Response to discussion 7 DIM
125 words per response
Shenice
2 standards that are extremely meaningful to me are Standard 2: Trustworthiness and Standard 4: Educator/Student relationships. Standard 2 states that an educator should exemplify honesty and integrity in the course of professional practice and does not knowingly engage in deceptive practices regarding official policies of the school district or education institution. Being honest and fair are 2 things that I believe wholeheartedly that every human on this earth should practice. Especially educators. When I think about standard 2 I have to refer back to the days when students were learning virtually due to COVID. Luckily I worked for a district that provided every student with a Chromebook as well as internet hotspots to be used in their homes if they did not have their own internet connections at home. However sometimes those hot spots were not very reliable. In an effort to be fair and equal, I never faulted students that could not join google meet lectures. I made sure to make arrangements to record all lectures and post them to the google classroom so that students could refer back to them at a later time. Unfortunately students have become so used to this practice that they still expect that now. Standard 4 addresses the educator and student relationships. The standard states that an educator should always maintain a professional relationship with all students both in an outside of the classroom. This standard is extremely important. I am one of few younger teachers on the 9th grade hall way at my school. The students tend to grow attached and comfortable with be because I am able to relate to them in ways that the older teachers do not. However, I have to make certain that I maintain professional boundaries with the students at all times. We are able to discuss things and enjoy laughs about certain things but I make sure that my students know and understand that I am not their age and that they have to remain respectful at all times. After my first year being a teacher, I learned a very hard lesson. My name was on my badge as well as my social media accounts. I began to receive constant friend request from students. I would immediately deny the request and then let the student know that as long as they were students we could not connect on Facebook. I told them that once they graduated I would then consider adding them as a friend. I have done so with only a handful of students upon their graduation. But I have began to veer away from dong this as well.
Madison
Two standards that stood out to me were 2.1b and 4.1. The first standard discusses equal opportunities for all children. I began teaching in Fall of 2020. This year required incredible flexibility. Not all students had the same opportunity of learning at home as others. If a student was remote learning, the student depended on internet access, technology and parent support. Some students lived in the middle of nowhere which limited their access to fast and reliable internet. This made listening to lectures or zooming near impossible. If a family only had one computer to multiple students and they were all learning at home, the students had to share the one computer making it almost impossible to finish work in a timely manner. Parent support was a big component during remote learning. Many students do not manage time well, keep on task or motivate themselves. Teachers normally function in this role, but parents step into this role while the student is at home. Not all students had that support.
The second standard discusses the role of the teacher to support and encourage their students. During remote learning, it was hard to fulfill these roles of teaching. The computer screen made a disconnect. For me as a first year teacher, I did not have any experience with the normal classroom which is difficult anyway not including this now virtual classroom. Students grew tired of this disconnect and longed for the day when the classroom felt “normal” again. My second year of teaching had very minimal remote learning, and the relationships made the year so much better. That year I fully understood the role of a teacher.
Patricia
Standard 9: Maintenance of Confidentiality is one code that really stands out as important to me. An educator shall comply with state and federal laws and local school board policies relating to confidentiality of student and personnel records, standardized test material, and other information covered by confidentiality agreements. Ethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
a. Keeping in confidence information about students that has been obtained in the course of professional service unless
disclosure serves a legitimate purpose or is required by law.
This standard is so important, because teachers and administrators have conversations about students without considering who is in their surrounding environment and maybe listening. I have seen instances where parents of other students accidentally overhears information and use it to compare with his/her child, and then start rumors about the comparisons.
Standard 7: Public Funds and Property is another code that is very important to me. An educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use funds, personnel, property, or equipment committed to his or her charge for personal gain or advantage.
7.1. Ethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following: a. Maximizing the positive effect of school funds through judicious use of said funds b. Modeling for students and colleagues the responsible use of public property.
References:
Mississippi Department of Education. (n.d.). Code of Ethics: Standards of Conduct. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.mdek12.org/sites/default/files/documents/code-of-ethics_final.pdf
For several years before I became a teacher, I served in the school booster club as secretary/treasurer. When I became a teacher, they said that I was not allowed to come in contact with the money. We split the duties. I became the secretary and someone else became the treasurer. Seeing this standard has cleared up my questions about the school rule. While I was not a teacher, I followed the rules of this standard all the time, even though I did not know it existed. Now I know that I could have stayed in my position and become a role model for my students.
