InTASC Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice - The teacher engages in

ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice,
particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other
professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.

InTASC #10: Leadership and Collaboration - The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and
opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families,
colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and
to advance the profession.

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to seek professional development through

collaboration and to pursue opportunities and leadership positions that will allow me to better
serve my students, their families, my colleagues, and the community in its entirety. I have
spent the past three years at Ferriday High School, dedicating at least 15 hours a day either
teaching, tutoring, lesson planning, or running extra-curricular activities. At every opportunity, I
participate in professional development opportunities and work with my school team to make
FHS the best high school it can be. In order to build a diverse movement for educational equity
led by and with communities, it is my responsibility as an educator to push for what is best for
my students and hold the decision makers in my district accountable in order to ensure that
every single one of my students has the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

In order to have mastered InTASC #9, I must engage in ongoing professional learning and use
evidence to continually evaluate my practice, particularly the effects of my choices and actions
on others, and adapt my practice to meet the needs of each of my students. Evidence of my
ability to do these things can be seen in my pursuit of feedback from my colleagues as well as
my participation in optional summer workshops that will better prepare me to work with my
students and help other math teachers in my district.
Peer evaluation is extremely important to me, and I sought it out as often as possible at
FHS. For one particular lesson, I enlisted six of my colleagues to observe the lesson during a
different class period so that I could receive feedback not only on the lesson itself, but also
have data to compare how each class differed and identify what worked and what didnt,
continually evaluating my practice. This Observation Lesson Plan was designed to include a
number of differentiated learning experiences so that I could adapt my teaching methods to
the needs of my students and observe the effects of each method choice. By the end of the
lesson, students were expected to be able to add and subtract polynomials. Different methods
of teaching work for different students and, after engaging in ongoing professional learning and
continually evaluating my practice, I have found that activities that involve students getting out
of their seats to participate in experiential learning activities or creating their own definitions
using concept maps really helped students to grasp the concepts being taught in their own way.
My lesson plan not only identifies how I adapt my pedagogy to meet the needs of my
students to begin with, but that I sought advice from my colleagues and implemented their
feedback in future lessons. Because I am able to evaluate the ways that my choices affect my

students learning, I knew to make sure that all of my students felt safe and accepted during the
lesson. When students were put into groups, I used red, yellow, and green cards to separate
the students based on ability. However, instead of assigning the slow group the red cards,
which usually has a negative connotation, I gave the lower level students the green cards and
the higher level students the red cards. Without understanding how my actions affect others, I
would not have been able to make this decision. The Student Work and Exit Ticket used in this
lesson display my ability to have a positive effect on my students and to push them to meet the
high standards of Algebra I.
In addition to seeking feedback from my colleagues, I find hearing from my students to
be equally as constructive. The evidence collected from my Goal Setting Surveys allows me to
continually evaluate my practice and making sure that I am meeting both the academic and
emotional needs of my students. In addition, it proves me with the opportunity to participate
in thoughtful reflection where I can take not of the students who are on track, almost there, or
behind. Yet another example of how I engage in ongoing professional learning can be seen in
my attendance of seminars and workshops that I know will help me to evaluate my practice and
improve as a teacher. When my district decided to use Eureka Math as our main CCSS
curriculum, me and my fellow math educators were extremely nervous about the
implementation of the curriculum given its level of rigor. By attending the Eureka Math
Professional Development Session, I was able to work with creators of the curriculum and
learn how exactly these lessons should be taught. The choice to attend these types of seminars
not only benefitted me, but it affected my colleagues, students, and their families in a positive
way.

Leadership and Collaboration

In order to take responsibility for my students learning in ways outside of academics, it is
imperative that I put myself in positions that allow me to inflict change on my school and help
them branch out to improve family and community involvement. To master InTASC #10, I must
seek appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for my students
learning, to collaborate with my students, their families, other school professionals, and
community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance my profession. I have learned
from my experiences over the past three years and identified areas of family, student, and
community engagement in which I was lacking proficiency.
The first step in staying involved in my students lives, both inside and outside of school,
is to stay in contact and promote a strong Family and Community Interaction. Family
engagement is a fundamental component of transformational teaching and is critical in
achieving path-changing outcomes for students in under-resourced communities. Recent
research suggests that parent involvement can be a better indicator for student success than
teacher quality. With this information, I made sure to prioritize parent involvement and
investment in the classroom as part of my long-term planning for student achievement.
Combining both InTASCs #9 and #10, I am able to connect my personal growth as an educator
with the growth of my students and their involvement in the community.
Evidence of my mastery of InTASC #10 can be seen in the various family engagement
activities and opportunities that I have implemented in my classroom over the last three years.
Research shows that the five best practices with regards to family engagement are (1) keeping
parents informed of school and class rules, expectations, and activities, (2) working with

parents to set goals for their child, (3) proactively and consistently communicating academic
progress, (4) including families as partners in reaching learning goals, and (5) building enduring
relationships families through partnerships. The first section of my family engagement
techniques involves activities and assignments that engage both students and parents. From
parent surveys and contact information to home visits and office hours, I make it a priority to
collaborate with parents to ensure that we find the best approach to educating their child,
together.
In addition to collaborating with parents and building strong relationships with my
students families, I also make a point to get other community members involved in my
students education. To make sure that my students are growing in both school and the
community, I started a community service club to get my students more involved within their
hometown of Ferriday, LA. In a culture that is so wrapped around wants and achievements, I
found that my students were more focused on making money and looking good than they were
with their schoolwork or interacting with and helping their community. After completing our
first project, I reached out to my students families and other community members to get as
many people involved as possible. I was surprised at how many community members jumped
at the chance of getting involved and could really see a strong bond between my kids, the
community, and myself being created. I feel that, by seeking such opportunities, I am
advancing my profession as an educator and taking responsibility for providing my students
with a well-rounded education.
By the end of the year, I had gotten so many parents to get involved in their students
lives. Some volunteered during class, while others chaperoned dances and field trips. Others

kept in extremely close contact with me or participated in every community activity I planned.
To celebrate the parents and community members commitment to my students, I planned and
hosted a Parent Appreciation Banquet, giving me the opportunity to acknowledge my students
growth as well as the families and community members that I collaborated with throughout the
year.
While focusing on community involvement was a huge part of my profession, I also held
leadership roles and sought out opportunities to keep both parents, students, and colleagues in
the loop when it came to student learning to ensure that my students were progressing
towards being academically on grade level. Taking Responsibility for Student Learning, comes
in many forms. Each year, about a month before school starts, I organize an info session on the
state exams students would be taking. At this meeting, I collaborated with the principal and
the other EOC (Louisiana End of Course Test) teachers to make sure that every subjects tests
were covered. After the presentation, I had the opportunity to meet specifically with the
parents of my upcoming freshmen and address and concerns they had with regards to testing
or the school year in general. I know that these types of meetings advance not only my
profession as a math teacher, but they also positively impact my colleagues and their students.
After my first few months at Ferriday High School, I began to seek leadership roles and
opportunities that would allow me to take responsibility for my students learning and advance
my effectiveness as an educator. Because many of the students in the Concordia Parish School
District are far behind grade level when it comes to math, and Algebra I in particular, I needed
to take responsibility of ensuring that my students could grow academically and master the
non-negotiable aspects of Algebra I. This list of key concepts was distributed to all Algebra I

teachers in the district in addition to the 8th grade math teachers so that we could collaborate
and figure out ways to better prepare the 8th graders for Algebra I in the future.
Another role that I took on required me to work very closely with the Special Education
and Special Populations departments. Because I checked in with the Special Education teacher,
Mrs. Daniels, multiple times a week, she recommended me to the school board to hold a
leadership position that would require me to research the new laws about Special Education
and create a curriculum to be used by the students who fall under those laws descriptions. In
addition to these curriculum standards, I created an organized list of the accommodations and
modifications for every student with an IEP or 504 to be used by all of the other 9 th grade
subject teachers for easy access. Working with Mrs. Daniels, a veteran teacher of 53 years,
gave me an amazing opportunity to collaborate with and learn from a school professional
outside of the math department or school administration. Mrs. Daniels and I had many of the
same views as to how poorly our district manages their Special Education students and
programs, which allowed us to collaborate even more given that we had the same goals of
ensuring student learning and growth and making all teachers capable of properly
accommodating their Special Education students. The content mastery standards and
accommodation/modifications list are evidence of my ability to seek and carry out leadership
roles that benefit my students and colleagues.
A final piece of evidence to display my commitment to student learning and growth can
be seen in my role as a coordinator of the Regional and State Rally Team. Each year, an
academic rally in which students compete against other schools in various subjects is held at an
in-state college or university. The process of putting together this event involves a lot of

organization and commitment to student learning as it involves both the registration and
procedural aspects of an even as well as the academic aspects of getting the kids to participate.
As a coordinator, it was my responsibility to collect student nominations from teachers, prepare
students for their tests, and organize food, transportation, and t-shirts for the event. Though
this task was time consuming, I feel that it is the responsibility of an educator to give their
students new opportunities both in and out of the classroom.
Though parent and academic involvement are imperative skills for an educator to have, I
have a strong belief that opportunities outside of academics are equally as important when it
comes to student growth and learning. Participation in Extra-Curricular Activities gives
students the opportunity to express themselves in ways that dont involve writing an essay or
completing a math project. Students gain social skills and learn about teamwork and
commitment in the process of gaining new experiences. When I arrived to FHS, I was listed in
the handbook as the Student Council Supervisor and Sponsor without having worked at the
school for more than two hours! The administration assumed that, based on my resume,
interview, and prior experiences, I would be a good fit for revamping the Student Council that
was pretty much non-existent at the time of my arrival. As a first year teacher, taking on an
extra obligation outside of learning how to survive in the classroom. After the first few months
of school, I realized that that daunting feeling was not going to be temporary Student Council
was a TON of work!
To display my ability to seek appropriate leadership roles and collaborate with my
students and colleagues to ensure learner growth, I have compiled aspects of the planning
process I used to facilitate the biggest school event of the year Homecoming. The first part of

the Homecoming festivities involves nominating the homecoming court and, once those
students are announced, collaborating with parents and family members to ensure that all
students will meet the requirements to participate. Once that is set, the most difficult part of
the planning process comes about. Though I did not know this when I was originally assigned
this leadership position, I was required to facilitate the towns Homecoming parade on the
afternoon of the Homecoming football game. This task took an immense amount of
collaboration with the community as I had to recruit and organize over fifty businesses and
their parade floats the weeks leading up to and including the big game. I had students
participate in calling different organizations in the community as well as creating signs and
decorations for the Homecoming football game and Fall Ball. The planning documents and
dance details included in my evidence display my commitment to ensuring learner and
community growth by teaching my students about responsibility and getting the community
involved in school activities.
My final pieces of evidence display what I consider to be my biggest contribution to the
Ferriday High School community and my biggest success with regards to seeking out and
pursuing leadership roles that enable me to work with others and promote student learning
and advancement both in and outside of the classroom. As previously stated, the importance
of extra-curricular activities in the lives of our students is unnegotiable. After my first year of
teaching at FHS, I realized that there were very few outlets for students to express themselves
creatively and even fewer afterschool activities that did not revolve around sports. When I was
in high school, I participated in choir and musical theater in addition to a number of different
community service organizations. At Ferriday High, students simply do not have the option to

pursue or participate in these types of opportunities.

During my second year at FHS, I decided to make a change. After going back and forth
between the school board, my principal, and the superintendent, I held auditions for Ferriday
High Schools first ever musical production of Annie Jr. With zero budget from the school, I was
able to direct and produce something that the town of Ferriday had never seen. After
evaluating each students audition, I cast the show and created a rehearsal schedule that both
my students and I agreed to abide by. As can be seen in my evidence, this schedule required
time and commitment from both me and my students over the course of three months. This
process gave me ample time to teach my students about responsibility and commitment while
giving them an outlet to be creative and social. Once the show had been cast, my students and
I set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for the production rights and royalties we would
need to pay to put on the show in addition to set pieces and costumes. We also mailed out
sponsorship request letters to local organizations to try and collaborate with community
members and allow everyone to feel involved. This was no longer just a Ferriday High School
event, this was a Concordia Parish event. The same process used to produce Annie went on for
our second production, Beauty and the Beast Jr. In addition to sponsorship requests and a Go
Fund Me page, I took the initiative to apply for grants that we could use to get the show in
motion. With the help of my schools resource officer, I was able to allocate a $1,000 grant
from Entergy to be used towards our production. Both years, the house was full with standing
room only on the night of the musical. Putting the profits from both years together, I raised
over $5,000 for my school with the help of my students, their families, the community, and my
school team.

My students have truly become the biggest part of my life. I eat, sleep, and breathe
Ferriday High School. Without engaging in ongoing professional learning and using evidence
from differentiated activities to evaluate whether or not my practice meets the needs of each
learner, I would not be the teacher I am today. In order to be a Master of Science in Education,
a teacher must be a leader both in and out of the classroom. Building relationships with
parents, colleagues, and community members has led me to become a highly proficient teacher
and will hopefully lead to the advancement of education as a whole.