I am

an accomplished teacher because: I care about my students (Core Prop 3). I have developed relationships with students. Students come and ask me for my opinion about life issues. I was a finalist for teacher of the year which leads me to believe my peers feel I am an accomplished teacher (Core Prop 5). I have a difficult time promoting myself. I have difficulty giving myself compliments because there are probably some self image issues that I have unresolved for whatever reason (Core Prop 4). My students come to me for help with things like participating in a holiday assembly (as the teacher who tweets), to proctor military physical entrance tests (as the timer, not as a co-runner), and to talk about which college they should attend. I don't think I am the only teacher with whom students have this type of relationship (Core Prop 5). However, when I began teaching, I remember wanting to teach because my wife was someone who had this type of relationship with students and I wanted to be an influence (Core Prop 1)  on students in the same way she was.  My mantra of teaching is "to build and maintain good relationships with students and be a positive influence in their lives (Core Prop 2)." I am an accomplished teacher because I am doing that. I set out with a purpose and I am succeeding at achieving that goal.

This writing is being done in class as part of a graduate-level Reflective Writing class designed to help me learn to write for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification. The writing prompt was: I am an accomplished teacher because... I also had to go back and see which of the NBPTS Core Propositions we wrote to without even knowing what they were.