As a pre-service teacher, it is important that I maintain a professional attitude when it comes to working with my peers and my students. I am always looking forward to improving myself not only as a person, but as a teacher. Therefore, I believe that in order to grow, I must first assess my current standing as far as professional attributes go. In this blog entry, I will evaluate my current performance in each individual attribute and how, if applicable, will I improve on those that I need to improve on.
Demeanor: I believe that I am a positive person and I demonstrate this clearly when I am at my school. Whenever other professionals need something or wish to consult me about a specific matter, I am always more than happy to do so.
Responsibility: I am a very responsible person. In the past, I had a few problems with procrastination but I must honestly say that I have overcome that stage and now do all my things ahead of time.
Maturity: I believe that I display a high level of maturity. I always complete the tasks that I am assigned and work well with my peers through the use of good communication.
Cooperation: I believe that I show a high level of cooperation with my peers, site teachers and faculty. I am always open to helping them with whatever it is that they need.
Flexibility: Whenever unexpected changes occur, I accept them and work through them. However, I do stress out a little bit. This is something that I need to improve on. I need to learn to take things easier and go with the flow.
Appearance: I dress professionally every day and maintain a high level of hygiene. This is very important in order for my students and co-workers to respect me.
Attendance/Punctuality: Throughout this semester, I have been on time everyday and have not missed a single day of class. I strongly believe that in order for me to remain on top of things and have a successful semester, I must always be present and on time. Therefore, I will do my best to continue showing this high level of attendance and punctuality.
Initiative: I love taking the initiative on assignments or anything else that needs to get done. Therefore, I believe that I demonstrate a high level of initiative.
Awareness of Individual Differences: I am fully aware of individual differences. I think my standing on this attribute is good, but I will continue improving myself by constantly learning more about the specific needs that the people I interact with may demonstrate.
Patience: I have a very high level of patience. I believe that in order to run a successful classroom, I must be patient with my students and the people I work with.
Tactfulness: I am a very tactful person. Before I speak, I listen carefully to people, analyze what I am going to say, and then say it in a manner that is respectful to them.
Enthusiasm: I display a high level of energy and enthusiasm around my students and co-workers. This is very important when working with lower grade levels.
Organization: I am very organized. My planner is already filled with all the things that I must complete and turn in this semester. It is the only way that I can make sure that I make the best out of Quest 2.
Creativity: I am a very creative person. That is why I love being in an elementary classroom and working with elementary children because you can teach them through many different techniques and activities.
Written Communication: I believe that I have really good writing skills. I am the type of person that proofreads things at least three times before turning them in. As far as communicating with people through email goes, I always make sure that I am tactful and have proper grammar.
Oral Communication: I do have an appropriate voice and good speech delivery. In my classroom, I always make sure that I maintain a clear and loud voice so that all my students can hear me clearly.
Professionalism: I believe that all teachers are lifelong learners because education research is always changing. I believe that I do stay current with the new research findings that are out there, however, I could improve on this attribute by going the extra mile and joining an educational organization.
Reflective Practitioners: I always reflect on my professional experiences. However, I do need to improve on being more constructive. Sometimes, I focus too much on what I did wrong. Instead, I need to devote my energy on coming up with ways to improve them and remain positive about it.
With-it-ness: I believe that I am always aware of what is going on in the classroom and when something needs to get done, I am immediately up for it.
Technology: I love to integrate technology in classroom! I think technology is one of the greatest tools for teachers because there is no end to all the things that can be done with it. Therefore, I think my level in this attribute is very high.
Overall, I believe my standing on all of the professional attributes is very good; however, there is always room for improvement. I am very excited to be in Quest 2 and being able to learn and grow from my experiences this semester. I know that it will be a very rewarding semester indeed.
-Kristy López
