WTS 5

Reflection
Rebecca Odden
Saint Marys University of Minnesota
Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs
Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standard 9
EDUW 695 Ethics and Issues in Education
Kathi Stebbins-Hinz

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Selected Wisconsin Teacher Standard Descriptors

Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 9: Teachers are able to evaluate themselves and their
teaching.
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her
choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning
community), and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
Knowledge. The teacher understands critical frameworks for reflecting on teaching
practice (e.g. frameworks from social, cultural, and philosophical foundations of education).
Dispositions. The teacher is committed to seeking out, developing, and continually
refining practices that address the individual needs of students.
Performances. The teacher draws upon professional colleagues within the school and
other professional areas as supports for reflection, problem-solving and new ideas, actively
sharing experiences and seeking and giving feedback.
Individual Goal
A teacher who looks at an issue from both sides on a issue. A teacher that treats
my students with respect and equality no matter the issue at hand.

Self-assessment and Reflection Based on Descriptors from WTS 9

For Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 9, I want to focus of self-assessment of myself
and my teaching, so that I can grow professionally as an educator. I will use the consequentialist
versus non-consequentialist views in my teaching approaches to help my students solve
problems. I am currently in my ninth year of teaching at Cumberland Elementary School. This is
my fifth year in special education and four previous years in Agriculture Education. This year I
have eighteen students on my caseload. I am 1st through fourth grade Emotional Behavior

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Disability (EBD) teacher and third and fourth grade Learning Disability (LD)/ Other Health
Impairment (OHI) and Autism Teacher. Of those eighteen students: five are EBD, five are LD,
and six are OHI, one Autistic and one Cognitive Disability (CD) student.
The knowledge descriptor that I chose states that The teacher understands critical
frameworks for reflecting on teaching practice. As a beginning teacher I often made it through
the day and the day after that. I never really took the time at the end of the lesson to determine
what went well for the students or myself. After going through this program I am reflecting
multiple times throughout the day to determine my next best step for student learning. I keep a
notebook at my desk to take notes throughout the day and then at the end of the day I finalize my
plans for the next day. While there is always room for improvement I am seeing steady progress
in my students and my teaching consistency.
For the disposition descriptor that states, the teacher is committed to seeking out,
developing, and continually refining practices that address the individual needs of students.
As a special education teacher I progress monitor bi-weekly to determine if my students are
making progress on their specialized interventions. Often my students dont show significant
rates of gains, but if they arent improving I am always seeking other teachers advice to improve
my learning as a teacher.
I chose, The teacher draws upon professional colleagues within the school and other
professional areas as supports for reflection, problem-solving and new ideas, actively sharing
experiences and seeking and giving feedback. As a educator I am always looking for workshops
to attend at the our local Cooperative Education Service Agency (CESA). I speak or e-mail
weekly sometimes daily with my students regular education teachers, so that we can provide
consistency for the students. Often when a student is successful in one environment they are
successful in another environment because of a technique or a strategy a teacher is trying.
Introduction

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Completing my Masters program has influenced my teaching in every area. It has taught
me to take the time to reflect and implement the changes that I have learned. It has also given me
insight to professional development that I have attended. I know feel that when attending training
or a teaching opportunity it is best to come back and reflect on the experience before a full
implementation, so that I can make it fully successfully for my students. How I feel that I will
improve my reflection practice is by setting individual goals for each unit. Since, special
education student show growth at a slower rate I will assess at the end of units to determine if
growth is being made. Then I will reflect on the process and make changes to the unit.
Another important concept that this course taught me was about personal filters. Filters
are hidden rules in society that make affect the decisions we make. Being a special education
teacher I was amazed at how my personal filter often want to pre-judge a situation, but I often
have to wait and hear both sides of a situation and then make a decision. I was blessed to be
raised in a good family, where many of my students do not have the same values that I have.
Often I have to remind myself that my students dont think like I do.
Reflection
Ethics was an interesting class for me because I always that I was a pretty fair person. I
found that I was more biased than I thought. I was stricter with some students than others
because of what I perceived to be. What I found is I need to have the same expectations for all
students. What helped me to put this in perspective is the debate assignment (Artifact A). For this
assignment I chose to discuss inclusion. Before I started teaching special education I often
thought the best option for special education students is being removed, but being part of the
debate allowed us to take on all sides and hear from different perspectives.
Inclusion is a challenging topic and not a decision that you can choose for every student.
It really is a student-by-student decision. Though being in special education in for another year I
do believe that if all possible students should be in the regular education setting if they are able.

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In my previous school, the numbers were too high and we couldnt make it work. At my new
position I am able to go in to a few classes instead of pulling out and I do think it is a good fit for
that student. What Ethics taught me was to look at it from all sides. Not just my side, but also the
special student, the regular education teacher and other students perspectives. How would this
decision affect all players and what the best option is for all?

Artifact A : Debate Assignment

Inclusion
Pro:
~Provides the Least Restrict Environment for most students.
~It creates an environment where learners are comfortable at all levels and abilities.
~ No inclusion means exclusion.
~Not just the student are involved, but families are too.
~ Meeting the students for all through universal design, so that special education students
arent even identified. ( Audio books, positive behavior systems, kinosetic activities)
~Its a place to learn and grow about differences.
~In a good inclusive classroom, you cant tell the kids with disabilities.
~Integrating the topics of the students disability into discussions creates an open forum,
which bonds the kids. ( Such as if a child sick with cancer)
~ Honesty about hard topics, prepares kids for real life. ( A boy with a feeding tube)
~ Creating an equal opportunity for all students.
~ Higher academic students can help lowers students.
~It works at some level for all students.
~ Exposure to common core standards.
Con:
~ Not enough staff to go around.
~Staff is burned out.
~ Classroom disruption of behavior which doesnt allow learning to take place.
~ Special education staff called away to deal with other children leaving regular
education staff alone.
~ Disregard of gifted kids and other kids, so they do not get appropriate correct academic
development.
~ Segregation of students.
~Demoralizes students at lower levels due to not understanding.
~ Frustration for students at lower levels and students at higher levels.

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~ Learning is not equal or provided equally in the classroom.

~ Not every kid belongs in the school setting.
~ The traditional school setting is sometimes unsafe to some students.
~ By lowering the standards of the classroom we lowers the standards that the class will
meet.
~ Inclusion is not a law.

After researching this topic in-depth, teaching as a regular education teacher and special
education teacher I have come to the conclusion that I am for inclusion. There are many
challenges to this teaching model, but with all challenges come great success.
As an Agriculture teacher I enjoyed the interaction between the special education
students and regular education students in my classroom. I had two down- syndrome students
who attended my classes and interacted with the students. All students gained from having each
other in class. The higher students helped the lower students, which helped everyone gain
confidence. It was extra prep time to put everything together, but it was worth the time. The
students also came with aides, which helped. In many circumstances this might not be possible.
This was a successful story of inclusion.
From the position of a special education teacher I am for inclusion, but see the
struggle with it more. I see how inclusion can work for a severe CD student who goes into band
and listens to music or a Autistic student who independently goes into a grade level math class
and works on a ipad. These are all great things and are a benefit for all students involved. Where
I struggle is with a LD reader who is 6 levels below grade level and is expected to perform at
grade level. Is the best placement for that student in the regular education setting? They become
frustrated and then we start to see a behavior problem, which then takes away from all learners in
the classroom. If there is correct amount of support between regular education and special
education staff this shouldnt be happening and proactive universal designs should be put into
place. With that said there is only so much time in the day.

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Without inclusion there is exclusion and I feel that education has made great gains
from having kids in special education next to the broiler room, but finding the balance in
anything seems to hardest part. Every student is different, but every student I have worked with
wants to feel normal and that to them is being in the regular education setting. Inclusion provides
that and how we support those students to feel successful there is my job. That is why I support
inclusion.

References
Carpenter, Wade. A. (Spring 2008). The Other Side of Inclusion). Educational Horizons.
SaponS hevin, Mara. (September 2008). Learning in an Inclusive Community.
Educational Leadership