Artifact: Appreciation Letter from Staff

Talent Show Letter of Appreciation

To me, standard 8 means to bring one’s own creativity, ideas, or skills to improve the understanding or function of education.  It is to go over and beyond the teaching to a class within the confines of a classroom or school grounds.  It is to give something, whether abstract in thought or tangible in evidence, to the profession of teaching.  This can be accomplished in an infinite number of ways since standard 8 is in essence to help fellow educators.

This artifact is a thank you letter from the teacher responsible for organizing the talent show at my practicum school.  The talent show itself involved a combination of leadership, organization, and teamwork that the staff involved had to display.  My own role in this school-wide event was as a member of the judging panel, supervisor, and sound system manager.  Whilst there were multiple staff responsible for judging of the auditions and supervising the auditions and performance, I was the sole staff responsible for setting up and adjustment of the audio equipment for all the auditions as well as the performance.  The performance went without any problems and the thank you letter serves as an important reminder of how I was able to share my knowledge of audio systems with the organizing teacher.

Although there was more than one instance in which I was involved with providing assistance with school activities, the talent show stood out for being one where I felt I was an essential part of the event.  It gave me an opportunity to experience the difference between simply helping facilitate an event to success and being an essential part of what allowed the event to occur.  This I feel is what contributing to the profession stands for; to provide assistance where needed rather than wherever convenient.  Through this experience and in contrast with some other events where I had less vital roles, I learned that true contribution takes effort, a lot of effort.  Even though I was proficient with technology and machines, the mere fact that any mistake on my part would be noticed by the entire audience provided enough pressure to make this experience an effort.  More importantly however, this has made me realize that effort is at least the one common factor in order to contribute to the profession.  Whether it is a contribution as small as ensuring the audio system worked smoothly for a talent show or as ground-breaking as synthesizing a new theory based in education, effort is required.

In my future experiences in education, I know that I will contribute in ways both large and small but in order to do so I’m certain it will require continued and consistent effort throughout my moments as an educator.

Talent Show Performance