitude, ethical behavior, and open communication based on equity. Once these three
elements have been established in a classroom, the learning environment can be accessible and
effective for all participants involved.

References
Burnaford, G., Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. (2001). Teachers doing research: The power of action
through inquiry. (2nd ed.). Lawrence Eribaum Associates Inc. Publishers.
Echevarria, J., & Graves, A. (2011). Sheltered content instruction: Teaching English learners with
diverse abilities. (4th ed.). Pearson.
Spink Master’s Portfolio 7

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Quaglia, R. J., Smith, D., & Lande, L. L. (2018). Engagement by design:
Creating learning environments where students thrive. Corwin: Fisher & Frey.
Hubbard, R. S., & Power, B. S. (2003). The art of classroom inquiry: A handbook for teacher-
researchers. (2nd ed.). Heinemann.
Koechlin, C., & Zwaan, S. (2014). Q tasks: How to empower students to ask questions and care
about the answers. (2nd ed.). Pembroke Publishers Limited.
Kramer, P. A. (2003). The abc’s of professionalism. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 40(1) 22-25.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ787753.pdf
Leary, Z. O. (2017). The essential guide to doing your research project. (3rd ed.). Sage.
Professional Governmental Underwriters, LLC. (2020). The code of ethics for educators.
Professional Governmental Underwriters, LLC. https://pgui.com/the-code-of-ethics-for-
educators/
Silver, F. (2018). Why is it important for teachers to have good communication skills? Hearst
newspapers. https://work.chron.com/benefits-communication-skills-teachers-
4493.html
Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding by
design. ASCD.
Washington, B. (2019). Keys to improving teacher professional development. Graduate
programs for educators. https://www.graduateprogram.org/2019/09/keys-to-
improving-teacher-professional-development/