Standard 2: Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility and reputation of the profession.

This standard refers to treating teaching as a profession and acting in a respectful manner. The goal is to maintain dignity of the profession and refrain from acts that might degrade the way teaching is perceived. By acting professionally you not only increase the perception of teachers you also increase your own credibility and that of others. This happens because students respect teachers who model honesty, and show their effort and clarity rather than working off of assumptions. Teachers who cite their courses and show their research model good academic work to students and verify the authenticity of the information they are sharing. This authentic and verified work allows students to be confident in the information they receive and allows parents to see how the teacher finds information that is presented to the students rather than personal opinion. As a student I remember my teachers enacting this standard by making sure to include outside perspectives in their classes and engage in research around their topics to ensure that what they taught was up to date and included relevant information. This standard also draws a line on the first standard. It means that while teachers can be involved and care about them, they must not cross the line of being unprofessional. This is also an important part of the reason why teachers teach. The idea of maintaining ethics and credibility means that teachers have to be able to defend their choices in the classroom. They must have a reason for teaching what they teach. This takes the form of curriculum that teachers follow in order to ensure that their students cover the required skills and information they need to graduate and be successful at whatever they are interested in. The teachers that I look up to are always able to explain why they have chosen assignments, assessments, and what information they provided. To carry this out in my own classroom I need to create lesson plans that are well thought out and defensible with activities and assessment that are appropriate and practical for my students to develop their skills. Researching and collaboration will be critical to me achieving this standard in my classroom.