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Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

Drexel University
EDUC540
Ryan Burks
11/15/15

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Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

Throughout my entire student teaching experience I have been demonstrating and
displaying my mastery of Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities. I have always considered
myself to be very professional and I display professionalism every time that I step into the
classroom. Ive learned through observation that there are certain times when a teacher should
participate in school spirit activities that help to create a bond between the teacher and the
students. Ive enjoyed getting to know the students and building relationships with them and with
their families. Below are a few pieces of evidence or explanation that illustrate my performance
in Domain 4.
Domain 4a: Reflecting on Teaching
I have been keeping a journal throughout my student teaching experience and this blog
entry is a good example of reflecting on teaching:
Blog Entry: October 30, 2015: This was a crazy and hectic day at Delavan Junior High School as
it was the day before Halloween. Kids were excited to be dressed up in their Halloween
costumes and teachers got in on the act as well. It was much harder to keep the students on task
throughout the day, but the students seemed to be very happy and truly enjoyed being at the
school today. To add more excitement to the day, there was a pep assembly scheduled for the last
hour of the school day to recognize the students who made honor roll and also highlight some of
the sports achievements during the first 9 week term. The highlight of the pep assembly was the
annual Teacher-Student volleyball game in which I was a participant.
However, there was one major takeaway from the actual school day and the activities that
happened in Literature class. We have been reading The Giver for the past couple of weeks and

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students have been struggling with the quizzes that are given to them every few chapters. Myself
and the cooperating teacher have tried many different strategies with them, but the last quiz we
took, almost the entire class failed. Since then, I have been requiring students to take notes on the
chapters that they read and also write down any questions that they think of as they are reading.
Today we had a quiz over a few of the chapters and I was very happy to see that almost every
student got an A on the quiz! While the students complained about having to write down notes,
they were all thrilled about their performance on the quiz this afternoon. Many of the students
were embarrassed to be continually failing these quizzes and I was glad that I was able to help
them overcome their reading comprehension struggles. I hope for future success on the next set
of quizzes to be taken next week.
Domain 4b: Maintaining Accurate Records
One of the most challenging aspects of student teaching for me has keeping up with the
grading of assessments and activities. The 7th grade Language Arts students just recently
completed their Science Fair Research papers and I have over 45 of them sitting on my desk
ready to grade. I purchased an old fashioned grade book in order to keep records of student
completion of assignments as well as recording their scores. Im unable to have access to the
online gradebook that the school uses, but I do all of the grading and record the scores before
passing them along to my cooperating teacher.
Domain 4c: Communicating with Families
Early on in my student teaching experience I was able to attend the annual Parent/Teacher
Conferences held at the school. This was a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to the
parents of the students, and begin to build relationships with them. Throughout the semester I

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have communicated with several different parents/guardians about issues that have come up in
the classroom. I have also attended many extracurricular events held at the school and have been
able to communicate with several parents there as well. I am student teaching in a very small
school district and I think its important that I attend these events. The students obviously enjoy
my presence, but the parents also recognize and appreciate my interest in their children.
Domain 4d: Participating in the Professional Community
Since joining Delavan Junior High School as a student teacher I have made an effort to
get involved in every way possible. My cooperating teacher has allowed me to tag along with her
to IEP meetings as well as joining the Academic Handbook Improvement team. Since joining the
Academic Handbook Improvement team I have joined a sub-committee working on a solution to
the attendance issues inside of the school. I realize that I will be leaving this school district at the
semester, but I have enjoyed getting involved and trying to make a difference. These experiences
have also given me insight in to what goes on behind the scenes in school districts, and I
understand and appreciate all of the hard work that it takes to run a school.
Domain 4e: Growing and Developing Professionally
Domain 4f: Showing Professionalism
In my opinion, showing professionalism is something that should not only be expected
from every teacher, but should also be required. As I continue with my teaching career, I
anticipate continuing to be a professional both inside the classroom, and also in the community.
In order to accomplish this, I need to continue to grow and develop professionally. Im currently
enrolled in another class at Drexel University where we are working on building our Professional
Learning Portfolio. During this course Ive been introduced to many different educational blogs

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or educational websites that I have joined to help build my PLP. Ive been introduced to
educational conversations held on Twitter and have joined in the conversations using the
educational hashtags. Im excited to continue to explore and get involved with these
organizations to not only make myself a better educator, but to grow as a professional.