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Teachers must develop the characteristics of a professional and model professionalism

every day. “How educators conduct themselves with students, colleagues, administration,

parents, and the community is important to maintaining high standards of professionalism”

(Konen, 2018, para. 1). Ongoing professional training, productive interactions and collaboration

with colleagues, positive interactions with students and families, leadership and community

involvement, as well as professional appearance are all aspects that show signs of

professionalism in a teacher. Teachers play a critical role in helping their students achieve

success. Teachers that demonstrate professionalism show that they take this responsibility

seriously.

Here is a research project that I developed on “Implementing a program of mentor

sentences to improve kindergartens written language usage (grammar and syntax)”. Teacher

collaboration and teacher action research both contributed to the development of my research

project. “When individual teachers develop a research question and begin with a plan or proposal

for doing the study, it is becoming increasingly compelling for them to also consider what the

possible implications of their study might be-for their teammates, grade level, department,

school, and the profession” (Burnaford et al., 2001, p 200). Starting at the very beginning stage

of my research project, I began to collaborate with my colleagues which lead to my research

topic based on student deficits not only in my classroom but throughout the grade levels (K-5)

within my school. Teacher collaborative groups can provide a venue through with teachers can

“access, conceptualize, and learn from problems of practice” (Horn & Little, 2010, p. 181).

As my research project started to take shape, I began to collect data and started to share

my findings with colleagues. “When we sit with our peers and discuss the real work of the

classroom through our inquiry, we make connections that just aren’t possible without this talk”
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(Hubbard & Power, 2003, p. 178). My data suggested that incorporating a mentor sentence

program in my kindergarten classroom was very successful. All of the hands on activities proved

to be very engaging and students were quickly able to identify nouns, verbs, pronouns, proper

sentence formation, punctuation, etc.

As my research project continued, more and more colleagues started hearing about the

success of implementing mentor sentences programs. A new teacher research group started to

form where colleagues started implementing this program into their classrooms and share each

other’s results. “Establishing teacher research community groups enables teachers to celebrate

their successes with each other, create and re-create ways of helping groups of children learn

more effectively, and strengthen the connections teacher have with each other (Burnaford et al.,

2001, p. 176).

It was very exciting to see how my research project not only helped students understand

grammar and syntax but it also enabled my colleagues and I to form a research community

within our school. Teachers, students, and community members all have skills and knowledge

that needs to be shared with each other so we can all be successful at student achievement and

personal growth. Collaboration is so important because there are so many different techniques

and different approaches to teaching. We have to be able to compare and share our ideas with

each other to see what works and doesn’t work. It is also another way to discover new ideas

and gives us opportunities to model new techniques. Teachers that demonstrate

professionalism collaborate and have productive interactions with their colleagues. “It takes

work and effort to be a professional. It takes time to go to conferences, read the journals, work

actively on committees, and give extra help after school to students who need it. But the

rewards go to the professionals” (Wong & Wong, 1998, p 294).

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Reference:

Burnaford, G, Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. Editors (2001) Teachers doing research:

The power of action through inquiry. Second Edition. Routeledge, Taylor &

Francis Group 2. New York, NY.

Horn, I., & Little, J. (2010). Attending to problems of practice: Routines and resources from

professional learning in teachers’ workplace interactions. American Educational

Research Journal, 47 (1), 181-217. Retrieved from: JSTOR

Hubbard, R & Power, B. (2003) The art of classroom inquiry. Revised Edition.

Heinemann. Portsmouth, NH.

Konen, J. (2018, February 20). 3 questions to tackle in showing professionalism. Teacher.org.

Retrieved from: https://www.teacher.org/daily/showing-professionalism/

Wong, H. K., and R. T. Wong. (1998). The first days of school: How to be an

effective teacher. Mountainview, Calif.: Harry K. Wong Publications.