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Professional Commitment and Responsibility Artifact 1
Name of Artifact: "I, too, am America."
Date: Spring 2003
Course: FL 664
Rationale:
My SLA paper defines and describes my commitment to making a positive contribution
to public education in the United States. In the process of writing this paper I became familiar with the history of
laws that have affected bilingual and ESL education. The proces of writing this paper helped me to determine that education
is at the beginning of its evolutionary process. This means that change is possible and inevitable. I want to
be a part of that change.
ESL education needs a lot of immediate attention everywhere in the U.S.
Through my observations, I have come to the understanding that school districts often do not know what to do with non-native
speakers. The pull-out method seems to be the most commonly used method now, but there are many repercussions to this.
In this paper I came to the conclusion that there are techniques that can be used in the mainstream classroom that effectively
incorporate native and non-native speakers simultaneously.
I would like to play a role in the evolution of public education by introduing
new methods of integrating native and non-native speakers in the same classroom. Additionally, I would like to introduce
bilingual education mildly at the mainstream level as well. I am a firm believer that all students can benefit
in a large way from exposure to cultural and sociolinguistic variety.
Professional Commitment and Responsibility Artifact 2
Name of Artifact: Action Research Paper
Date: Fall 2003
Course: FL 561
Rationale:
When schools and/or districts decide to employ Action Research, they are commiting
the community to take responsibility for its schooling, teaching, parenting, and learning. Due to the continuous nature
of Action Research, it is a lifelong commitment to one's teaching profession and learning career. Also, faculty
must work together as a supportive community in order to implement and execute Action Research.
Based on what I saw in the videos on Action Research, this method helps the
schools focus on a particular aspect of education that needs attention. This ensures that the faculty and administration
take responsibility to do everything that they can to achieve success in the target area.
Even if this strategy is not put in place at the school or district level, teachers
can employ Action Research individually. I think that teachers can also include their students in the research to get
them involved in their own learning. This not only makes education learner-centered but it can help to keep the teacher
engaged in Action Research as well.
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