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.
Professional Development Plan
Throughout student teaching I kept a professional development plan on the website TK20. The plan included the following elements:
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Professional Development Log
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Professional Networks
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Collaboration Log
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Community Advocacy Log
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School Improvement Plan Analysis
Through this plan I have become a more professional teacher and I have created a network of resources that allow me to be a better teacher. Below I have attached parts of my Professional Development Plan.
Presented at the NCMLE Conference
I presented at the North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education conference on March 6th, 2017 in Greensboro, North Carolina. This conference was NCMLE's biggest event of the year. For this event I presented my integrated unit on conflict and resolution. I talked about my unit with a variety of people, including professors from different universities, school personal, and other middle grade university students. I also got to view other university level students' projects and learn from them. When I was not presenting at the conference I attended seminars about the middle grades profession. Attached below is the program from the conference and a link to my ingrate unit.
Appalachian Community of Education Scholars
Appalachian Community of Education Scholars (ACES) is a program at Appalachian State University that took the place of the Teaching Fellows program in 2013. ACES is a program related to Appalachian Educators and is a community of education majors. To become a member a member of ACES you must apply before freshman year and once accepted you have to meet certain requirements. Freshman year you live in the dorms with other education majors and go on a retreat with the other freshman ACES. Each semester you must receive ten education related service hours and attend two seminars. Starting sophomore year you can have leadership positions within ACES and Appalachian Educators. For two years I was on the Service Committee for ACES and Appalachian Educators. I participated in a variety of service activities and professional development experiences. One of the most memorable was going to Washington DC and experiencing a variety of different kinds of schools, including a reform school, a bilingual school, and a charter school. Below is a link to the ACES program webpage.
