For each week's post, you can answer the question below. Each week we will focus on a different disposition or element of the Conceptual Framework. Feel free to post your own questions for your classmates as well.
Integrity:
How did your supervising teacher express integrity in and out of the classroom? Provide concrete and behavioral examples to that relate back to the characteristics of the dispositions.
Think about the following aspects of integrity in your answer:
- acts according to moral principles
- honest and ethical
- dependable, trustworthy, and honors commitments
- stands up for what is right, especially to support students
Actually,the whole point of the class I observed is to teach Jewish ethics to the students, so it is important for the teacher to be a good role model herself. She truly lives by the morals she teaches. For instance, although tznius is not something specifically in the curriculum for the class, I once witnessed her go over to a girl after class, privately, and tell her in a really nice way that her neckline was too low. The student did not seem offended in any way, and I think it was because she knows, like all of this teacher's students know, that anything she tells them comes from her heart, and she reproves them only because she cares. The teacher is careful to honor her commitments to her students. One example of this happened this past class: She announced that they were to have a test on a certain date, but immediately retracted it when the students reminded her that they had previously scheduled a special activity at that time. This teacher is also constantly organizing different chessed opportunities for her students to take part in, which shows them the importance of chessed, and often talks about her own acts of chessed to further inspire them.
ReplyDeleteOne teacher I observe is very true to her morals as a person and as a teacher. She sometimes tells the girls different ideas, thoughts, or stories, in order to exhibit a certain concept that she finds to be important. It never comes off as preachy. Instead, the fact that this teacher, who rarely goes off topic, deviates from her lesson plan to share some personal wisdom with her students goes a long way, as well as the crucial point that she always behaves in a manner consistent with the values she espouses.
ReplyDeleteI observe kindergardeners, and we took sometime to do an addition problem. It was a word problem, and I noticed one boy did not really understand the problem. "So and so had 3 bananas, and a friends gave 8 more. How many bananas does she have in total?" I know the total is 11, but its not easy for 5 year olds, so I helped by guiding him to the answer. I went over to the teacher after class, and mentioned to her what I noticed, so she would know, and she was aware, and she said she has been working with him.
ReplyDeleteAnother girl didn't understand the word problem either. She counted 11 bananas, but when I asked her what the answer was, she didn't know. It was so adorable.
Most of the information at Keshet needed to remain confidential because it contained private information about the health and care of the students. In order to ensure better care for the students, the teachers shared the information with each other; however, they did not divulge the students’ personal information to people unassociated with Keshet. The teachers were not always honest with the students, but was only done if the students were doing something that hindered their health or growth. They were very dependable, and if they made a commitment to the parents or students, they had to stick to it. The staff at Keshet could be relied on to maintain integrity, since it is another crucial disposition for teaching special education.
ReplyDeleteI think Ruthie brought up an interesting point. While teachers must have integrity, where do we draw the line? Obviously, teachers cannot divulge information about a student to someone who is not involved with the student, but what about within the school itself? Does a teacher have the right to share private information about one student with another, if she feels it will help the first student? The situation is not always black and white.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher i observed showed integrity when she told her students that she would give them a raffle ticket if they would use their new vocabulary words. Which later, after she said this, one of her students used the new vocabulary words in his sentence and she was so impressed, and she gave him a raffle ticket. She promised to give a raffle ticket to anyone who used the vocabulary words and she stuck to her promise. She proved to them that she was not just saying it to sound nice, she was honest and went by what she said.
ReplyDeleteThe Teacher I observe is very sweet, and a fun teacher, and means well. However, she like every teacher or human being, has room to grow. There is one example that potreys this idea.
ReplyDeleteOne student in the class had an accident. She told him to go to the bathroom. After he left the class, the teaher asked the assisstant why he did not ask to go to the bathroom. WHen he eventually came back in the room, the teacher asked if he was okay, and if he needed to change into clean clothes. However, even though she said this in a low tone, she was far away from him that kids in the class are able to hear, and children do. They listen to everything.
I think the teacher means well, and maybe she did not want to go up to him because of his oder, or because she did not want to draw attention to him, but I think what she did was more humiliating.
After only two and half hours in the classroom, it was hard for me to assess the teacher's integrity. I can see why integrity is the eight disposition on the list, because it's a build up. Dispositions such as enthusiasm and respect come up right away, but integrity is only seen in more specific situations in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with Chaya, and although I have definitely spent more than two and a half hours with my teacher, I still have a hard time discerning this quality in her. I have not specifically notices anything, yet I have no reason to believe that she is dishonest, doesn't carry through, or won't stand up for her students. They are young kids, so deep, "mussar" conversations don't come up either. Maybe if I was there for a consecutive week, I'd really notice the way she interacts with her superiors about her students, actualizes her commitments, etc. But as of now, I don't think I could properly judge her in this.
ReplyDeletethe teacher i observe acts in a moral way and is honest in what she does. she doesnt discrimate between herself the students and theh other teachers. she shows that she is dependaple and honors her commitments by allways arriving to work on time and is allways prpared with what she wants to teach everyday. she proves that she is capable of standing up for what is right by acting in a moral and responsible manner.
ReplyDeleteI want to talk about the teacher that I observed at my student teaching placement. Although I've only spent the one day with her so far, as I don't begin my teaching for a while, the way she conducts herself in the classroom is just incredible! She has respect for her students, no matter what kind of disabilities they may have, and she treats each one with care and respect. She sits right down with them for the various classroom activities and talks to them in a way that implies that she doesn't even notice their disabilities, rather, she sees them as human beings with thoughts and feeling, wants and needs... and she does her utmost best to do what she can for them in the kindest and most respectful way possible - as all teachers should, regardless of whether they are in a special ed. setting or not!!
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I observed had a lot of integrity, and it showed through the way she treated her students. At times she could be tough on them, but she was still really moral towards them. She always tried to respect their dignity, although sometimes she did embarrass them, but overall she was very ethical in her behavior. She was extremely honest, and she tried to be tactful as often as possible, although sometimes tact isn’t always possible. She kept her promises, which can be hard to do with fifth graders, and she always spoke according to their age level. She always had her students’ best interests in mind, and although it wasn’t always obvious, you could see, if you looked closely, how much she loved them.
ReplyDeleteI think the teacher I am observing demonstrates integrity. If she says she will have something done for the students, she always has it done. She is honest to the students. If something cannot be done she tells them why, she does not make up a story. Also I have not heard her speak sarcastically to the students.
ReplyDelete