Characteristic 8: Be a reflective practitioner
Big Idea: To become a novice teacher one must be a reflective practitioner. This means that after teaching a lesson, or implementing goal, idea, or plan one must go back afterwards and reflect on what went well and what did not. The main reason for this is so that one can look back on something they implemented to either fix it for next time so it is more useful and better organized. Or so that you can implement it again in future years or in another classroom or even with another lesson. Being a reflective practitioner is very important so that one is always building on their skills and always trying to become a better teacher, role model, and person. Being able to go back and reflect on yourself and really look at what you did well and what you did not can show your character and whether or not you are on your way to becoming a reflective practitioner.
Artifact: For this characteristic I would like to use my practicum plan reflection from last semester. I really like the goals that I created for myself to implement in my classroom and my reflection refreshes my memory of those goals and what worked and what did not. These are also something goals I could use in my future classroom and then I can go back and see what worked with each goal and what did not. I can also refer back to my researchers notebook to see some further notes that I took down about my goals.
Characteristic 3: Professional, moral, and ethical enterprise
Big Idea: This characteristic is important to show how one will be an effective teacher. It also shows whether or not one is fit to be an effective teacher. In becoming a teacher one must be a professional, they also need to have goals for themselves and their students, and have a purpose for wanting to become a novice teacher.
Artifact: For this artifact I would like to use my Educational Philosophy. I have developed my philosophy over the past two years and I am sure the more I am in the classroom the more developed my philosophy will become. An educational philosophy is an artifact that evolves over time depending on your experience in the classroom. An educational philosophy also shows who you are as an educator and how much you are willing to do for your students. I think this is an important artifact to show professional, moral, and ethical enterprise.
