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Like most people, I wasn't too surprised. I feel my values are student-centered. I want the best for my students. I want to build positive relationships and create a classroom where students feel comfortable and themselves.  I think because this was modeled for me growing up, I am able to implement this. The first thing on my list was "be a voice." As an ESL teacher this is so important. I want to be a voice for students who are disadvantaged and don't have the supports that some students have. I have seen how powerful this is in the classroom. For example, my mom is a case manager of 60 some students. She helps students graduate, get jobs, and build those life long skills. It goes beyond the classroom.

I also realize that the things I do not value, are often out of my control, such as, assessments and standardized testing. However, because I also value project based learning I am able to assess my students in other ways.

I think my values maybe could change as I grow older in this profession, however, I think different things I will end up valuing MORE. I think it is important to think and reflect of your values and put them in to action. It is one thing to say you have values and not live up to them.  One thing I would like to do next school year reflect on my values., some type of journaling or reflection every two weeks.

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I wasn’t overly surprised by anything during this activity.  One of my values in education is teaching social and emotional learning to students.  I have been blessed with an administrator who sees how important this is and works beside me to help ensure the whole child is being taken care of and not just their academics.  Because of this, I feel that I am often able perform my work duties in line with my values.  Through this exercise I came to realize that I do not value “busy work” and the time constraints and pressure it often presents for both teachers and students.  I see what happens in all of our classrooms and there are some that complete worksheet after worksheet no matter the skill level of the child.  It stresses out kids.  I definitely see there is a connection between what I am interested in, what I do, and what I value.  Making sure our students have a safe and caring environment where they can learn and be respected is important to me.  Based on these values I will continue to advocate for all students and their individual needs.

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The first thing I noticed about my lists was how much longer the list of things I valued was than the list of things I don't value. I really enjoyed this activity, especially at this time of year when I feel like I have been going non-stop without taking time to pause and reflect.

The first thing on my list of values, and the one I felt was the most important to me when I reflected, was fostering a positive classroom community. To me this means building personal positive relationships with the students, establishing mutual respect in the classroom and making all students feel seen, valued and safe. I truly feel that it is hard to move forward in learning if this atmosphere is not created first.

The first thing I put on my list of things I did not value was standardized tests. This is something I struggle with because I do understand and believe that we need some practice of "assessment" (using that term very loosely) that can be used across the board as a sort of jumping off point. Really what I don't value is the idea that these scores can be made to define students and teachers when it in no way gives a picture of the whole student.

I think that is practice would be great for a faculty meeting. I think it is a good way for teachers to reflect in a quick way without overthinking and it can spark good conversation about what values the staff has, as well as the school as a whole.

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I  wasn't surprised but only because we've worked on so much during our Master's courses.
What I know is that I have to daily do what I don't value too much- meaning the set curriculum and the testing. Only now am I having fun teaching what I like and value because testing is complete.
Our school is an Ashoka school which mainly means we focus on empathy, leadership, and global citizenship. These are my core values. That being said we do a lot of service projects to help those around the world and within our community. This allows me to teach what is expected of me because I know that I will be able to do what's important to me as well throughout the year.

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I enjoyed this activity and did my best to write down whatever came to mind.  My list of values were much longer than my list of things that I do not value.

One of the biggest things that I value is creating positive relationships with students and staff.  Getting to know students and letting them know you care will help both you and the student throughout the school year.  When students trust you they are more willing to put in the academic work and talk to you when they are having a bad day.  I also feel that relationships with other staff members are important too!  Teaching is a challenging job and we need to work together to meet student needs.  Another value that is very important to me is creating equity in schools for all students.  An example that comes to mind is my current district.  There is not equity when it comes to resources amongst elementary building.  If your PTC has a lot of money, then you can get all the resources in the world.  At my building we do not even have a PTC because parents are working so many jobs and we do not have extra money to buy resources to support our students.  Finally, another important value to me is quality instructional practices.  We need to be adjusting how we teach to meet the needs of students today, and not "do things like they've always been done".

I had a couple of things on my list that were not things I valued.  These were:  standardized tests and report cards.  I think there are many teachers that do not value standardized test, because they are just a one day snapshot of the child.  Also, I find report cards frustrating because they don't provide a lot of information to families other than if their child is above or below grade level (at least that is how our elementary report card looks).  I would rather share growth that the child has made, things that they are doing successfully and things they can work on to improve.

I know that our district is going to be forming a report card committee in the near future. This is something that might be of interest to me since I am not a fan of the current report card.

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My values did not surprise me to be honest. I am teaching at a school that I believe matches my values closely. Over the years my values have changed to be more focused on what is best for my students. When I first started teaching I did what others told me to do and what others said to do because "it's what we have always done" (I HATE THIS STATEMENT). Now ending my 9th year of teaching I am more confident to stand up to those people and kindly say no. I now do what I think my students need and use the curriculum as a resource to teach with.
Thankfully our Principal also believes in doing what is best for students and fully supports me in this. He is a great leader and sets a good example in doing what is best for our students. With the things that I do not value, I feel that I am not asked to do any of them except for the state testing, which I am sure many teachers do not value. I wish we could focus more on how much growth a student made over the year instead of if they made a certain level. I also will include report cards in on this. I feel that telling a parent their child is "significantly below grade level" is not helpful. Instead let's focus on what the student has accomplished and what they are still working on. Is this how standard based report cards are used?
I want to get stronger with finding resources to use that are best for my students and also get better with sharing them with my coworkers so we can all do what is best for our students.

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This activity was pretty difficult for me.  This school year has been so difficult on so many different levels, I feel like my values have definitely shifted in the last year.  One value that I really have recognized this year is that I value my coworkers and being able to collaborate and brainstorm with other people. As a new teacher, this is critical for me.  There is no way I would have made it through this year without my coworkers and coteahers!

I feel like a lot of the things I truly value have been pushed aside this year and not used as much as I would like.   Since everything was brand new, I felt that I really needed to spend time building my curriculum and less time creating and making things my own.  Next year, this should get easier!

I think my aptitudes and interests are not currently working hand in hand.  This has been such a challenging year.  I hope to be able to make school a better place for me to enjoy.  Hopefully having less stress will help!

I just feel like I need a reset! Summer cannot come soon enough! My goal for next year is to be able to grow as a teacher and really thrive in my environment, instead of always operating in survival mode.

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When I made my list I noticed that my values and things I don't value tend to be opposites. I feel like I can provide all of my values to my students regularly. The one value that I don't have as much control over is having a meaningful curriculum. Of the things I do not value, I feel like I am asked to do them often. Those include: being asked to cover other positions (no sub days, no specialist sub, no noon duty or lunch supervision sub, etc.), letter grading (not standards based), and too many things to cover and not enough time.

The connection between my aptitudes, interests and values is being positive and wanting positive experiences for all students and staff.

Going forward, I know I need to teach lessons that have "more bang for their buck" so I can ensure my students are receiving relevant lessons. This may mean adapting curriculum lessons to be more engaging. Doing this will also help relieve the feeling that I have more things to teach but not enough time.

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As I was recording the things I value and do not value in education, I noticed that my list of values was much longer.  The things I value that relate to education are community, engaging/ meaningful learning, voice and choice, responsive instruction, flexible seating and technology.  I find it very important to first and foremost connect and build a community.  After doing this, I focus on meaningful, engaging, and responsive instruction using voice, choice, flexibility, and technology.  All of my values blend well with one another and align really well with what I currently do in my classroom.

Currently in my classroom I intentionally build community throughout the year.  Doing this allows me to teach responsively to the needs in my classroom.  I am able to create meaningful and engaging lessons that include technology, voice and choice of the students.

The things I do not value are testing, inflexibility, and one-size-fits-all curriculum.  I currently have to deal with all of these to a certain extent, but choose not to let them get in the way of my true values in teaching.

Looking at my values makes me feel proud as a teacher.  While I am not able to get away from testing, I can work with others on their inflexibility and can adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of my learners.  This is something I am always working on in order to be responsive to my students.

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As I reflect on my values in my classroom I found a theme.  I want my students to be engaged with work that is well planned and purposeful.  I want them to feel safe in our learning community and take ownership of their work.  I want to provide hands on lessons that will create experiences to deepen their learning.

I think it is always my goal to work on these in my work but sometimes it can become overwhelming due to the ‘must do” list that is required.

I believe more and more it is becoming important to provide this type of environment. Studies are showing our students need to have relationships, feel safe, learn from a variety of teaching strategies and have connections made between experiences and content.

I see a strong tie between who I am and how I teach.

There is always room to grow, learn and gain new ideas. I am excited to see that much of what we do in special education is being embraced as being good for all learners.

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I feel that my teaching values were pretty obvious to me from the moment I started this profession and ten years later they still remain the same. I went into teaching knowing it is all about the kids. If anything some of my values have deepened or have gained more meaning to me but still remain the same.
Most of my values I am able to act on every day at school. Those would include building meaningful relationships with my students, making sure I acknowledge and speak to each of them everyday, etc. One of my values that I may not always get to practice is the importance of giving back to the community. There are several experiences I have built in to the school year but I always wish I could get more parents or members of the community involved in our classroom.
My list of things I do not value mostly consist of the obvious standardized testing, etc. I am thankful those items only require my attention at certain points of the school year.
After this reflection, I want to make it a point to get more parent participation next year. Whether it is going back to using the SeeSaw app, restructuring seasonal parties, or expanding volunteer opportunities. Definitely a goal I would like to work toward to!

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I was not surprised by my values. I think that after teaching 8 years I have figured out what I value and what I do not.
I feel  that I am able to at on all of my values on a daily basis.  However, some, like equity and kindness, take a lot more work and collaboration from others to make it truly work.
I don't feel like I have to do many things that I do not value. I think I am able to create the classroom environment that I want.  The things I do not value I see more as a whole school climate or in certain classrooms.
By making that list I can see that what I value in my classroom is also things that I strive to be in my own life.
I think it is a helpful exercise to write down what I value. I think it would be nice to have these visible to me as a reminder of what is really important when things seems difficult.

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I was not super surprised at what I valued and struggled with, but it was interesting to see the list on paper. First of all, more than any other category, social emotional concerns were there for me on both sides. I strongly value students' ability to value themselves and each other, and in choir, work as a team. I do not value the amount of bullying, technology addiction, and anxiety I see. I think more than ever, our jobs as educators (and society) is teaching students how to be people.

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This was a really interesting assignment. I am not super surprised by anything on the list but it is interesting that it depends on what part of my school day I am in as to whether or not I am asked to act on/can act on these values. I imagine many of the values I wrote on my paper would be similar to my admins or people at the district center would write down, but they are often the ones standing in the way of whether or not these can be acted on, especially the things I do not value (busy work, giving an assessment without giving feedback, inconsistency/inequity). This exercise would be great to do as a staff and make a wordle out of and hang around the school as a reminder. Are we living out these values every day at school or are things getting in the way? And if they are, can they be removed?

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Nothing really surprised me on my list, but what did surprise me was how oftentimes the things I value are what gets cut if we get "behind" on the curriculum. For example, one thing I value is relationship building, and I'm surprised how little time I seem to have to do that very thing. We're always so focused on content and standards, especially around MCA time, that anything that deviates from that path tends to get pushed aside due to time constraints.

I feel there are many things I value that I am not able to act upon as often as I would like, such as relationship building, but part of that this year in particular is that I am a traveling teacher who doesn't feel connected at either location. Next year I will be in one location and not room and building hopping every hour, so I'm hoping that will allow me more relationship building time and energy.

What I am asked to expend so much energy on that I do not particularly value is standardized tests and the sheer amount of curriculum I'm expected to cover every year. I think we force too much upon students in math and at too young of an age as everything seems to always get pushed  further ahead.

What I would like to do moving forward, is to figure out a way to better balance standards and curriculum with relationship building and letting students model their understanding in less conventional ways. One idea I have is for students to create growth portfolios in Schoology where they will create something for each lesson we have. What that something is could be a video or screencast of them modeling some problems, or something artistic that models a particular method or strategy, an idea for an activity or lesson delivery that speaks to how they best learn and understand, or any number of other ideas students might have. The idea is to let them decide what to do, and that in doing that, I will gain a better appreciation for how they learn and what their interests are, as well as see other arenas they may excel in that I might not have otherwise been able to see.

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My list didn't surprise me, but it was a great reminder and motivator. It has me thinking about how I want to finish our last two weeks as well as thinking ahead to next year. It sparks ideas of how I want to prioritize those values.
I feel that I am able act on most of them regularly. The ones that I am not able to act on as regularly are partially out of my control. For example, I value play time for my kindergarteners. While I give them time to play each day, there are other expectations we need to meet. There are some values you have to be a little more creative with. I try to incorporate more play into literacy and math centers because I see a great deal of value in it. This allows me to keep my values and meet our expectations.
I struggle with seeing the value in some assessments. Most of my list had to do with assessments. I feel lucky that, in my school, we are exploring other avenues for assessing students, but traditional paper and pencil assessments have not completely gone away yet.
Many of my values were focused on the age appropriate needs of my classroom and my relationships with students. I love teaching the young kiddos because they do have a different set of needs. They learn through play, they need extra movement, and they are naturally curious. Meeting these needs while teaching feels the most natural way for me to teach. I think that is why I place so much value on it. Relationships are something that I value very highly in my personal life as well, so it is not surprising that it is an important part of teaching to me.
I am finishing my second year of teaching right now. I don't think I have taken much time to reflect on my values. I feel that I did a lot of things the way the people around me did them because I didn't know any different. I am ready to start my third year of teaching with these values in mind. I know how I want to build my schedule and my classroom climate each day to prioritize my values.

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Making my list really gave me a clear picture of why I do what I do!  To me the things that I value are positive relationships, with my students, their parents and student to student relationships.  I value learning and an excitement for knowing more,I want my students to have a quest for knowledge and to always wonder or question, to find out the why.  I also value creativity,  learning to express yourself and being okay with who you are and finding your own path!  I think these things build confidence and with confidence comes citizens who are making this world a better place!  As I look at the things I do not value several things jumped out to me.  I don’t like “cookie cutter” learning, a one size fits all model.  The idea that there can only be one answer.  Which is why I also do not value standardized test and the amount of emphasis our districts put on the scores!  I have been in many staff meetings where we have to analyse our school’s deficits and nothing takes the wind out of our sails more than that!  Finally I do not value dishonesty, dishonesty leads to a web of mistrust and damages so many relationships in so many ways.

I see myself honing in on these values and really trying to live these out in everything I do both  in and out of school.  I do make mistakes, but being reminded of these allows me to set goals and anytime we set goals, things are much more attainable!

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This was a challenging assignment. I have taught for 2 years now and at 2 very different schools with very different values. I am now on the job hunt again and I have been thinking about what my true values are when it comes to teaching so this assignment came at the perfect time. I do value relationships with my students and I also value their love of school. If your students don't enjoy being at school or don't feel they can trust you, there is not going to be a ton of learning done from that student in your classroom. That is what I truly believe. Seeing 2 different school districts my first two years of teaching I have began to also develop a list of things I do not value in education. I personally feel that we can not expect kids to be 100% on 100% of the time. They need time to be free and play and make choices. They need time to celebrate and have special events. They need to be proud of who they are and what school they go to. So to expect scripted curriculum and guided groups all day long every day of the school year in kindergarten is a huge expectation. It is challenging to decide what exactly I value, only having taught 2 years. I feel my values may change as I see other schools in my future.

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My values I wrote down all were around positive relationships with students. A lot of my values had to do with making sure students felt safe, loved, engaged and challenged. I truly want my students to love learning and going to school! Having positive relationships with students and parents has always been one of my top priorities as a teacher. I believe it is so important that parents and teachers work together as a team to best support the child.

I had a harder time coming up with things I don't value. I try to always stay positive so that could be why it was harder for me. Some of the things I wrote down were standardized testing and curriculum that is not developmentally appropriate.

As I reflect on my  values, I am reminded how important relationships are to me. It is a great to think about this going into the last 2 weeks of school! :)

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I didn't have any trouble writing my list of things I value about education. I felt like this was an easier list to make than thing I don't value because education is something I have a passion for. A lot of what I value is very student centered. Some things that I wrote down that I value are;  relationships with students/colleagues/parents, safety, curriculum that  is engaging, classroom routines, and student success. These are just a few of the more important things that I value.

On the other hand I was able to make a list of things that I don't value. However, the list of things I don't value is a lot smaller than the things I do value. Some things that I wrote down that I don't value are; standardized tests, lack of communication, and non-supportive parents. I feel like the list of things that I do not value tend to be things that I can't control.

As I reflect upon these lists one thing I would like to do is focus more on the things I value and do a good job at those and let the things I can't control, control me less. I feel like sometimes I try to fix and put my energy into the things I do not value to make them better. However, some of those things are out of my control, so I want to focus more on what I value and can control.

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I have quite a few things I value and only a couple of things I do not value. I wasn't surprised about my values, they are the reasons I went into teaching. My values are built around building relationships with students, staff, and parents. I also value being consistent, having a routine, and creating a safe space for my students. I feel I am able to act on all of these regularly at work.
One of the things I do not value is poor communication with our administrators. I feel like our principal tells us one thing and our assistant principal tells us another thing. They should come to a consensus before giving us information.
Reflecting on my values makes me realize that they are the same at work as they are home. I have a routine and am just as consistent at work as I am at home.
One thing I would like to start is having the ability to say no. When I am feeling overwhelmed with my own paperwork and work responsibilities, I need to be able to say no to all the other extra things. Most of the time I feel like I can't say no but it's something I can work on.

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So in some ways I feel like I am constantly doing this activity. I feel like I need to remind myself what my values are especially when immersed in observations, politics, and paperwork. Nothing on either side of this list shocked me or surprised me and I feel that I am able to hit most of my values because I prioritize them. I got into teaching because of relationships and I regularly focus on how to improve the relationships with students and other staff. In terms of the things I don't value they are more of the things you have to do to do your job. I hate staff meetings, lesson plans and the like but also know they are necissary. When thinking of my apptitudes and interests they closely connect to my values both personally and professionally. I think the thing I want to start doing is being more assertive when discussing how we discipline students and being more aggressive to the problem solving aspect of this job.

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My values focus on students feeling valued, having choice, and getting opportunities to be successful.  My students learn so much more when they feel that they have a choice in the activities they are doing. I also think that this helps them to feel valued because they are able to have a voice in my classroom.  Something I don't value is looking at data that doesn't show growth over time. Obviously we need to do some testing in the beginning of the year, or a unit in order to give us baseline data, but then what I believe should be looked at moving forward is the growth that has come between the baseline data and the assessments done later on.  I get really frustrated when people only look at the data at the end of the year and think that their end score says it all.  What really says it all is whether or not students are learning, growing, and improving through the year.
As I reflect upon what I do value and what I don't, I am reminded how much I care about each of my children as individuals, and I hope that I continue to value them as individuals moving forward.

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My values were focused on the character of the people that I see every day at school (students, staff and admin). I appreciate character traits such as accountability, responsibility, hard work, determination, relationships and respect. These traits lead to people with solid values.

I also mentioned the importance of creating engaging curriculum and having meaningful conversation and discussion with students, staff and administration.

Non-values included standardized testing, cheating, lack of communication by admin, students who make excuses and unsupportive parents.

Taking MCA tests is a nice way to measure my students knowledge compared to other school districts and the state but it does not define who my students are or their ultimate potential in life.

Students lack of effort and numerous excuses can be improved by the development of a growth mindset curriculum that encourages persistence and determination which connects to one of my main values of education.

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I didn't have a lot under things I don't value. I really and truly enjoy going to work each day.  I am sad at the end of the year to say goodbye to my students and I'm so excited at the beginning of the year to return to work.  I am able to do most of my values each day and some weekly.  My number one value is the relationships that I make with students and parents.  One of the biggest things I don't value is how much pressure is put on test scores.  I don't like how our school makes Kindergartners take the tests in different rooms with different teachers.  We focus very much on the results of those scores too.  There is always a stressful pressure to have good scores.
Relationships and routines are so important in my personal and professional life.  I strive on staying in contact with my friends and not just my family.  I make it a point to build strong relationships with each and everyone of my students.  I also reach out to parents often to keep them updated in what is going on in our classroom and with their child.
I want to add more art projects into my lessons. There are so many basic skills that can be taught when doing art. It is so easy to make connections to writing or math while doing the projects. I would also like to not be stressed about test scores. As much as we use them to drive our instruction, they really are just a one time test that can be thrown off depending on the day the student is having.

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It didn’t surprise me that it was easier for me to write down education values, versus things I don’t value, as I am the type of person that tends to focus on the positive and work best with that I’m given.  I found that a lot of my values have a common theme of developing skills to make students successful in life, not just my class.  Transferrable skills you could say.

At my school I feel like I have a lot of freedom to implement my values in terms of how I run my classroom and the environment I create; however in terms of pacing I feel like I don’t have much control.  I came into a math department that has been teaching for about the length of my life, so they have a pretty set sequence to the year.  While as a first year teacher this was helpful, I also felt kind of rushed and restricted in some places.  We have a lot to cram in before our MCA test, however I would have enjoyed some freedom in the pacing of my school year.

In reflecting on these values, it's interesting to see how these values have played out in the classroom without me realizing it.  Many of these values are things I appreciated as a student, that I am happy to see that I carried over to my teaching.

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Most of the values that I wrote down, are student driven. For example, giving students choice, using performance assessments rather than tests, opportunities for learning in multiple mediums, etc. The things I do not value I still see some importance, but they are not high on my list. For example, NWEA testing. I see the purpose in having data, being able to compare in a consistent way, and monitoring student growth, but students in my school are currently fed up with testing! It is hard as an educator to see them so defeated. This is something that I am asked to do and do not have a say in.

Something else that is on my list that I do no value, is grading students on spelling (for science words). I work in a 1:1 iPad district and I believe students should learn spelling in elementary school, but if they misspell "homogenous" or other science words, it is okay! They are still using the word and understanding the meaning. Their technology will most likely correct it anyway.  Some of my colleagues have differing opinions about this, but my interest in this is just to get kids using the words and understanding the meanings.

Reflecting upon my values, it is a good reminder to continue to incorporate the things that are important to me in my lessons everyday.