Alex Vallejos

EDUC 1120-1010
Lorna Bulwan
12/1/2020

Alex Vallejos’ Culminating Professional

Plan and Self Evaluation
 Part 1: Teacher Disposition

After reading through the Danielson’s framework for teacher dispositions, there are five
specific sections it talks about that all highly effective teachers need to possess; Empathy, Open-
Mindedness, Responsibility, Communication and Professionalism. In this section I will look over
each of the dispositions, listing examples of each I have witnessed during this semester and
reflect on how I as a future educator fit into teach of the dispositions.
The first two are Intellectual Empathy and Open-Mindedness. Intellectual Empathy is
described as “the ability to see things from another person’s point of view. This is very important
for interacting with students who have experiences and cultural identities that are different from
your own. Open-Mindedness is the ability to look at an idea or mindset that does not match your
own and having the willingness to look at evidence and reflect on the possibility that your view
may be wrong. This also can include accepting different perspectives, constructive feedback, and
new ideas. These are areas I find myself able to connect with easily. Being a student that found
himself feeling separated from the rest mf my classmates due to my learning disabilities, I came
to sympathize with students when they don’t connect with the rest of the class as I desire to make
everyone feel included and am willing to understand more about others to do so. Having an open
mind to study new things and accept that as I teach, I am also learning along with the students is
key. This was witnessed in observations as the teachers were clearly listening to their students.
One of the teachers even had their students fill out questionnaires about themselves as to be able
to understand his students to keep open-mindedness and have empathy for their students.
The next disposition discussed is Responsibility. Responsibility is described as “the ability for
a teacher to be accountable and reflective on the outcome of professional and personal actions.”
This was seen in many instances of my observations as teachers were very proactive in being
responsive to their students. This is a disposition that I think I would also excel in as I am very
geared towards taking ownership of the success of everyone I am leading, being responsible for
them. As a teacher I would be sure to take initiative to improve student learning.
Communication and Professionalism were the last two. Communication supports teachers to
develop positive relationships with others in a variety of venues.” This was witnessed through
the teachers ability to covey information to the students in ways they were able to understand and
thrive with. This is an area that I would be weaker in than the others as I would need to work
harder to make sure I am contributing to the group effort. Though my general demeanor allows
me to communicate in a non-judgmental, respectful way that is a part of good communication.
All of this is combined into professionalism, which is maintaining a professional ethic and
demeanor. Through my desire to keep deadlines and efficiently complete tasks according to
regulations given to me I think this would be an area I would also be able to excel in.
All of these also combine with the 6 commitments for teacher candidates in NM. In having a
“commitment to students and their learning”, I am showcasing responsibility, open-mindedness,
and Intellectual empathy to be able to commit the time and willingness to understand my
students to allow them to succeed in their learning. “Receiving and acting upon professional
feedback” is also a form of open-mindedness. Professionalism is demonstrated in the third
teacher commitment, “Demonstrating professional practices and demeanor”. And the last three
are all summed up in communication; “Communicate effectively and professionally”,
“Collaborate with others in a positive and professional manner”, and “Demonstrate cultural
competence in interactions and communication,” None of these dispositions or teacher
commitments listed would be effective on their own, and through being able to observe teachers
who exemplify these and learning myself through personal interactions, I can start to show these
in my teaching also.
 Part 2: Educator Code of Ethics

The NEA Educator Code of Ethics and the Model Core InTASC Teaching Standards for
Educators gives educators and future educators like myself several principles and standards to
examine and follow. In this section of the Paper I will examine these and see out of them which
ones are strengths that I can be effective at and which challenge me and will require more work
from to improve and become proficient in.
The Model core InTASC Teaching Standards for Educators gives 10 different standards. Of
these, there are five of which I believe I are already strengths. All of these relate in some way to
understanding the students and recognizing the best ways to help them to learn. These are areas
that I think are strengths for me. Standard #1: Learner Development focuses on the teacher
understanding and finding patterns in the different ways students learn. Standard #2: Learning
Differences, involves the teacher understanding the student’s differences and their making sure
to include all cultures. Through my desire to always be learning about others, the way they think
and their different cultures from my own, I will be able to use that in my future teaching career to
help me in these areas.
The next Teaching Standards that I believe will be strengths for me are Standards 5 and 6.
Standard #5: Application of Content is listed in the Model as, “The Teacher understands how to
connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity,
and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.” I have always
found myself using concepts that can relate to things around me and others to help explain a
problem or concept, thus I can utilize this in my teaching. Standard #6 Assessment is when, “The
Teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own
growth, to monitor learner progress,” I am a strong proponent of trying to cater learning styles to
what best fits the individual student. I will definitely as a teacher use many methods to engage
and monitor my students progress to guide my decision making.
The final Teaching Standard that will be strength to me is standard #9: Professional Learning
and Ethical Practice. This standard involves how “The teacher engages in ongoing professional
learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice” Being someone who is
constantly working to improve myself, this area will be one of my strengths as I constantly
evaluate myself and my work to adjust where needed to be the best teacher I can be.
In observing the other five teaching standards, these will be more of a challenge to me that I
will need to work harder to ensure I do. Standards #3 and #10 both involve collaborating with
others. Standard #3: Learning Environments are when “The teacher works with others to create
environments that support individual and collaborative learning,” and Standard #10: Leadership
and collaboration. Communication is something that is not one of my strongest points which will
affect my ability to collaborate effectively with others.
The next area that I am currently weaker on is knowledge of content and instructional
methods. Being in my first semester of learning, Standard #4: Content Knowledge is not as
widely known yet. Along with this is instructional knowledge. Standard #7: Planning for
instruction and #8: Instructional Strategies both go hand and hand. Without knowledge of
content areas, I am unable to plan for instruction effectively and then unable to use a variety of
instructional strategies to encourage learners. All of these are areas that with further education
and development I will be able to grow in to become efficient as a teacher.
 Part 3: Reflective Synthesis & Professional Plan

In this final part of this paper I will synthesize all of the previous parts into one section,

sharing how my own disposition, personality, and views will play into my future role in

education. I will also share how I plan to move forward into an education role, what my next

steps will be after this course and after I acquire my degree at San Juan College. This will all

conclude with a final synthesis of my takeaways from this course, my practicum experiences,

and projection of my own future role in education.

To begin, my personal disposition and views are very people focused and aim to learn and

understand more about the differences of others. This can reflect well on many aspects that are

needed for a career in education. Through my experiences of not being understood nor accepted

as a student, I can strive to ensure everyone has the chance to be appreciated and given a chance

to learn in a way that best suits them. My lack of formal knowledge in many content areas and

weaker points in communication serve as challenges for me to overcome. Though with my drive

to study and learn, over the time of taking this degree my knowledge of classroom content and

instruction methods will increase mixing a desire to see students succeed with the knowledge to

bring it to fruition. My challenges with communication with others will require work also, as I

find more opportunities to do this with in person class observations and more communication

with classmates post pandemic, I will improve those fields.

Being in only my first semester of this degree, I have much ahead of me. This does not mean

I do not carry with a plan for the future though. I plan to carry over my AA to a four-year college

to gain my BA. While the college I am transferring to has not been decided yet, I am already

looking into candidates. While working to gain a Bachelors, I will also work at completing all
needed New Mexico teacher preparation programs to become certified. This will give me

opportunity for employment in secondary education as I continue my education into a master’s

degree that I can utilize into possibly working at a college.

Even with a semester that is very different from any before, and hopefully any after, I was

able to observe several teachers including my instructor for this course and learn many things

about being an educator I did not know of before. Through the observation of a teachers need to

be understanding and accepting of students from every walk of life and views, and finding

methods of how to approach disruptive students and change instruction methods to help students

learn, I have gained important knowledge to help me in not only a future in the education field,

but in how to approach any form of instructing an individual.