Bryan Van Pelt's bportfolio

Standard 5 states teacher leaders establish a culturally inclusive climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students.   To accomplish an understanding of what this standard entails, I took the class Culturally Responsive teaching.   Of all the courses within the Teacher Leadership Program, this course addressed the most personal and vulnerable aspects of not only my teaching, but my place in society as a whole. Through numerous engaging group discussions, articles, and reflective papers, I now have a better grasp as to what it takes to create a culturally inclusive climate for students. Reflection: As defined by Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (1995), culturally responsive teaching is “a pedagogy that crosses disciplines and cultures to engage learners while respecting their cultural integrity. It accommodates the dynamic mix of race, ethnicity, class, gender, region, religion, and family that contributes to every student's cultural ...

Standard 6 states teacher leaders communicate and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders. To complete this standard I took the course of Communication and Collaboration and Engaging Communities.   Both courses focused on thinking outside of your classroom and focusing on the faculty, staff, and surrounding communities.   As a Teacher Leadership student not intending on enrolling in the principle certification route, I was skeptical on the usefulness of learning how to engage communities specifically.   Why would I need to learn about the details of engaging with the surrounding community when I teach music?   Aren’t those broader issues for administrators?   My teacher training thus far has only focused on the classroom practice and not on the broader community of the school.   The Engaging Communities course shed light on the importance of not only engaging with the community but taking steps to understand and acknowledge the space i...

Standard 7 states teacher leaders utilize instructional frames to improve teaching.   This standard was taught mainly through the “Leadership in Education” taught by Dr. Bond, a wonderful leader himself.   During this course I had numerous opportunities to reflect not on my teaching practice, but more so on my internal character qualities.   Dr. Bond engaged us in discussion, presentations, and assignments all aimed at peeling back layers of our own personalities and dissecting what it means to lead.   As we all learned, there are numerous ways in which one can effectively lead.   However, with that said I have come to realize some central ideas when it comes to leadership. My prior thoughts pertaining to the course were mostly positive.   I remember reading the syllabus and thinking how straightforward the course appeared as well as thinking to myself “We are actually addressing leadership in a straightforward manner?” In prior courses the i...