REID MASTER’S PORFOILIO 1

Professionalism Statement

The University of Alaska Southeast, Alaska College of Education states that candidates

are aware of and reflect on their practice in light of research on teaching, professional ethics and

resources available for professional learning; they continually evaluate the effects of their

professional decisions and actions on students, families and other professionals in the learning

community and actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally. To demonstrate my

understanding and continuation of this goal, I will refer to my classroom research from spring

2019. The artifact is titled The Effects of Increasing Positive Interactions in a 1st Grade

Classroom.

In preparation for my classroom research, January 2019, I started keeping a journal of

daily events in my classroom. Later, while reading the journal, and reflecting on my practice, it

quickly became apparent that I needed to figure out how to reduce the number of behaviors and

off task students in my classroom. I reached out to my professional learning community. Some

gave me advice, others directed me to other professionals and to resources like books and videos.

Once I narrowed down my research question, I used the University of Alaska Southeast, Egan

Library, Databases for Education, to search academic journals for studies on the effects of

increasing positive interactions in the classroom.

The most current research suggested a ration of 5:1 positive to corrective interactions

with students (Cook, Coco, Zhang, Fiat, Duong, Rensha, Long, & Frank, 2018). This is the same

ratio the teachers in my school are encouraged to do. However, research states, “Significant

evidence indicates that teachers rarely use praise effectively in the classroom” (Thompson,

Marchant, Anderson, Prater, & Gibb, 2012, p. 522). I realized I needed training and

encouragement. I needed to know why and how to reach this goal. I needed to believe it was the
REID MASTER’S PORFOILIO 2

right thing to do, not just do it because I was told to. My research provided me with this

information.

One of my favorite new resources is the book and the DVD series titled Foundations: A

proactive & positive behavior support system (Sprick, Sprick, & Rich, 2014). The authors stated

that teachers who do not overly strive to be positive digress into the pattern of paying 3 to 15

times more attention to misbehavior than to positive behavior (2014). During the three weeks of

my data collection, not only did I learn new ways to have positive interactions with my students,

but I also strived to reach the 5:1 ratio of positive to corrective interactions. At times, I felt like I

was overdoing the positives. However, authors Sprick, Sprick, & Rich stated that one should not

fear sounding phony to students because the effort to deliver positives would probably benefit

students and not do any harm (2014, pg. 63).

My research proved that increasing positive interactions with my students did decrease

misbehaviors and off task students in my classroom; however, I was not able to reach the 5:1

ratio of positives to negatives. Recently I learned that schools in the Anchorage area are

challenging their teachers to reach a ratio of 8:1 and even 15:1. I will be working on increasing

my ratios this coming school year.

I have learned that the only way to make improvements in my teaching, and in my

classroom, is to continually evaluate my practice. For example, during the data collection period

for my research, I had to use my iPad to video myself teaching in order to count my positives and

my correctives. In my research paper, I noted that I should video myself once a week because the

information revealed the good and the bad in my teaching practice. Now, once a week seems a

little too much. Maybe once a month is a more realistic goal.

REID MASTER’S PORFOILIO 3

Recently I completed a scholarship application to attend a Conscious Discipline

workshop titled Building Trauma-Sensitive Classrooms and Schools, which will be held October

4-5, 2019 in Orlando, FL. Many of the changes I made in my classroom were based on Dr.

Bailey’s Conscious Discipline concepts. For example, rather than getting mad at a child who has

made a poor choice, she calmly recommends asking, “What could you do now that would be

helpful?” (Bailey, 2015, p. 183). The two day, intense workshop would further train my brain to

think the Conscious Discipline way, which my students and I would benefit from.

In conclusion, writing the many framing statements for my Master’s Portfolio has

allowed me to reflect on my practice just as I have for this Professionalism Statement. As I have

reflected, I have taken time to write my thoughts and ideas in a journal for this coming school

year, which means I am continually evaluating the effects of my professional decisions and

actions. For example, the following are changes for this coming school year: Start each day with

a poem, revisit how to run a writing workshops, make sure I know goals for students with IEPs,

add raven study to my Alaskan Animals science unit, start math journals, play war with high

frequency words, and most recently, make changes to my parent-teacher conferences. Also, I am

seeking the opportunity to grow professionally by taking the time to complete a scholarship

application to a conference that is at a great distance with an expense I will likely be liable for,

but that is OK. There is no corporate ladder to climb for teachers, nor are their big paychecks.

However, teaching is: my dream, my hobby, my love, my vocation.

References

Bailey, B. A. (2015). Conscious Discipline: Building resilient classrooms. Oviedo, FL: Loving

Guidance.

Cook, C. R., Coco, S., Zhang, Y., Fiat, A. E., Duong, M. T., Renshaw, T. L., Long A. C.
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& Frank, S. (2018). Cultivating positive teacher-student relationships. School Psychology

Review, 47(3), 226–243. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/10.17105/SPR-2017-

0025.V47-3

Sprick, R., Sprick J., & Rich, P. (2014). Foundations: A proactive & positive behavior support

system. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing.

Thompson, M. T., Marchant, M., Anderson, D., Prater, M. A., & Gibb, G. (2012). Effects of

Tiered Training on General Educators’ Use of Specific Praise. Education & Treatment of

Children, 35(4), 521–546. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/10.1353/etc.2012.0032