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.
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.
