Jennifer Stanley

12/01/15
SCED 499
Dr. Edgar
InTASC Standard 10: Leadership and Collaboration
As a future educator, I must not limit myself to standing in front of a classroom. Instead,
I must aspire to seek leadership roles which not only enhance my understanding of the teaching
profession, but allow me to better understand the needs of my students with local, national, and
global contexts. Particularly, I should actively seek to collaborate with learners, families,
colleagues and other school professionals, and community members in order to ensure the
growth of my students as well as the growth of my abilities as an educator. By collaborating with
my students and their families, I can construct student and teacher expectations, a foundation
necessary to establish productive communication between the two parties and, subsequently,
student development and achievement. For example, through open communication with parents,
whether via letters, phone calls, or conferences, I can interact with parents in order to determine
the academic needs of their child and how I can best meet them in the classroom. Furthermore, if
behavior or academic performance appears to be an issue for a particular student, conferences
with parental figures can provide the opportunity to establish short-term and long-term goals for
the student benchmarks to help them improve. With parental participation in this process, it is
much more likely that the student will be held to the same expectations at home and quantifiable
progress will be shown. While not all parental figures will be available or willing to participate in
this process, it is my responsibility to reach out to them when I sense that one of my students is
beginning to struggle with something. Additionally, by discussing particular students or units
with other school professionals (especially disciplinary teachers), I can best note the needs of
particular students or how to ensure that curriculum in the ELA classrooms draw upon potential

background knowledge in order to promote new concepts and understandings. For example, if I
am aware that the 8th grade American History teachers are reviewing slavery at a certain point in
the curriculum, perhaps I might feel it beneficial to have my students read (if only excerpts of)
The Narrative of Frederick Douglass in order to develop their understanding of slavery while
also constructing knowledge about rhetorical techniques or how narrative structure impacts the
purpose of Douglass argument about slavery. In understanding the diverse needs of the learners
in my classroom, I can also begin to advocate to meet these learners needs, to strengthen the
learning environment as a whole, and to attempt enacting changes within the educational system
as a whole. But, in order to better understand the needs of my learners in a broader, national
context, I must also conduct research on educational issues and policies, engaging in professional
development activities. Once I am more informed about these particular issues, I can begin to
advocate for adaptations for example, more culturally-relevant texts in a classroom with ELL
students or the use of technology for alternative assignments (rather than standardized essays
or testing) for students who have difficulty focusing or composing responses in a written format.
Regardless, I ultimately understand that I must hold my students to high expectations and that I
should embrace the challenge of constantly improving and adapting my lesson plans and
assessments to fit the needs of my students. Ultimately, I must take responsibility for my students
learning by accepting professional responsibility for their development and attempting to
collaborate with other sources and professionals, developing the knowledge necessary to best
serve their diverse needs.