Ethics, Overall Experience, To Teach or Not to Teach...

I have been exposed to a handful of ethical issues while performing my service hours.  A few negative issues would be when I went into the classroom a couple of the boy students would tell me how pretty I was and they continued to call me a nickname that was not appropriate.  By ignoring the child, and not letting him know that the teacher and I heard him, nor did we give him any sort of feedback, the issue seemed to get worse.  The child started to call me “Mommy” and told me over and over again, “You are hot, you are so pretty”.   I told him that, “he needed to focus on his work and quit worrying about me”.   After repeating myself a couple of times, Mrs. Weather, the teacher, stepped in and said to him, “Kent, what is her name? That is not her name…what is her name?” Kent replied, “Ms. Pam is her name.”  The teacher then said, “That is right, her name is Ms. Pam.  You are not showing Ms. Pam any respect by calling her your Mommy or telling her she is good looking.  You will treat Ms. Pam with respect.  Do you understand?”  Kent replied, “Yes, Mrs. Weather.” Then Mrs. Weather followed with, “Kent, what will you call Ms. Pam from now on and how will you treat her?  Will you call her by the right name or the wrong name?”  Kent replied, “I will call her Ms. Pam and I will treat her with respect.”  Mrs. Weather also made Kent pull his star, a token of his behavioral level for the day, and was sent home with a note to him mother informing her of his actions that day. Once he realized that I was an adult, not a fellow classmate, he began to show me respect. 

I feel like Mrs. Weather handled this situation well.  The only thing I would have done differently would have been to take him outside the room so that the other children could not hear the discipline aspect of the conversation.  I also liked how Mrs. Weather gave him a choice, a voice and the responsibility to do what was right. (Dr. Barrett’s notes)  After those words we exchanged Kent treated me like gold.  This whole issue could have gotten out of hand very fast but the teacher knew that she was held to a high moral standard.  By not allowing the child to treat me badly and by making him understand what he was doing was wrong was amazing.

I feel like Mrs. Weather not only upheld ethics during this situation but during other situations as well.  Other teachers would talk to Mrs. Weather about their students, Mrs. Weather would listen as the other teacher called the student by name.  When we walked away Mrs. Weather turned to me and said, “now you know what she was saying to us was not ethical.  I do not divulge names when talking to my fellow teachers, friends or family and as a future educator I would hope that you would do the same.”  I felt like I was in the classroom at Tallahassee Community College when she said this to me.  Mrs. Weather was an example for all future teachers.  I am so glad I got to observe in her classroom.  Mrs. Weather is the example for these standards set by the State of Florida.  This is just part of the Code of Ethics for the Education Profession in Florida but I thought these three things explained Mrs. Weather to a "T". 

6B-1.006 Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida

6B-1.001 Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida.

1.     The educator values the worth and dignity of every person, the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, acquisition of knowledge, and the nurture of democratic citizenship. Essential to the achievement of these standards are the freedom to learn and to teach and the guarantee of equal opportunity for all.

2.     The educator's primary professional concern will always be for the student and for the development of the student's potential. The educator will therefore strive for professional growth and will seek to exercise the best professional judgment and integrity.

3.     Aware of the importance of maintaining the respect and confidence of one's colleagues, of students, of parents, and of other members of the community, the educator strives to achieve and sustain the highest degree of ethical conduct.

  (http://www.fldoe.org/edstandards/code_of_ethics.asp) 

During my observation hours I visited: Shadeville Elementary, a Pre-First classroom, Woodland Hall Academy, during language arts session, and Community Christian School, a third grade class.  I chose to do my service hours at Shadeville Elementary in the Pre-First classroom with Mrs. Weather.  I feel like I have gained so much information not just from my professor, but from my field experience in the classrooms.  I learned that third grade is a little to advance for my taste.  They were learning things I have not even thought about in nearly 15 years.  I also learned that I am more into the world of children with special needs than I thought.  My experience at Woodland Hall taught me that fact.  That school will always hold an awesome little corner in my brain because it was so interesting and different from anything I had ever seen at any school I have ever been too. 

I chose to do my service hours with a grade level that was closer to my heart.  Although I would like to teach, 1^st or 2^nd grade, these Pre-First kids really need a loving, caring and amazing teacher.  The reason for this being that most of them do not get the support they need at home.  I thought that I would go in, color, write a few blogs and be done, class completed, credits obtained.  But I found out that teaching is my true passion and these children need someone who has a specialized body of knowledge, autonomy, the ability to make decision and reflect on said decisions, and someone who has high ethical standards and conduct.  (Dr. Barrett’s notes)   With these four things said the teacher they need also should be caring and compassionate and be willing to do whatever it takes to help these kids learn and retain the material.  Sometimes these children do not have that love and support from home.  My biggest hurdle is going to be not getting too attached to my children.

I have two most memorable moments from my field experience.  One would have to be little Ben, he was a seven year old child in Mrs. Weather’s class that had a hard time reading.  Mrs. Weather would allow them to take the books home to read all week then the following Monday they would read it with Mrs. Weather for a grade.  But Ben did not even know how to hold the book let alone read it with Mrs. Weather.  It was just SO heart breaking.  It is things like that, that just eat me up inside.  You know that their parent is not sitting down with them and reading, something I plan on doing EVERY single night with my child.   The second would be the art project Mrs. Weather let me take the lead on.  It was so funny to see all the kids’ faces at my awesome coloring job.  They were all asking me, “Can you help me Ms. Pam?   Can you pick out my colors?  Can you color mine?” HAHA…it just made me laugh so much.  They were all so precious and so different and so wonderful in their own way.  They were all eager and willing to learn. 

I just can’t wait to take the reins and lead my class and teach them everything I possibly can.  There are a million different ways to make a child learn and grasp a concept.  I cannot wait for the opportunity to get in my own classroom and make it mine.  I will be going into the teaching profession.  This world, this county, our state and our community needs wonderful and well educated teachers.  The highest form of learning is teaching. (Dr. Barrett’s notes)  If I can get the best education possible I will be the best teacher I can be.  I commit to continue learning after I graduate with my degree because that will make me best teacher for those little minds to learn from.  Being in a class room and seeing how much these children need wonderful and compassionate teachers has led me to this decision.  I feel like it is my calling, my duty to be a leader and a teacher for these young and sponge-like minds.  The examples of this decision can be found throughout this blog.  I would be a better, less harsh disciplinarian and a more motivated presence in the classroom.  By doing just these two things would make my classroom a more respectful, more upbeat and livelier environment for kids to learn.