RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

Violet R. Brooks

12/1/2018

University of Alaska Southeast

Dr. Katy Spangler

RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

Framing Statement

“ Don't forget "professionalism" isn't just suit and tie. In Elementary schools, it can look like unicorns and
glitter! Meet the kids where they are at... basic needs, including smiles, are most important. Then comes
the rest. You are EXACTLY what kids need!”

-Tanya Bolog, Teacher, Tanaina Elementary

I am tenacious. When it comes to learning, and kids, and education, I am an insatiable

beast. I have a Facebook account specifically for professional development that is accepted into

every teacher group I can find. I regularly approach my Special Education teachers to ask for

support and suggestions on students I’m unsure how to help. I have a wishlist of Amazon

educator books, I’m constantly digging through my own copies that I have hoarded, dragon-like,

throughout my education. I listen to TED talks, I compare philosophies, I demand justifications

and examine all my facts through a prismatic lens, knowing that each solution is perfect for one

student, but none are perfect for all. There is no tidbit I will not consider, no fact that I discard

unless I can find it completely debunked. Recently, when I learned they would let me go to

professional development in my student teaching position, I was ecstatic. I love to learn and to

be better at what I’m doing. In my school, I strive to be my best for my students, because they

deserve the best from me. I want to be their champion because in a low income, trauma heavy

school they can never have enough champions.

I’ve enclosed all three of my letters of recommendation with names and phone numbers

redacted to protect the writer’s privacy. I have been exceptionally lucky within my educational

career to have encountered so many powerful and meaningful educators. I have been surrounded

by others who respectfully challenge me while providing a plethora of tools to ad to my own

toolbox (Dean, 2011).

RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

The first letter is from one of my host teachers during 2016 practicum. I labeled this

individual as one of my mentor teachers because I greatly appreciated his classroom

management. His ex-military style worked well within the school, and he has an incredibly

generous nature. He very much believes that everything one must be done with the best interest

of the students at heart, and it showed. Much like myself, this educator is not seen as

traditionally professional. He is a little loud and likes to have a good time with his kids, but

because of the relationship with his students that he builds up at the beginning of the year, he

rarely has any behavioral issues. The students want to do well, and they thrive in his classroom

because he naturally differentiates and thinks about what their level of success can be, not what

the state says it should be(Pearson, & Moomaw, 2005). This had his class working out of 4

different math textbooks at one time. A feat that can only be accomplished if your class is well

structured and your students are disciplined enough to stay on task. Trust is key in a disciplined

classroom. You must be able to trust the students to do their job, and they must be able to trust

that you will hold them accountable.

The second letter is penned by my practicum placement in 2017. I had asked for this

teacher because I loved how minimalist his classroom was. Spartan, to be precise. He had very

little on the walls, no drawers in desks, all materials were class materials, discipline was clean

and controlled, but due to his previous employment, he included lots of movement in his

instruction. He also convinced me away from choral response because it was easy for a child to

hide. Instead, he suggested a thumbs up/thumbs down the system because it improved think time

and gave a measurable, clear response to the instruction. He plays with his kids, laughs, and

jokes, but he does not shy away from re-enforcing his expectations and having students work
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

over and over again until they all meet that expectations. However, he does carefully weigh his

expectations against what the class is capable of (Adair, 2014).

This teacher does not use a classroom economy, marble jar, or point system. This teacher

is a former gym teacher from rural Alaska. Due to this, he has a great wealth of real-world

experience. His personal views are also radically different than my own, but I respected his style

and results enough to want to learn more. We had many conversations where we could compare

ideas respectfully, and there were many times where we would walk away thinking and come

back to the realization we had changed each other's minds. I enjoyed every moment of my time

in that class. Too often it’s easy to find educators who hesitate to speak their mind. I’m not one

and neither is he. I want to know what people think and the reasons that they have come to their

decisions so that I can more readily know when to implement a structure, routine, or idea into my

own class. There were moments during my student teaching where I felt professionalism might

mean biting my tongue. When I asked this teacher how one should respectfully disagree, he

stated that the key was to build the relationship with that person, then approach them respectfully

and pick your battles. Trust, again, that they are acting in the best interest of students.

My third letter is from a teacher I have been assisting as much as possible. When I was

the in building sub at Knik, the first few weeks of school were usually pretty quiet. I would

spend those days in the behavioral support or intensive resource special education classrooms so

that I could build relationships with those students. These were the students who would need a

friend, who needed someone in their lives who would see all of them and help support them to

stand on their own within the classroom. Due to my other job working with people who

experience disabilities, and my firm footing as a behavioralist, I would enjoy meeting the

students and seeing their wide range of behaviors. I loved being in these classrooms because
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

these were the kids who needed people around them who saw nothing but the best in them.

When working with them, when they were exploding or screaming or swearing, it was

empowering to be the calm in their storm. I loved when they would come out on the other side of

outburst and we could try and work through it together. Those moments where we tried to put

words to our feelings, or when they could understand why they were upset. Specifically, I had a

student who had been in and out of the seclusion room a few times that day. He was upset

because he couldn’t understand how to do a prompt in his workbook. I was also confused about

his inability. Until I realized he was taking the prompt literally. I sat with him, apologized that I

didn’t understand him, and coached him through how to make things clearer in the future. I even

thanked him, because this was the core curriculum, so I might have future students with the same

misunderstanding.

That’s the real joy in working with those students. They are so hungry to be helpful, to

feel meaningful. They crave respect and love and need for someone to see them as complete little

people in progress, not just a know-nothing kid (Vaughn, 2018). These are the behaviorally

disturbed kids, the kids from rough homes or foster families, the ones who need a place to feel

safe, and I love being that anchor in the storm for them. I don’t think they would trust me, or

that we could have a mutual respect that we do if I acted as a standard professional. In a title one

school, which more and more in our district are becoming, these kids need someone non-

threatening, someone, they trust and want to like them, someone who respects them and listens

and gives them agency over their own lives (Olona, 1988).

That’s my professionalism. Treating students, no matter what age, as much like a little

adult as I can without robbing them of their childhood (Victoria, 2014). I emphasize mistake-

making, and joy, and silliness because the world is dark and boring enough at home. I instill in
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

them, and model for them constantly, a desperate thirst for knowledge. We spend every free

moment diving through the internet looking for information on animals, or foreign cultures, or

physical science, or any other thing they have shown interest in that day. I take every

opportunity to show them what I do, how I research, how I learn about all the wonderful, cool,

awesome things around me. And I will continue to.

RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

References:

Adair, J. K. (2014). Agency and Expanding Capabilities in Early Grade Classrooms: What it
Could Mean for Young Children. Harvard Educational Review, 84(2), 217–241.
Retrieved from
https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dir
ect=true&db=eft&AN=96538348&site=ehost-live

Dean, S. D. (2011). Collegial leadership, teacher professionalism, faculty trust: Predicting

teacher academic optimism in elementary schools (Order No. 3461037). Available from
Education Database. (879551255). Retrieved from
https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/docview/879551255?accountid=44766

Olona, M. M. (1988). Going from serious to fun and remaining professional. Journal of
Counseling and Development : JCD, 67(2), 110.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1988.tb02054.x

Pearson, L. C., & Moomaw, W. (2005). The relationship between teacher autonomy and stress,
work satisfaction, empowerment, and professionalism. Educational Research
Quarterly, 29(1), 37-53. Retrieved from
https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/docview/216183844?accountid=44766

Victoria, D. L. (2014). Exploring the nature of teacher professionalism in an era of high-stakes

accountability (Order No. 3681980). Available from Education Database. (1658177751).
Retrieved from https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/docview/1658177751?accountid=44766

Vaughn, M. (2018). Making sense of student agency in the early grades. Phi Delta
Kappan, 99(7), 62–66. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/10.1177/0031721718767864

Wills, J. S., & Judith, H. S. (2009). Constrained professionalism: Dilemmas of teaching in the
face of test-based accountability. Teachers College Record, 111(4), 1065-1114. Retrieved
from https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/docview/211438944?accountid=44766
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism
RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Professionalism

December 1, 2018

To Whom it May Concern:

Violet Brooks worked as a substitute teacher at Knik Elementary School from August, 2015 until May,
2017. In that capacity, Violet spent time instructing every classroom in the school including in my
behavioral support classroom. My room includes those children whom society deems as incorrigible
and difficult, but Violet only saw them as students who needed her. Violet’s calm acceptance of their
antics combined with her high behavioral and academic expectations encouraged my students’ trust,
and that is not something that they bestow upon a person easily. I was always thrilled to see her enter
my room, because I knew that my students would not only be well instructed, but they would be
honored and inspired as well. Violet intuitively knew when to follow my lesson plans as written and
when she needed to change them to fit the atmosphere in the room. When I left my students in her
care, I knew that in my absence, my students would be challenged both behaviorally and academically,
and I trusted Violet to do what was best in the moment.

In the three years I have known Violet, I have seen her use her high intelligence and boundless
enthusiasm to stimulate greatness in every student with whom she has contact. Violet seems to
intuitively know how to reach each student, from those who are shy internalizers to those who express
exuberate behavior without cause. Violet accepts each child as they are, and she guides them toward
both academic and behavioral success. In addition, Violet reaches those students who many adults do
not understand or appreciate. She combines passion and safety in a way that I rarely see, even in
seasoned professionals.

Violet is a creative teacher. She uses her broad knowledge base to supply background information and
vocabulary development to those who may need it, and she guides those who have a deeper learning
base to discover previously unknown material. Violet understands differentiation and inventively uses
it in her instruction for the best instructional outcome. I have seen students on the autism spectrum
respond to Violet’s trivia with excitement, and then she uses that foundation as a basis on which to build
a relationship.

Violet Brooks would be an outstanding addition to any teaching team. She is a collaborative staff
member who not only listens and responds during grade level and staff meetings, but she also shares
her ideas without hesitation. Violet is a favorite among the teaching staff of Knik Elementary School and
will be a hard-working and valuable member of any school. I enthusiastically recommend her for a
teaching position.

Sincerely