Educators contribute to the profession.
Standard 8 is contributing to the profession in a variety of ways. It is not just coming in and teaching the curriculum and leaving because there are so many more aspects to teaching. Teaching is not done in isolation because when you contribute to the profession you are helping out your district, school and colleagues. This standard is about supporting other teachers, becoming a mentor and fully participating in any opportunities that are offered. To me, standard 8 means sharing resources with other teachers, contributing ideas and knowledge in different areas or meetings with colleagues, admin, schools and the district and mentoring new teachers as you grow in the profession. Teaching is collaborative and if everyone contributes to the profession it will greatly impact our students as well.
My artefact for this standard is a plant scavenger hunt I made with my group for the school visit to Shane Lake we did at the end of block 3. The scavenger hunt had a few different pictures of plants that are commonly found around Shane Lake. The students were supposed to go look for each plant and once they found it we would discuss the traditional Indigenous uses for the plant. The activity can be adapted for any space that you have access to. One of the teachers on the school trip really liked the scavenger hunt we made and wanted a copy of it to use in her own classroom. I sent her the pdf we made with all of the plants listed so that she could use it again with any of her students. Another artefact that is coming up is the education program’s orientation for 2024. We have split into groups and each come up with a fun activity to do with the new cohort to get to know each other and introduce them to the program a little bit.
This artefact connects to standard 6 because my group for the school visit to Shane Lake contributed to the profession by supporting another teacher with a resource. That resource can be used in her own classroom and adapted to any green space that is accessible to them. With that connection made, we can ask her for advice at any time as well. For orientation in September we are in more of a mentorship role as we welcome the new cohort to the education program. We are doing fun icebreaker type activities throughout the day while also modelling the people, place and land pedagogy that the program upholds. We can answer any questions the new cohort may have and give advice on classes and workload. Overall, contributing to the profession is important and can be done in many ways. It makes the role of educator a more meaningful experience and shows that everyone can work together and they do not have to do things alone.
