Running head: PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS STATEMENT ASSESSMENT 1

Professional Dispositions Statement Assessment

Asja Wright

Grand Canyon University: Ech-480

January 28, 2018

PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS STATEMENT ASSESSMENT 2

Professional Dispositions Statement Assessment

One of the main focuses for student teaching this week is reflecting on my success in

demonstrating the GCU College of Education Professional Dispositions. Part of this reflection

includes filling out the self-assessment, as shown below. Following the assessment is a personal

statement regarding the Professional Dispositions and my growth in this program so far.

Professional Dispositions Assessment

Professional Dispositions Criteria 1 2 3 4 5

I believe a teacher must use a variety of instructional strategies
X
to optimize student learning.
I understand that students learn in many different ways. X
I demonstrate qualities of humor, empathy, and warmth.
X
I am a thoughtful and responsive listener.
X
I assume responsibility when working with others.
X
I believe that all students can learn.
X
I believe it is important to involve all students in learning.
X
I believe the classroom environment a teacher creates greatly
affects students' learning and development. X

I view teaching as an important profession.

X
I understand that teachers’ expectations affect student learning.
X
I view teaching as a collaborative effort among educators.
X
I understand that students have certain needs that must be met
before learning can take place. X

I am sensitive to student differences.

X
I communicate caring, concern, and a willingness to become
involved with others. X

I am punctual and reliable in my attendance.

X
I maintain a professional appearance.
X
I believe it is my job to create a learning environment conducive X
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to the development of students’ self-confidence and competence.

I respect the cultures of all students and am sensitive to cultural

norms. X

I honor my commitments.
X
I treat students with dignity and respect at all times.
X
I am willing to receive feedback and assessment of my teaching.
X
I am patient when working with students.
X
I am open to adjusting and revising my plans to meet student
needs. X

I communicate in ways that demonstrate respect for the feelings,

ideas, and contributions of others. X

I believe it is important to learn about students and their

communities. X

Professional Dispositions Statement

I believe that the Professional Dispositions are important characteristics for any good

teacher to have and I will continue to strive to reflect them. Understanding the gravity of the

influential impact that educators have on their students’ learning and even self-efficacy, I have

made it a point from day 1 in my program to hold myself to a high level of excellence in

everything that I do- from putting my best efforts into the course work that has been grooming

me as an educator, to the reflection of my personal commitment to my craft with the 4.0 that I

have worked so hard to keep, to going over my lessons every night so I feel prepared when it

comes time to teach them in the morning. These efforts have been driven by the passionate belief

that I owe it to each of my present and future students, to help further their learning. However,

the only way to ensure this is to be committed to displaying integrity, professionalism, and

curiosity. Therefore, I have committed myself to learning my craft during the last four years and
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beyond. And as a testament, I have kept an on-going collection of teaching tools, ideas, and

strategies-from journal articles to attention-grabbing strategies, to books- all of which I am

excited to employ as my teaching career takes off. And now that I am student teaching, I

constantly self-assess every aspect of my instruction and seek out feedback from my cooperating

teacher about which areas could be improved.

The efforts of my dedication to my major and career of choice, I believe, can be seen in

the results of my self-assessment, especially since I sought to be honest when scoring myself.

My scores are not based on just what I believe to be true (otherwise everything would be a 5) but

rather how consistently my actions show that I belief these dispositions. So, for example, 5’s are

things that I do without fail-such as showing up on time or often earlier than necessary every day,

keeping my appearance neat and professional even on casual Friday’s, etc. 4’s are things that are

reflected regularly and that I believe I do well, but I still desire more professional development-

either by asking advice or simply with more practice- in order to be even better. For example, I

have many ELL students who have conversations with peers, myself, or the other teachers in

Spanish. This makes me wonder if part of the reason that the students are not more proficient

overall is because of how often Spanish is used in the classroom-even sometimes with students

who are English proficient- which may make students feel that it is as important for them to

practice English. So while I whole-heartedly believe that including students’ cultures and

encouraging them to be proficient in their native language is important, I am trying to determine

what I think the right balance is-especially when they must be prepared for Kindergarten where

only English will be used. Finally, I have one Vietnamese student in particular who only

understands a few words in English. And while I am sensitive to the fact that he needs extra
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support such as modeling and gestures, it is clear that these strategies only go so far and I am still

trying to determine more ways that I demonstrate this sensitivity to his needs.

While I still have so much to learn, such as in the areas mentioned above, it is incredible

how much growth I have already in the short amount of time since student teaching started. For

one, I have often had this nagging self-doubt that would threaten my confidence about being

good enough to teach. But already, this doubt has been quieted and I am gaining more confidence

every day because I am doing what I love and the students are responding well. Further, I am

gaining real-world experience by observing what my cooperating teacher does and by teaching in

the classroom myself (I have been fully in charge for two days now already!). This experience is

causing things I learned in class to click because I see their real-world connections when I get to

try them out for myself. For instance, I never thought two classes about ELLS and one on

students with special needs would prepare me enough but here I am teaching classes with two

IEP students and an overwhelming majority of students whose primary language is not English! I

fully expect to continue to grow in my abilities as I continue in this student teaching process.