Standard 5: Middle Grades Professional Roles

Middle grades teacher candidates understand the complexity of teaching young adolescents and engage in practices and behaviors that develop their competence as professionals and leaders in the field of middle grades education within a global community.

            I have been meeting standard 5 of the middle grades standards ever since I started at Appalachian State. I have been involved in numerous activities that have helped prepare me to be a leader in the middle grades profession. A have a kept a record of these events in my Professional Development Plan. Two events that truly helped me meet standard 5 were my involvement with the program Appalachian Community of Education Scholars and presenting at the NCMLE conference.

            In my Professional Development Plan I have kept a record of the events I attended that helped me become a leader. Throughout my career at Appalachian I attended a variety of professional seminars. The topics ranged anywhere from content to school policy to student development. Through these seminars I learned about many essential topics that have prepared me to be a leader not only in my own classroom but a leader in the middle grades profession. In this plan I also talk about the many roles I experienced through my internships. Since I was involved in a variety of roles I am now prepared to take on these roles in a professional setting. Without the events mentioned in my Professional Development Plan I would not feel nearly as prepared to lead my own classroom as I do now.

            Presenting at the NCMLE conference was an experience that truly helped me become a leader in the middle grades profession. I stood in front of a group of middle grades professionals, including middle grades college students, professors, teachers, administrators, and even super intendants, and presented to them my integrated unit I had completed in my block 2 classes. I not only presented this project to groups of people but I also talked about this project in a one on one basis. This helped me learn how to present to a large group as well as individuals. These are skills that are necessary for all leaders to possess.

            The Appalachian Community of Education Scholars program truly made me a leader. The ACES program took the place of the Teaching Fellows program and so the ACES program was just as intense as the Teaching Fellows program had been. Through this program I was able to travel the state and country, including Washington DC and the NCCAT center, to attend a variety of experiences that helped me become a better teacher. ACES also allowed me to take on the leadership roles of professional mentor and Appalachian Educator’s Service Committee Co-chair. Both of these experiences helped me discover what it truly means to be a leader and helped me gain the skills needed to be a leader in the middle grades profession.

            Through many experiences throughout my college career I was able to meet middle grades standard 5. Since day one I have been working towards meeting this standard and now at the end of my college career I can honestly say I feel prepared to be a leader in the middle grades profession. Not only do I know that I can be a leader but these experiences have also made me want to be a leader not only in my classroom but a leader for the middle grades profession as a whole.