Rachel Kegley

28 March 2017

Professional Attributes

I believe that I am a 4 in the category of respect. When it comes to being respectful, I am

both respectful to people and items. I have demonstrated respect in my jobs at the City of

Bloomington and Dakota Prairie Elementary School. One way that I demonstrated respect at the

City of Bloomington is by working with parents to assure that their child was getting the best

summer experience that I could possibly give. Another way that I have demonstrated respect at

Dakota Prairie Elementary School is by communicating with the other workers within the school

to keep it functioning to the best of its ability. One example of my respectful communication is

addressing issues, but not placing blame. I am very inclusive in the way that I work with all types

of children and use their behaviors to their own advantage. At my City of Bloomington job, I had

one student with an impulse control disorder which made other children afraid of him. Offering

inclusive activities promoted all the children to play together and understand that he was a great

friend and enjoyable person to be around.

I would like to grow my ability to encourage inclusive attitudes and activities in my

everyday life. I will do this by attending the Tunnel of Oppression for a second time and

comparing the experience to the first time that I participated in 2016. I can attain this goal

because the event lasts several hours, so I will go once I am done with my classes. This is a

realistic goal for me to complete by the end of PS I.

In the responsibility category, I believe that I score a 3. I am a very dependable student

because I understand how frustrating it can be to depend on someone and be let down. I am a
people pleaser; however, I get scared to admit that I messed up. One way that I show

responsibility is arriving places on time or slightly early. I am very timely in getting my

assignments done and doing my job correctly and diligently. I have only missed a handful of

college classes in the three years that I have been here, and all the classes that I have missed have

been university approved absences. Not only do I plan my time accordingly with classes, but I

also hold four jobs while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. Confidentiality is also a large

key to my success in all my jobs. When addressing an issue about a student to my supervisor, I

have never used names unless they are in danger or others around them are in danger.

I would like to enhance my socially appropriate behaviors by socializing less about

personal stories in the preschool lab. I will do this by focusing more of my energy on the

children and avoiding mindless conversations with the other assistant and student teachers. This

goal is attainable because there are 14 children and 8 student and assistant teachers in the

classroom, so it will be easier to find a child to converse with than an adult. I will complete this

goal by the end of PS I, so it does not affect my future classroom or teaching strategy.

In the flexibility category, I would rate myself a 3 out of 5 because of my ability to adjust

my schedule depending on different events that may occur. One example of my flexibility is

understanding the difference between a childs perspective and my own perspective. I understand

that children do things with a different motivation than I do certain things. Another time that I

used my flexibility is when a field trip to a waterpark was canceled during my job last summer.

Instead of allowing the children to be upset about not being able to go to the waterpark, we had

our own water day in our program which included water balloons, sprinklers, and dumping

buckets of water on each other.

 One goal that I have regarding flexibility is to incorporate others ideas into what I

already have planned, or change my plan in general. I am creating this goal because I tend to

stick to my own thoughts more than I should, making me closeminded and hard to reach out to.

This goal is attainable because I have been promoted at my summer job to be a coordinator for

the Bloomington Parks and Recreation program, so it is critical that I use my flexible skills to

make the program even more successful than it already is. I will achieve my goal of

incorporating others ideas by the end of this coming summer (2017).

In the collaboration category I would rank myself a 3 out of 5 because I use teamwork to

my advantage. When it comes to working in a group, I explain my expectations clearly and

expect others to do the same. Although I have a difficult time receiving negative feedback, I use

the feedback to improve myself and prove others wrong. During group work, I make sure to split

responsibilities with my classmates to ensure that all the work is fair and accurate. I share my

thoughts and feelings and allow others to do the same. When I received feedback from Laura

during our Midterm Evaluations, I was extremely discouraged with some of the rankings she

gave me. I used her feedback to my advantage and have grown immensely within the few weeks

of receiving the feedback because I understand the expectations more clearly and would like to

improve my experience and my future teaching.

My goal for collaboration is to embrace feedback without becoming discouraged. I will

do this by focusing on the positive feedback, and simply adjusting the negative feedback and

make it into a learning experience. I will use this feedback to shape my attitude in the classroom

and note the positive things that I did in the preschool that day. This goal is attainable because I

can use my Midterm Evaluation to make the necessary improvements and then be assessed better
and have different feedback on the Final Evaluation. I will accomplish this goal between now

and the end of the semester in May 2017.

I have decided to give myself a three out of five in the reflection section because of

ability to see my own strengths and weaknesses, and what I can bring to the experience. I rated

myself a three because I often focus on weaknesses and dwell on what I can do to better myself.

Although I am a dweller, I use constructive feedback to my advantage to better myself towards

others expectations of me. I also think I do well with assessing my own knowledge and

performance because I take pride in my work and want others do acknowledge my hard work

and time dedication. One time that I used my reflection skills was when I got my midterm

evaluation back from Laura and adjusted my skills depending on what she gave constructive

feedback on. Not only did I adjust my work because I wanted to show Laura what I am capable

of, but I also know that her feedback will help me in my entire teaching career.

One goal that I have for the reflection portion is to understand and use the childs

perspective in the classroom. In order to view the childs perspective, I will ask at least three

more questions to the students and take notes on why they respond with certain answers (they are

expected to, first reaction, etc). I will be able to attain this goal because of the variety of answers

that children respond with, and their motivation to responding that way will be explained. This is

a realistic goal for me because I am in the lab school for a few more weeks and I also work at

Dakota Prairie Elementary School, where I can ask a variety of questions until the end of PS I in

May.

In the category of professional development, I would rate myself a three out of five

because thats the average score I would give myself through each of the examples given. I do
very well in certain portions of professional development, but can grow immensely in other

portions of professional development. One way that I know I am committed to the profession is

that everything I do in the classroom is for the childrens advantage. I also demonstrate the

ability of childrens learning through my job at Dakota Prairie Elementary School because of the

way that I shape the students responses to problems that may occur. I do not engage in

professional development activities such as meetings and clubs as much as I probably should.

However, I am a very active member of Phi Upsilon Omicron National Honor Society and

Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society for Education. Since the day that I turned 16, I have

worked in a job setting with children varying in ages. The age ranges that I have worked include

three months old until eighteen years old. I absolutely love learning and being encouraged to

learn more, so I also encourage others in order for them to get that sudden understanding

moment.

I want to improve my activity in my field, so my goal for professional development is to

attend at least one SNEA meeting on campus. I will reach out to at least one SNEA officer to

determine when and where the meetings are, and how they can positively impact my teaching. I

will take notes during the meeting to enhance my own understanding and to understand certain

ideas that can be transformational in my teaching career. I know I can attain this because there is

a student conference for two days in April and a webinar for the group on April 3rd. I think going

to at least one meeting or information session is a realistic goal to complete before the end of

April 2017.

I rate myself as a four in the effective communication and social awareness category. I

am excellent at using language effectively and I understand non-verbal communication very

quickly. I always maintain positive relationships with my peers, coworkers, family, and students
because I understand that positive relationships help with mental health. During my jobs at the

City of Bloomington or Dakota Prairie Elementary, I have grown to understand that children

need relationships with adults and children to expand their knowledge in socially appropriate

behavior. I make sure to explain thought processes to children in an appropriate manner so they

understand why I do what I do and there is a mutual sense of respect. I also wear appropriate

clothing in the lab school and in my professional life. I do not wear leggings unless my butt is

covered and I avoid low cut shirts. I present myself in a way that is approachable and

professional.

I would like to increase my professional dress to look even more inviting to parents and

peers. To increase my professional dress, I can wear more dresses and slacks with nice shirts. I

will continue to wear close-toed shoes even when it is warm outside. I will purchase more

appropriate and professional clothing including one pair of slacks and one dress. I will avoid

wearing jeans and SDSU clothing in the preschool more than once every two weeks. I know this

goal is attainable because I work four jobs and money is not an issue for me. Increasing my

professional wardrobe is a realistic goal for me to complete by the time PS II starts in the fall of

2017.