Prompt 4 (2nd Webinar Session): Am I a professional? What are my personal actions that demonstrate this? What sets me apart from the peers at my school? Do I hold myself to a higher standard? We can always improve, what can I do to improve my professionalism?

I believe being a professional isn't just dressing up for work and having a lesson plan. When I instruct I attempt to inject humor into the lesson with my personal stories because any individual that wants to laugh has to pay attention. My humor and great personality set me apart. As the year slowly comes to an end, I've had time to interact with other instructors and it is easy to see which see education as a steady paycheck and nothing else. I'm new so having the energy to teach and good humor could be traits that eventually decrease; I just hope it's after I retire.

I do hold myself to a higher standard because Economics is a topic that few students enter a classroom having prior knowledge of. However, I expect all students in my class to walk out with a college freshman level understanding of economics. My biggest concern is having supplemental information that is appropriate for high school. Some of the resources I use are from Economics journals that are full of terminology common to Economics majors and foreign to high school students. Due to this I am always on the hunt to find reading material that presents information in simplified tone but keeps key concepts. Unfortunately, it is not a simple task.