# data[].attributes.body
I was surprised how different my values/do not values were. As I was reviewing my lists, a lot of my do not value was testing related.
Yes, I use data from these assessments to drive my instruction, but I am not often surprised by what the data shows me. Much of this I can figure out by getting to know students and working with them. Yet we benchmark, test, and assess the heck out of our students. With the use of technology, and teaching students to record video/voice and annotate I have been able to gain back valuable time in the classroom with my students so we don't have to stop my small groups for 2 weeks, 3x/year (give or take).

# data[].attributes.body
What I noticed about my values is that most of them are student-centered. I value when students are able to view themselves in the classroom and when they make the classroom their own. There wasn't many things that I do not value that I am asked to do on a regular basis. Besides curriculum and the amount of time spent on each subject. So much curriculum is scripted and it can be very difficult to make it into active hands on learning for students. There are also a certain amount of minutes needed to be spent on per subject which can make it very challenging to get to topics such as growth mindset and SEL. I am a kinesthetic learner and love to be hands on. I also enjoyed when my teachers would let the students take ownership of their classroom and learning. I want the same for my students.

# data[].attributes.body
As I was making my list there wasn't anything that really surprised me. I value building relationships, establishing a community, student choice, and student growth. The curriculum and assessments all come after the happiness and character building of my students. I understand there is a time and a place for testing, I feel like there can be too much emphasis on the score rather than the growth. I want to incorporate more SEL, but there isn't a lot of time in our day that isn't accounted for already. We were told that next year the goal is in make some time for a daily morning meeting. I am hoping to use some of that time for more SEL activities, which I feel will help my students throughout the day.

# data[].attributes.body
Looking over the list of my values I made I was not surprised about them at all. I value my students' happiness, learning, feeling loved, feeling cared for, and friendship. I feel that my values for education show everyday in my teaching and my classroom. The top things I don't value are testing and requirements that are not best for my kids. I teach kindergarten and we have been told we are not allowed to have play time as it interferes with the amount of time for curriculum. That is not what's best for 5 and 6 year olds. They need to learn through play, that requirement is not what is best for my students.  Writing out my values will remind me to think of them often when I am teaching.

# data[].attributes.body
After making my list the thing that I noticed was that I value much more the way students feel, the behaviors, and the decisions that the students are making. I care more about their character than the tests and curriculum things. There were not any surprises for me after I filled it out. I feel that it is hard to focus as much as I want to on the character building of students and SEL because of the high priority of time for curriculum. I can see the value that I have in building character come out in my teaching and the priority that I try to spend any time on these teachings that I can. I want to make sure that I continue to spend time teaching character building lessons during my morning meeting.

# data[].attributes.body
My core values as a teacher are to make sure students are first emotionally strong and/or supported and then to focus on the curriculum. With that being said, I do value good curriculum with high standards. I love the MN standards because they are rigorous (at least in the grades I have taught-1st and 3rd). In my school I feel that SEL and rigor are very encouraged. I had a placement in undergrad that solely valued test scores and that made me feel icky. It wasn't a very comfortable place to be (in my opinion). I do not value competition or comparison of scores. This sometimes happens inadvertently in PLCs when we analyze data. This isn't super important to me and feel that people become stressed when their scores are shown. I wish we would stray away from unnecessary data and focus more on the whole child.

# data[].attributes.body
After I made my list and was looking over it there one was thing that did surprise me. That was the teaching to the benchmark provided by the state. I always had that as high value but now think a little differently after doing this for multiple years. They make these broad benchmarks for ag classes and it is so different around the state what type of ground people are farming on along with machinery and just types of crops raised. As for my values I think that I can really act on those daily at work with helping students and trying to lead by example. I do feel like we are probably all asked to do a few things that we think do not add any value to the classroom but I think that is the same in about any job or profession. I know that I would like to start thinking more about this with self reflection to gain a better understanding of what I want to accomplish. Brett Schmidt

# data[].attributes.body
When I was making my list I wasn't really surprised by what I had written down. One of the biggest things that I value in my classroom is creating relationships with all of my students. It is easy to make connections and start building those relationships and sometimes it is harder! I want to make sure each of my students feels welcomed into my classroom, especially when they are starting at a new school and are now in middle school. It is such a weird time for them, so I want to make the transition as simple and easy as possible. Another big thing I value in my classroom is coming together as one team our school motto. One thing that I really don't agree with is standardized testing. It does not show who the student is in and out of the classroom. I have struggle with standardized testing from grade school to college. Standardized testing does not define who a person is!!!

# data[].attributes.body
Nothing surprised me as I did this assignment. I value relationships in my classroom and my building. This year I spent so much time on building a classroom that came together as a family that some of the things I didn't value as much seemed almost irrelevant. There are things that are completely out of my control...curriculum that isn't age appropriate, no curriculum to address handwriting, phonics, or grammar, etc. I do value and love my students. It is important that we come together as a family. Each student has a voice and choice, which results in engaged, productive learners. The relationships I have with my colleagues has been such a blessing. We can support each other and share ideas. One of my strengths in relationship building and that comes through in my values.

# data[].attributes.body
Nothing really surprised me about my values. I feel as though what I value in my classroom is similar to what my values are in my "real life". I would say I try to instill some of these positive values into my students; such as: teamwork, simplicity, compassion, structure, strong work ethic, and making progress instead of being perfect. I would say that my principal and colleagues are all very supportive of these values that I intertwine into our day-to-day routine. As far as my non-values go, the one that is sticking out to me is perfection. I don't think my principal or colleagues expect me to be perfect, but I am a perfectionist, so I hold myself to that expectation. I know that is definitely an area I need to work on, because I am good at giving other people grace and understanding. It's just difficult when it comes to myself. I tell my students all of that time that it's about progress and not perfection, so I need to be more intentional about doing the same in my own life.

# data[].attributes.body
Of the two lists that I made nothing really surprised me. Out of the ones that I wrote down as a value in my classroom I am really only able to act on one or two of them regularly. The thing that stands out to me though is that the main reason that I am not able to act on these regularly is because time does not allow. Of the list of things that I do not value I am asked to do every one of them regularly. Other than standardized test those are only three times a year. The values that I have relate directly to my natural abilities to build relationships with students. Most of my values relate back to building relationships with my students. Giving the students choice, time to work together, morning meeting and free time during the day are tied into building community/ relationships with students. I really want to start implementing these things into my classroom again. I just have to figure out how to incorporate these things, without having to sacrafice anything else.

# data[].attributes.body
When I made my list I wasn't very surprised by what I discovered when I took time to look at it. My values were very much student centered. I value them learning meaningful information in a way that they enjoy and have fun learning. I also wasn't shocked by my list of things I disagree with. I wish there was a better way to be able to evaluate kids rather than testing. The testing works for some kids but for others it just raises anxiety. Obviously I have to do data collection and administer test according to my districts plan. I do feel like I have a little bit of flexibility in how I currently teach though and then can bring my values into the classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
I've had similar assignments to this in graduate school already, so I feel like I have a fairly strong grasp about my values in education up to this point. Therefore, none of my values really surprised me. My core values in education are acted on regularly because they center around the students and how I can best meet their needs. Unfortunately, many of the things on my list that I do NOT value are a regular part of my job, such as data collection, state testing, and other school policies that I disagree with. Distance learning has cemented my belief that standardized testing is garbage. Students do. not. need. it. These tests create anxiety for both students and teachers, do not accurately measure student knowledge, and become irrelevant when results are given to students the following year. As a profession, we need to get back to caring for the whole student and making their well-being, personal interests, and growth as individuals our top priority.

# data[].attributes.body
So far in my graduate classes we have done many personality tests where our values have been put on display.  I feel that these things have really helped me identify how to use my strengths and to be at piece with my teaching style. Therefore, I was not surprised when I wrote down my values. In a normal classroom setting my values encapsulate my lesson instruction. The components I do not value are mostly the building blocks of general education and I do have to do those things often. My values have been defined by my content area/interests and are very right brain-centered. My values are also very aligned with the concept of educating the whole child. As I continue to explore my values and become more confident in my methods, I will develop ways to incorporate my strengths more into my teaching.

# data[].attributes.body
I feel that I am able to really act on my values in a positive way in my classroom. I value having a strong community where all voices are heard, we are open and honest with each other, we are kind, and we respect each other. I think that a lot of these values are how I choose to live my life and I want my students to be able to witness these values in me. I want to be a positive role-model in their life and help them to be the best versions of themselves that they can be. I try to focus on these values, but there are times when the things I do not value seem to control my life as a teacher. I strongly disagree with standardized testing being the end all be all or judging our students by these tests. I also feel that the amount of testing my 2nd graders have to endure is too much. Sometimes I feel stuck because I am required to teach a certain curriculum and give specific tests. I know not to dwell on things I cannot change though, so I focus on helping my students through and supporting them. I have the choice everyday to make it a great day and that is what I decide to do!

# data[].attributes.body
I was most surprised by my values list being so much longer than my not value list. I have been focusing on the positives verses the negative and I think that might be why this happened. My values were very student group driven. There were many things that encouraged students to get along and accept everyone for who they are. Of the not values, I feel like I deal with those issues more regularly than I would like to, but as I become more comfortable and experienced, I have more on my plate to help our school and I have become more aware of issues. I think this might also be that I am a familiar face to students as I teach them year after year. This was a good practice for me. I clearly knew my values and not values, but putting them on paper helped the reflection process and stay positive even when I feel like my values are not being taught to the students at this time.

# data[].attributes.body
One thing I noticed as I was writing down my values related to education is that they very closely align to the values I try to carry out in my personal life as well. Many of my values related to human connection and community. Social emotional learning was a common theme amongst my values as well. In my kindergarten classroom I highly value positivity, play and creativity. These are three things I also value outside of the classroom. I feel blessed that I am able to act in accordance with my values on a regular basis. My administrators also value creativity and allow us to supplement the scripted curriculum to fit our teaching style and students' needs. On the side of things I do not value I had standardized tests at the top. Unfortunately there is no getting out of this one in MN public schools. Fortunately this is not something I have to engage in every single day. From my new awareness of my values, I would like to begin incorporating more opportunity for play and creativity in the distance learning model.

# data[].attributes.body
1. My list of values did not surprise me, however, I did like seeing them written all together on paper.
2. I see my students in a small group setting (reading and math intervention groups).  I feel that I am able to act on my values regularly.  I do my best to create a learning environment that is reflective of my values and beliefs.
3.  Because I teach reading and math intervention and have some freedom in how I plan my reading and math groups, I don't feel that I have to act regularly on the aspects I don't value.  When I taught 3rd grade, I felt I was asked to do those types of things more frequently, for example, focusing on standardized testing.
4. My aptitudes,  interests and values are all interconnected.  5. Seeing my list of values was a good reminder of my goals for the environment and experience I want for my students when they enter our learning space.

# data[].attributes.body
My list of values did not surprise me too much.  One thing I noticed though was that my list of values were longer than the things I didn't value. (That's a good thing)  I noticed that my values were mostly centered around my students well-being and happiness.
When looking at my values I do feel that I am able to act on the regularly in work.  My values are what I believe in and drive my instruction each day.  I do have to say that now with distance learning it has proved to be more challenging, but there still is a way to incorporate them, it just looks a little different.
Of the things that I do not value (standardized testing, grading, etc.) I found that these things take up so much extra time.  At the same time, I don't feel that these  non-valued items can be cut out.  Whose to say that these are not important, they are, they just aren't high on my list of importance.
Something that I would like to do more of  is connecting with families on the positive things that are happening. Even though its an "extra" it is important for families to know the great things their child is doing at school!

# data[].attributes.body
1. My list of values didn't really surprise me. I have pretty much had the same values all of my life and I try to remember them daily.
2. I feel that I am able to act on all of my values on a  a daily basis. My values are what drive me and motivate me to be the person that I am today.
3. I don't feel like I am asked to do many things that I don't value. If I don't value something, I make it a point to not do it.
4. I would say interests and values are often correlated. My interests are usually driven by my values that I have.
5. As I reflect on my values, there aren't any that I would like to change, however, I always strive to keep my values as a priority.

# data[].attributes.body
My list of values didn't really surprise me.  Most of my values focused on my students and what their needs were. Whether it was the SEL needs or academic needs. What did surprise is the amount of times I listed my required assessments as not being a value. I find that the amount of time I spend on testing and retesting that I miss out on instruction. I often teach with my values in mind as they are meaningful to me. I have a hard time completing work that feels meaningless. Since this is something I know I struggle with I have to shift my mindset because I like to complete my job with success.

# data[].attributes.body
My values didn't really surprise me, I mostly thought of my values related to health and physical education rather than education in general. With the freedom I am given, I am able to act on all of my values daily, if I choose to. Some of things I do not value, I actually get a lot of control of as well. For example, I don't value fitness testing for many reasons but my district doesn't force us to have the students test out. I teach freshman mostly and they are always so stressed about fitness testing, I can see it gives them anxiety for no reason. I started out teaching them that fitness testing is more about seeing their improvements throughout the semester rather than seeing if they are physical fit. After still seeing so much stress over this test, I took it out of my curriculum entirely and I implemented more lifeline fitness activities instead. I am still teaching them how to be fit but now I am giving them the tools and confidence to carry out these activities throughout their lives.

# data[].attributes.body
What surprised me the most was that the things that I value the most are the things that I have the most control over and the things I value the least are the things I have the least control over. For example, I don't value standardized testing as much and I don't have a lot of control over that whole process. I feel like the values I take to heart are able to be worked thru during my work day. I believe I am a hard worker and the things that I value reflect that.

# data[].attributes.body
1. I don’t know if anything specifically surprised me about my values but one thing I noticed was that they were all fairly simple. I try to find joy in the simple things while I’m teaching such as laughter within my classroom, students interacting in a positive way, meaningful discussion, and small areas of growth that lead to big changes over time.

2. I try to act on my values on a daily basis. Some are more challenging to implement than others just because as teachers we are constantly on a time crunch- trying to get in all of our standards before the end of the year. That being said, most of the values that I wrote down were centered on creating a classroom environment where students feel that they can be themselves and grow together. I try to incorporate daily strategies to allow this to occur.

3. Unfortunately, the things I don’t value take up so much of my time! I found myself frustrated as I was adding to the list because they are things that are really out of my control in some respect (grading, phone calls home, testing, etc). This activity challenged me to think about how I can cut down on some of the time spent on things that I don’t value.

4. My hope for my students is that they turn out to be kind, hard-working individuals who believe in themselves. I truly believe that simply having faith and perseverance will bring you far in life! I try to incorporate positivity, learning, growth, and joy into my own life and work to intentionally seek out opportunities to see these values- just like I try to teach my kiddos!

5. One thing that comes to mind that I would like to start doing is sending out parent emails that are positive. When students do something that meets one of the core values of the classroom I want to take the time to send a note of encouragement home.

# data[].attributes.body
After creating both lists I was surprised in a way that my list of values are what drive my daily decision making in the classroom. My values all centered on my students and their well being, with one also being about making sure I stay a well balanced teacher to be the best I can be for my students. It was a refreshing reminder that everything I do is to help the students in my class. On the list of things I do not value, I would say that I feel I regularly do these every other week. There are assessments we need to give that I feel are "box checkers" rather than relevant data collecting. These items are required by the district to complete. I am trying to gain insight into why they are collected, or if we could use other forms of collection, but I need to be careful asking too many questions as this is only my second year in the district. As I learn more about SEL, I am incorporating activities into our daily classroom life as much as possible since this is a strong interest for myself. Moving forward, I plan to complete my action research on an SEL topic so I have a plan to continue incorporating SEL activities for next year. Also, maybe as we continue looking at data over the summer I will be able to ask a few more questions in regards to assessments now that I have an awareness for my value of meaningful data collection.

# data[].attributes.body
Hey all,
What surprised me most of all is that my list of what I value is twice as long as the list I do NOT value.  I have found that it is so much easier to complain about the system in my 17 years but this is the first time, I found more that I value in education.  As I looked at the list, a lot of it is what I gained knowledge through research and implementation from this Master's program and all the work I did the past year and a half.  A lot of it goes hand in hand with SEL and what I learned and implemented with my colleagues both in this program and at my school.
All of my values I wrote down, I honestly use on a daily or weekly basis.  The past two school years have really changed me and brought me back to who I was when I first started teaching.  My favorite values were: "giving choice, building relationships, giving a meaningful experience, building community, teaching responsibility, and having a safe environment".  All can be tied into SEL!
On the negative side, "bullying, disrespect, kids leaving class without permission and no consequence, swearing, not following rules, being unsafe".  These are all negatives that I know I can change with a little guidance and a growth mindset.  I was really reaching my students before the shutdown with all the work I put into this year and where I was at with this program.  I am excited to see where the fall (hopefully) will take us and where we can go from there.
Again, I am really surprised that my list was longer for the values for vs. against.  It opened my eyes to what I need to work on and to adjust to make the list even more lopsided!!!  I think that building positive relationships with students is the #1 starting point and work from there with a growth mindset that everyone can be bigger than the stars if they want with some positive guidance!

# data[].attributes.body
Many of the values that I listed were more character based values. The values consisted of self-knowledge and empathy. I also put a strong emphasis on all students being challenged and making real-life connections. I have numerous opportunities to implement these values in my gifted, talented, and enrichment activities. They closely align with my interests as well. When looking at the things I do not value, I feel I have the flexibility in my position to avoid most of them. I would like to review my current curriculum and see if there is a way to make better use of my limited class time with my students. I want to be more intentional with some of my values.