IX.+Professional+Practice+Principle

 In order to develop my practice further and maintain a continuous commitment to learning I have participated in several professional development programs. I am a member of the OPHUN-L (Physics) listserv through [|SUNY Onenota] and continuously receive and read emails that connect me to current colleagues in physics education and the topics we are all facing. I participated in and am a member of the [|Western New York Physics Teachers Alliance] through Buffalo State University (9.1a). This association holds monthly meetings where colleagues can share educational resources related to technology or physics education and provides a venue for direct communication with other professionals.
 * //9. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE PRINCIPLE //**
 * //9.1 //** **//Candidates are committed to continue to learn and improve their practice throughout their teaching career. //**

 Another major commitment to continue to learn and improve my practice involves the use and investigation of web 2.0 literacies. In my Literacy as a Social Practice class (EDU 498) we investigated three web 2.0’s that we found useful to use in our classrooms and incorporated some form of literacy (9.1b). My three web 2.0’s were [|edmodo.com], which is a social learning website for the classroom, [|scivee.tv], which is a website that allows science, technological, and medical markets to post videos and share media across researchers, educators, and students, and [|classroom 2.0], which is a social networking website for those interested in sharing information about web 2.0’s in education. I plan to continue to use these resources, as well as learn about new resources to incorporate into my practice.


 * //9.2 //** **//Candidates are able to reflect on their practices, constructively use critiques of their practice, and draw from theories and research results, in order to make necessary adjustments to enhance student learning. //**

 As I went through my student teaching I picked up several teaching practices from my course readings and discussions with my cooperative teachers. In particular, I developed a practice that reflected inquiry practices focusing on allowing students hands-on experiences with a science topic directly at the introduction of that topic. This is to be followed by class or group discussions that aim to collaborative construct understandings and highlight misconceptions. Students would then return back to an investigation of the phenomena, but on a much deeper and knowledgeable level in order to strengthen their understandings with application and observation (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005; Selby, 2006; Huber & Moore, 2001). Another big part of this process of teaching and learning is to use embedded assessments, mostly formative in nature. These assessments should be placed periodically throughout the instruction of a unit in order to allow for reflective lessons and provide instructional information to both students and teachers (Ayala et al., 2008). I have also shown growth in my classroom management practice over my time at Warner. This growth has come from continuous reflections on lessons and student development with the incorporation of various techniques that I picked up from my readings and colleagues (9.2a).

 An example of a reflective practice I used was during my field observations at Wilson Commencement when I implemented a series of three lessons. These three lessons were developed from three arrows I choose from my STARS observation that I wanted to enhance my practice around (9.2b). These three arrows included safety, student leadership, and demonstrations. I chose safety because during STARS the set-up between the lab table where students needed to wear goggles and the side of the room where discussion took place was not clearly defined, and I wanted to ensure this practice was made explicit in the future. I chose student leadership because it increased student motivation and participation during the activity and I wanted to provide students with empowerment in their learning. I chose demonstrations because they provided students with a foundational experience that helped to assess misconceptions and understandings early, as well as provide a means of initiating discussion. Through designing these three lessons I was able to successfully develop learning that surrounded these three topics and enhanced my ability to incorporate and implement them in my practice. This is evidenced by student work such as the inertia predict, observe, explain (POE) assessment, which included all three of my arrows in its instruction. Safety was addressed before the beginning of each activity, often accompanied by a powerpoint slide as a visual. Student leadership was included by asking for volunteers to participate in and run the demonstrations for the POE (9.2c, p.5). Four demonstrations were linked together through this POE in order to reinforce the concept of inertia. Each demonstration is similar to the next one in several ways, which include massive objects on top with a less massive object being removed from beneath it.

 During my student teaching placements I was observed several times by my supervisor, Jim Davidson, and lead supervisor, Kim Fluet. Lesson plans were written 48 hours in advance of each lesson so that supervisors could offer suggestions, recommendations, and advice about the lesson. This allowed me ample time to adjust the lessons to include supervisor comments (9.2d). Following lessons the supervisors provided me with observations and constructive critiques of my implementation. Often these observations took place early in the day to allow me to reflect on my practice and adjust future lessons in that day to focus on and develop improved presentation in all areas (9.2e).


 * //9.3 //** **//Candidates recognize the key role played by professional organizations and the importance of participating in these learning communities; this includes knowing and using relevant standards generated by these organizations (including professional ethics standards). //**

 I have presented at STANYS, Science Teachers Association of New York State, with two peers on authentic assessments (9.3a). Authentic assessments align with scientific theories that promote student learning through students’ analytical skills and problem solving, integration of knowledge across the curriculum, creativity, collaborative tasks, and engagement in real-life experiences. STANYS is a professional organization that promotes a mission to “work with educators and communities to provide opportunities for all students to participate in and learn science ( []).” Our focus on authentic assessments was to support this mission and provide other educators with the purpose to use authentic assessments as a tool for evaluating student achievement and understanding during the learning process.

 I also have been a member of the American Physics Society and have received publications of Physics Today and The Physics Teacher journals. This was from my induction into Sigma Pi Sigma Honor Society in 2007 at the University of Rochester (9.3b). I intend to continue with this membership one day and extend my membership to the American Association of Physics Teachers, but am waiting for financial reasons.


 * //Evidence: //**

[|2010.03.20_-_SUNY_Buffalo_State_PD_Closer_View_-_Turkett.JPG] || Western New York Physic Teacher's Alliance Professional Development - SUNY Buffalo State || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">EDU 498 - Web 2.0 Projects || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Lesson Plans || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Electric Fields Lesson Plan with Edits from Programmatic Mentor and Supervisor ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**EVIDENCE #** || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**EMBEDDED OR LINKED OBJECT** || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**DESCRIPTION** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.1a || [|2010.03.20_-_SUNY_Buffalo_State_PD_-_Turkett.JPG]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.1b || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[[file:Edmodo.doc]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 9.2a || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> [[file:2010.04.12 - Reflective Paper - Turkett.doc]] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">EDU 448 - Classroom Management Reflection Paper ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.2b || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|2010.11_-_Series_of_3_-_Turkett.JPG] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Series of three lessons - Newton's Laws of Motion Poster Presentation Picture ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.2c || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[[file:20091125-SeriesOfThreeLessonPlan-Newton-Turkett.doc]] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Series of three lessons - Newton's Laws of Motion
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.2d || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[[file:2010.03.02 - ElectricFields LessonPlan - Turkett.doc]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.2e || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[[file:2010.03.31 - Email with Jim - Turkett.doc]] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Follow-up email with Jim Davidson about advice given after an observation ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.3a || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|2009.10_-_STANYS_Pass_-_Turkett.JPG] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">STANYS 2009 Identification Card ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9.3b || [[file:SPS APS Memberships.pdf]] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Sigma Pi Sigma and American Physics Society Membership Cards ||

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Ayala, C., Shavelson, R., Ruiz-Primo, M.A., Brandon, P., Yin, Y., Furtak, E.M., Young, D., and Tomita, M. (2008). From formal embedded assessments to reflective lessons: The development of formative assessment studies. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Applied Measurement in Education //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">21 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">(4), 315-334.
 * //__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References __//**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Huber, R. and Moore, C. (2001). A model for extending hands-on science to be inquiry based. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">School Science and Mathematics //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">101 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">(1), 32-42.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Selby, C.C. (2006). What makes it science? A modern look at scientific inquiry. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Journal of College Science Teaching //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">35 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">(7), 8-11.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). //Understanding by design//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> home