Domain 4 Professional Responsibilities

Domain 4 is really about the much deeper level of teaching and being a professional. The components expect a teacher to further develop their teaching knowledge and skills and to be very self-directed in your learning.

** Reflecting on teaching: This is a very developmental process. Beginning teachers will start to reflect on the lesson parts, how students answered questions and participated, how the students did in an activity, etc. As teachers develop, they begin to reflect on the TYPES of questions they are including in their lessons for students to promote higher level thinking, various instructional strategies they used and their effectiveness, and how they used assessment during or at the end of the lesson to measure student learning.

** Maintaining accurate records: Teachers should maintain instructional records and students should be a part of that maintenance--- it should NEVER be a surprise to any student how they are progressing in their learning.

** Communicating with Families: Communication with families should be timely, often and engaging. Families have many questions about how their child is doing, and for the most part are a partner with the teacher in the child's learning.

** Participating in a Professional Learning Community: The teacher is dedicated to being collaborative and being an active participant in the learning community and working with the team. The teacher is involved in district events and projects and develops into a leader in their school.

** Growing and Developing Professionally: The teacher actively pursues professional development to improve their teaching and student learning. This could mean attending a conference, but more so, self-directed growth, such as reading, webinars, discussions, and seeking feedback from colleagues and principals, for their improvement.

** Demonstrating Professionalism: The teacher demonstrates ethical behavior and integrity. The teacher does not get involved in gossip in the faculty lounge, make comments about school and other teachers to others or people in the community, or post their dissatisfaction with their school, teachers, etc. on Facebook!