The Florida Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct

                                             Code of Ethics

 I will openly admit that the heading of this post is not the most engaging and attention Th as to rival some of the headliners of the nations' papers, but honestly it is a critical part of my final assignment and I must show my instructor as well as my future employers that I understand the code of ethics and principles of professional standards and the degree of harm a teacher can do by violating these statutes of the Florida law.  It's worth investigating and it's worth certainly worth reviewing.  The law is in place to protect everyone and the Florida educational system goes to great lengths to ensure each employee has a copy of the Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct in his or her hands before they are contracted into employment.  The only way I have seen the Code of Ethics presented, and the only way I could think to review the information here is to review individual case studies of Florida Teachers who have committed violations of the Code of Ethics and have been released from employment and disgraced by their actions, but before I begin, the entire Code of Ethics document can be viewed at The Florida Department of Education website.   

     The first example I will share is of a Florida educator who violated the Principles of Professional Conduct's section 3 article F that no educator may "intentionally violate or deny a student's legal rights."  The case study I am bringing forward is a small article published by PETA where a teacher forced an animal dissection project on a student who was knowledgeable of the law and claimed her right to opt out of the project.  This case occurred in 2011 in Fort Naples, Florida and the school did not hesitate to remove the teacher from the school and put a firmly worded letter of warning in her personnel file as well as require her to attend specialized training in order to be more sensitive to her student's needs.  Although the consequences for this case are relatively mild, it also shows that something as small as a student exercising his or her right to opt out of an assignment is considered a legal consideration for a professional.  It can not be overlooked.  Article F of the Principles of Professional Conduct is vaguely worded enough to incorporate a multitude of legal meanings.  The PETA news article can be found on the PETA website. 

     The second example I will share is of a Florida educator who violated the Principles of Professional Conduct's section 3 article A that every educator must "make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to learning and/or to the student's mental and/or physical health and/or safety."  Not only that, but she violated section 3 article E which states that no educator may "intentionally expose a student to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement."  The teacher in this scenario worked in Ocala as an elementary school teacher and was fired from the Marion County school system in 2013 for embarrassing and physically abusing a 10 year old autistic student for approximately an hour inside of her classroom because he refused to obey her command to sit in time-out.  The details that are reviewed in the account are embarrassing and an outrage.  The full news article can be found at Ocala.com  
I included this example to show how multiple offenses will compound a case and lead to severe consequences for the educator.

     The third example I will share is of a Florida educator who is believed to have violated the Principles of Professional Conduct, but it is still in question if any of the principles had been technically violated.  The story is connected with the controversial topic of Facebook profiles and the freedom of speech that a teacher is entitled to.  The teacher had previously been a role model of his school and had received the title 'Teacher of the Year'.  He had been teaching for over 26 years and all the same was removed from his position pending investigation because of a simple Facebook comment he made.  Because of the negative connotations seemingly implied by a comment he made on homosexual marriage including some very pointed words of it being a 'sin' in his opinion, his post was enough to spark an investigation into the matter in regards to allegations of a violation of the Code of Ethics.  I would say as a starting point that section 4 article A which states that every educator must "take reasonable precautions to distinguish between personal views and those of any educational institution or organization with which the individual is affiliated."  I could imagine that someone could see his comment as reflecting poorly on the school that hired him to be an objective, rational, and a socially responsible representative of the school.  It could further affect a student's level of comfort experienced in the school if that student was aware of the comment.  It is a teacher's public responsibility to remain unbiased, especially on controversial issues.  This story took place in 2011 and was so explosive for the time that it actually caught the attention of CNN and became national news.  The full news article can be found on  CNN online. 

     To conclude, although these three examples are representative of violations of separate articles of the Code of Ethics, they are all quality examples of how quick a school system will act to ensure that the Code of Ethics is being upheld and to punish those who don't follow the Code of Ethics in practice, despite being aware of the requirements demanded of them.  Every educator must seriously consider these guidelines.  As my instructor is quick to say, they are common sense, but if you fail to observe them there will be quick and severe punishment up to and including termination.  It's that simple.

The structure of an effective classroom.

                                    Classroom Structure

A model classroom has many factors that work cohesively together to promote student success.  When these factors are orchestrated professionally there is a proven exponential impact.  For this post I will discuss the basics of the structure of a classroom that are noted to make a difference in student interaction and efficiency.  Structure is not my word in particular, but it is a word used quite often in my classes and online in the field, so I decided to adopt it.  For my own purposes, when I say structure, unless otherwise stated, I mean the orderliness and function of the room and the atmosphere that it creates.  My instructor has made an explicit point to emphasize orderliness in the classroom.  She promotes the expectation that professionals remain organized and aware of how to best utilize a space so that it reduces the stress felt by both the teacher and the students.  Although she isn't associated with the work of literature I will pull from for this post, she definitely stands in agreement, almost to a tee, with the author and shares points of view on virtually every topic.

     The author is named Fred Jones and he has developed a lovely PDF file that is very concise, complete with rubrics, illustrations, and examples of what an effective classroom does and does not look like.  It is certainly worth a glance through.  I will be spending the remainder of this post on his work because I believe it is a great place to start. 

Step #1: He demands that the physical environment is clean and orderly and that every learning tool on hand is "proactively managed".  He states that in order to be effective you need to start the day with a clean floor and clean countertops and desks.  Anything atop the tables and countertops needs to have a purpose for current use.  He states that the books in the bookshelves need to be organized with the spines facing out.  The room needs to smell clean and be well lit, in a word, be inviting.  He also stresses the importance of having plenty of student work displayed in prominent view of anyone entering the classroom.

Non-examples he provides are of a teacher's desk piled high with papers, folders, and notebooks; a bookshelf with an overstocked bin of mish-mash and random items shoved haphazardly in a corner; gum and used pencils and tangled cords, which are actually trip hazards, cluttering the floors.  These things are eye sores that no principal or parent wants to see and can create discomfort in students.  It gives the impression that the teacher does not care.

Step #2: He demands that there be no exception, that at all points in time teachers and students should be able to move about the classroom freely and safely with jackets, backpacks and desks arranged thoughtfully.  He states that backpacks and jackets need to be in an organized central location and that once a seating arrangement has been agreed upon, the seats need to be arranged accordingly with equal spacing and space for traffic to move through. 

Non examples he provides are two student desks in a corner with books and jackets piled up with no clear purpose besides being a catch-all.  He also shows a picture of a half dozen computers and broken earphones and draping cords dumped in a corner, going to waste when they could be utilized by students.  Once again, 
definitely not what administration would want to see and a disservice to students who could benefit from the technology if it were to be put to proper use.

Step #3: He demands that every work area has instructions and a procedure for use, the ability to house materials needed ahead of time, and also have a checkout system in place for materials needed.  He also reminds us that computer time needs to be scheduled and dedicated to a specific purpose.  These simple organizational tricks will give you and your students confidence 
when they are working independently.  Most importantly it will ensure that they stay productive. 

He only provided one dismal non-example for step #3 and it illustrates all on its own what a ineffective work area looks like.  It's an extremely messy computer station with CDs and papers, a stapler, and what looks like a calculator all blocking the students from reaching the keyboards.  There's a materials cart in front of the station that serves no function. There are more scattered cables and a box on the floor near where the students feet would be.  There are small plastic figurines standing on top of one of the monitors.  It's ugly.  No one would feel welcome in that place.  I could guarantee there would be someone feeling as though they should volunteer to clean it up for the teacher out of pity.  That is never a position to be in if you desire to be considered a competent instructor. 

     These three steps are the bare basics of what it takes to create an effective environment in the classroom.  It's what every student needs in order to function appropriately in a classroom.  Fred Jones goes deeper into other aspects that can help teachers deliver an even deeper sense of contentment for the students in their care which would take too long to cover for this assignment.  His PDF is available, and accessible by simply clicking here.

Classroom Management Systems

                                  Classroom Management

 One of the concepts highly stressed at the University of Central Florida in the education department is the concept that as a teacher visits several schools and interviews with potential principals, it's important to turn the tables and find out what you want to know about the school.  An interview should go both ways, so prepare by having some questions for the interviewer.  One of the main considerations mentioned is to compare your own teaching philosophies to that of the school's philosophies.  To do that, you need to be knowledgeable about classroom management systems and what they should look like.  You need to define yourself by what you value in classroom conduct and how you feel you can help your students most.  You need to find your own personal style of teaching and begin to implement it.  There are several, but for now, let's consider two systems worth mentioning.  PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) and UDL (Universal Design for Learning) are two mainstream systems often discussed by educators in the Orlando area.  From my experience, most schools make it apparent what system they operate off of to the point where the majority of the students can in fact tell you what the system entails.

     PBIS is a school wide system for influencing positive behavior among the students.  From the principal to the teachers and all library and cafeteria staff, the system is expected to be adhered to and to be consistently represented throughout school property.  It is to be modeled and reinforced.  PBIS is a tiered system where there is a standard instructional method for all students called the universal level.  This part of the program, when properly upheld will influence, potentially, 85% of the student population to adhere to the expectations of the school.  This level includes teacher modeling, structured rules and routines, rewards and consequences associated with behavior, and even time in the day incorporating talks about behavior into the curriculum.  On tier II 10-15% of students benefit from small groups of students meeting together to discuss strategies on how to deal with situations such as anger management and self management (being off-task and disruptive) so that they will continue to strive for better behavior in the classroom.  At tier III only 5-7% of students will need services beyond small groups.  At tier III students begin to be considered for learning disabilities and undergo behavior monitoring by professionals to assess trends and try to pinpoint what is causing misbehavior as well as determine intervention strategies. All of this information and more can be found on the APA website.  Another resource that I found helpful as a quick overview of the Positive Behavior Support system is PBIS.org's 8 page guide  which covers all aspects of PBS at a glance and can be a quick reference for beginning teachers and interns.

     The UDL approach focuses less on behavior modification, but on classroom modification to fit every need.  It focuses on the principle that if we make arrangements to meet the need of someone with a disability or restriction, everyone benefits in ways not even intended by the original designer.  An example is how curbs that dip to allow access to the sidewalk by wheelchairs have now been utilized by people with baby carriages and people pushing or pulling any type of cart.  The same concept holds true for education.  The key concepts in the UDL model are equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.  In short, if you can consider each one of your students' special needs in preparation of a school activity then you can make it available and enjoyable for everyone and you can validate them all as individuals.  It is important to not simply utilize this approach, but to share it with your students as well.  Ensure that you have a classroom climate that celebrates diversity.  Emphasize the importance of communication between teacher and students.  Give students a choice in how they will learn the lesson and how they will show competency,  Give students feedback early, before an assignment is due to ensure that they understand exactly what is required of them.  Choose to provide captions with any video shown to the class.  By taking simple steps to give students freedom in their own education you are aiming to ensure that everyone gains knowledge equally.  For more information on the UDL method visit the University of Washington and their very thorough explanation including resources, videos, and programs that center around UDL.

     After reviewing the information given about these two unique classroom management systems, it is easy to say that both have positive qualities and both systems could be effective in a classroom setting.  That being said, they are very different.  They each work in different ways to meet different needs.  As I wrote my first draft of this post, I had convinced myself that there was virtually no way these two systems could work together because I felt that they focused on different issues and worked towards opposing goals, but then my instructor prompted me to look deeper, and sure enough, she was right.  It took me a while, but I found a very rare video of a school that has found away to include both systems in their school and shows how it's positively impacted all of their students.  The school is Maple Wood Elementary School in New Hampshire.  If you'd like to view it before finishing, here is a short, 13 minute video of Tasya's Story.
Enjoy.

Sunshine State Standards vs the Common Core Standards.

     Standards..... that magical word that is so encompassing of the whole of education in our modern era.  It's certainly a hot topic both where I am studying and where I am speaking to current teachers in the schools.  Everyone I've spoken to on any level has told me about the emphasis on teaching to the standards that has taken hold at every school in the county.  I can only speak for my area, but it's a big deal to the teachers I know.  They tell me their whole job hangs on how well they are able to teach to the standards and how well their class does overall on the standards tests.  As someone who has only been pursuing an education degree for around a year, it's honestly been a lot coming at me very quickly.  Simply through making mock lesson plans and experimenting with implementing standards have I begun to be familiar with all of the expectations.  Not only is it a lot to cover in the classroom, but it's a lot to prepare for daily, and the content is more concentrated than our previous standards used to be.  
     
     At the same point I understand the need to have national standards.  I am an example of how a lack of national standards held me back.  I started school in Connecticut and continued there for my first 4 years of school.  For the 5th grade my family moved to Florida and I was ahead for my age (by Florida standards) in all of my classes but was not advanced forward into the next grade and I was not placed in a gifted program.  As a result of the standards not being closely aligned I feel that I was not properly challenged again until the beginning of the 9th grade.  I feel that I lost years of my academic career because the standards were not aligned to promote me adequately.  

     As I started my own research online on how to adopt common core standards in my future classroom and how to evaluate resources for content I turned to a website called TeacherChannel.org and did a simple search for common core standards to see what was available.  After watching a few videos I came across a video on a program called the Equip Rubric that was developed for use by teachers to gauge how well a lesson or unit aligns with the common core standards.  This rubric can be used by individual teachers to review the content they will use in the classroom or there are lesson plans on a separate website that have been evaluated by a panel of professionals that have been judged exemplary and can be used freely in the classroom.  To see the video please visit Strengthening Lessons for the Common Core on TeacherChannel.org.  It only runs for 6 minutes and it is a good glimpse into what an effective teacher should look for in his or her lesson plans.   

     As I continued to investigate further into the Equip Rubric program I found the website Achieve.org which is affiliated with the Equip Rubric Program.  I was very impressed with their objective statement which was elegantly worded.  Their objective has two main points.  The first is to increase the supply of high quality lessons and units aligned to the CCSS that are available to elementary, middle, and high school teachers as soon as possible.  The second is to build the capacity of educators to evaluate and improve the quality of instructional materials for use in their classrooms and schools.  If you have a lesson plan or unit that you would like to submit for review by the panels, this is the place to do it.  There is a tab for submitting material as well as instructions and guidelines on this site as well.  This site also has training materials and grade level examples of what common core lesson plans should look like.  This website appears to be an excellent resource and is one that I plan on visiting again in the future.  If you would like to visit the website, click on this link to access all features of the program.  Achieve.org.

     To take my own understanding one step deeper I reviewed a lesson that I had attempted myself as a class project for my Classroom Management course.  I had chosen to focus on a second grade standard of teaching point of view in a storyline.  Both the lesson plan that I had used and the lesson plan that the panel had reviewed had both come from CPALMS.org which gave me confidence in the plan I had chosen right from the start.  As I read on I found that many of the elements that I had used, which I had developed while studying at the University of Central Florida, were also components of the exemplary lesson plan.  Use of the scale system as well as use of a graphic organizer and written prompt for a summative assessment were used in both lessons.  Emphasis on illustrations was present in both lessons.  An understanding of thoughts and feelings and how they influence actions were expected of students in both lesson plans.  By giving the lesson a little more time (3 hours total) and by incorporating more standards that the one standard I was going for, the lesson plan became exemplary.  It also had very many accommodations for EL/ESE students.  If you would like to take a look at the exemplary lesson, here is a link to that specific lesson, based on 3rd grade standards.  
3rd grade, point of view lesson plan aligned with standards

     As a bonus link for anyone interested, I found this website informative for those who are still beginning embracing common core standards,  It covers what the previous Florida standards were before our new Common Core set and the differences between the two grade level to grade level.  For a glimpse of the changes head to Excel In Ed

Differentiated Instruction.

Differentiated Instruction

     One of the best features of running a blog is being part of  a community and being able to join the conversation of what other bloggers are posting.  To begin research on differentiated instruction I wanted to bring in the thoughts of other bloggers who are better established and know more about the topic at hand than I.  John McCarthy is an Education Consultant and an Advocate for Student Voice in Learning.  Roughly one year ago he wrote a blog post about ways that teachers can easily plan for diverse learners.  He broke it down into 3 simple steps/concepts to implement into your lesson plan preparation.  The key is to connect content, process, and product uniquely for each learner.  Students each bring their own readiness (or level of knowledge), their own interests, and their own skills and abilities or 'learning profile'.  

     He says an easy way to differentiate content is to switch up the delivery of the content.  Read, watch, lecture, and organize information, utilizing the different learning styles to incorporate every learner.  

     Next, to differentiate process, it is as simple as scheduling in enough time for the students to each have a chance to discuss and evaluate what they have learned.  It is a good tool to help students discover what they understand or need further clarification on and it's an opportunity for teachers to do formative assessment and decide for themselves what their pupils know through observation.  He recommends a processing activity for every 30 minutes of direct instruction.  

     The third and final step is to differentiate product.  In other words, give the students several options on how to show what they have learned.  When the student has an option to choose and give preference to an assignment they will be more motivated and more confident to complete the assignment.  

     I found this article very helpful and easy to digest.  For someone just starting out and looking for a few simple tools to start out their classroom with, this guide is more practical than, say, reading a book on the topic or attending a workshop.  It's meant as a starting point to better differentiated instruction.  If you'd like to read the full article click on the link below.  

John McCarthy's Blog on Edutopia

     For more ideas on how to give your students more involvement and choice in classroom activities, follow the 5 steps that another educational blogger from Edutopia, Rebecca Alber, posted roughly a year ago on her own blog.  She openly suggests that you admit to your class every so often, "I don't know.", and move forward from that point with the whole class on board to spontaneous, unplanned learning.  In places where there's wiggle room, let the students choose the content and work learning goals into content as it arises.  Poll the classroom to show where interests and knowledge is already present to better formulate an educational strategy.  To read the whole article follow this link.

Rebecca Alber's Blog on Edutopia

     One quality video I found on a separate website is Carol Tomlinson's video on beginning differentiated instruction.  She also attempts to break down differentiated instruction so that new teachers do not feel so overwhelmed.  She encourages beginning teachers that the experience is a marathon, not a sprint and to slowly begin adapting and integrating the differentiated approach.  She suggests to start simply by observing and informally pre-assessing students to intentionally note what they might need from you as you proceed with the lesson.  As you become more comfortable with each new technique, build on what you've already accomplished and continue to advance each year.  Follow the link here,

Suggestions on how to begin differentiated instruction

     I will keep my eye out for any more resources and will edit this post as often as possible to offer more information.

Thankful for so many opportunities.

(Blows dust off of this blog!!) Way to go me! I get really excited about this project and then I drop it like a hot potato.  Not very professional.  Not entirely intentional though.  Although the pressure of what I had on my plate was starting to build, I made it through, but I got really busy between then and now and I couldn't afford the time to invest in new posts.  It's been 3 months since I've posted, but thankfully I have another school project involving blogs to spark some interest and renew my commitment to making some firm statements about my views on teaching and the level of education I am receiving before entering the workplace.  So much has happened since I last posted that I will use this post as an update before I get too project heavy.  First off, I made Deans List for Spring and ended up with a 3.71 entering GPA for my major.  I ended up with one B and that was for my Mathematics class and it was close to an A anyway.  My final project was a big success and it secured my A for my technology class. 

 Only two weeks after the end of the semester I went back into school for an intensive 6 week Summer course which was brutal (work wise) but my teacher was so nice and I can't wait to work with her again further on in my degree.  I ended up with an A for that class as well.  I'm just wrapping up with an optional Summer Research Academy program which will give me an extra credit (free!!) on my transcript and will look really good on a resume.  I also got help on producing both a professional and academic resume as well as putting together a timeline for when everything should fall into place, making the plan a little more manageable.  Now, as I said, I am taking yet another 6 week course and going to finish up the Summer with another crack at the General Knowledge test which is a requirement for graduation.  It sounds like a lot, but I'm pacing myself with work.  Public school is out so I have my part time retail position and that's it.  I'm still finding time to enjoy my summer, no worries.  On a side note, the month long assignment I had finished on a great note and I feel like it counts to my credit.  Some of my seniors were even really sad to say bye.  Two of them walked out the door the last day saying, 'We love you miss.'.  I ended up getting so attached too.  I will miss them as well.  It's going to be hard starting out teaching.  I will miss each and every one of my little ones as much as I will wish them the best.  

On a more neutral note, I will be getting more experience with service learning as well as actually being able to see myself on video tape teaching.  We're also very excited to pilot this new program called TeachLive which is a simulation that UCF created to help new teachers develop interpersonal skills with their students and help walk us through parent teacher conferences.  Another project I am attempting for school is my very first Literature Review which is a small compiling of related, and very current research material to give an overview of current knowledge of a small subject.  Ironically it is tied in with TeachLive and how researchers are  using it to study the affects of teacher hand and head gestures in the classroom and how to improve that communication within the virtual classroom.

As I said in the heading, I am so thankful for so many amazing opportunities.  This summer has been a gateway to making very good contacts and gaining knowledge that will truly help me in the future.  I am back now, and as I gain knowledge or get inspired I will post. 

Doesn't it just inspire you?

     I came across this story while browsing Facebook of all places, and I just dropped what I was doing and came on here.  If I were to do an interview for this blog so far, I would do it on Harold Ekeh, an amazingly driven 17 year old who has grades that were so competitive that it got him into all eight Ivy League universities, plus MIT and John Hopkins University.  =-O.  I've had high dreams and aspirations before, but wow, how do you do that?!  He's also an immigrant from Nigeria.  To transition cultures, potentially learn a new language, and fully grasp the American dream at such a young age is such an incredible achievement.  My hat is off to him completely.  I'd love to see good things come to him.  I'd love to see more American children have that ambition as well, instead of taking the easy road.

     Check out the stats on this kid, GPA of 100.5 and SAT scores of 2270 out of 2400.  The article published about him also states that he was a semi-finalist in the national Intel Science Talent Search.  He was one of only 300 students nationwide who got selected for it.  The top winners for that event receives a $150,000 scholarship for their achievements.  He had  a 1 in 300 chance of getting that kind of money at 17.  In the interview he stated that he is interested in attending Yale University.  His extra-curricular achievements go on and on as well.  He plays the drums, leads a church choir, and is involved in a mentor program to get other promising students into America's best schools. 

     To his credit, as well, he is described as being warm and humble.  His quote at the end of the article makes me glow, "I don't see it as an accomplishment for me.  I see it as an accomplishment for my community.  I hope it inspires the younger generation, not just in Elmont, but overall.".  I will absolutely use this article in my Speech class tomorrow.  It might be a little late for my high school children to get into Yale, but they can do their best at whichever university or trade school that they decide to go to.  They can achieve their own best.  

     This blog has to be short because I have an appointment in an hour, but if you would like to see more information about this exceptional young man that I am so thrilled for, please visit
 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/07/accepted-all-ivy-schools/25402601/