Community of Learners

A classroom should be more than just a place students come because they have to. My goal and aim for my own classroom is for it to function as a team, where everyone does their part to help us reach the common goal of succeeding academically, socially, emotionally, and so on.

This team does not only consist of my students and myself, but it is vital that we have the support of the school administration and of the parents at home. I will always encourage parental involvement in any aspect of classroom life, whether it be to share about a family tradition or career, to read to the students, to donate supplies, or to be an extra set of eyes, ears, and hands on a field trip. Parental support at home is also vital to the student's academic performance, and I will try my best to encourage parents to spend time with their children talking about what is going on in the classroom and help their child in any way possible. If there is ever a concern, I want to have the open line of communication where the parent can freely come and talk to me about whatever is concerning them and we can work together to rectify the situation in a manner that appeases all parties involved. It is also necessary to have the school administration in your corner. They can stand in your defense when necessary and give helpful advice when you are dealing with situations. This also gives me as a teacher a chance to model to my students how to interact with authority, which is another important life skill.

Quality Interaction with Diverse Individuals

The classroom setting is one of the first places that a child really begins to learn how to interact well with others who are different than they are. As a teacher, I believe in providing a safe place for wholesome interaction to happen. I believe in promoting diversity by having students share more about themselves and what makes them unique.

I believe in acceptance and tolerance in the classroom. I want my students to know that they can share their thoughts and feelings and they will not be judged for it. Their thoughts and feelings will be taken for what they are and as a valuable part of learning and the classroom environment.

I also believe in teaching children, whatever their ages, proper people skills. They need to learn how to solve problems, to work together as a team, and how to move past differences to be able to accomplish a singular goal. This will mostly be done through my example of interacting with each student and with other teachers and staff at the school. I will also provide my students with opportunities to do group activities that more or less force these characteristics upon them and I will take those chances to teach them the skills they need to learn. Lessons like these are priceless gems that students can take with them for the rest of their life.

A Person of Impact

Teachers are on the front lines of training their students. Besides the parents, teachers also have the greatest impact on a young person's life. It is vital to take that potential impact seriously and to strive to have the most positive impact possible on every student that you encounter.

My attitudes, actions, and interactions with others will not only set the tone for how I impact their lives for the future, but it also has an immediate impact upon how they will perceive and respect me. If I show myself to be someone who chooses their words carefully, treats everyone fairly, and interacts well with students and teachers alike, I am much more likely to have solid relationships with my own students. I can be a positive example of how they ought to interact with one another. They know that they can come to me with situations because I am going to treat it equally and fairly. I want to be able to teach my students not only the academic subjects necessary for life in the 'real world,' but to help mold the people skills and character that is equally necessary to succeed in life. People skills such as conflict resolution and wise speech can make all the difference, and character really counts. My students' academic performance will be very important to me, but of equal importance are these two things. To really be a teacher of impact, I will strive to incorporate these lessons into every day academic study.

Learning in Unique Ways

Fact of life - everyone does not learn the same way.

Fact two - school should not be boring, monotonous work.

I have taken many courses as part of my training here at the University of South Alabama. So far, most of my favorites have been the ones that integrate art, music, and movement into the classroom setting. Rhythm and Movement, Art in the Elementary Classroom, and Music in the Elementary Classroom have been extremely helpful to me. Those courses focus on methods of teaching that you don't get in a traditional methods course. They show you how to make it fun, and how to REALLY engage your students in what you are trying to teach them instead of lectures and note taking. I think lessons like this really stick more because it gives the students a song, project, game, or something of the like to remember instead of just trying to remember the sound of my voice as I talked about a particular topic.

And then there is EDM 310...the technology course. This course has also been extremely helpful as far as teaching methods that are maybe a little bit "non-traditional." Through the use of blogs, Twitter, Skype, and so much more, technology is also a great way to keep students engaged in the lessons and actively learning something. Again, it also gives them a project to reflect on when preparing for tests rather than trying to only remember what I said.

I plan to incorporate all manner of instructional techniques in my classroom. Children are diverse, so the methods used to teach them ought to be just as diverse. School should also be fun. It is not all about the test performance, even though that is very important. It's about what the students will take with them and remember for the rest of their lives. That is the kind of impact a teacher ought to make, and the one that I will strive to make.

All Children Are Unique

I believe that each and every student that has walked or ever will walk into a classroom is a uniquely created individual. They have their own likes, dislikes, culture, beliefs, experiences, and so on. They come from different backgrounds and have different things that have made them the person they are at that time in their life.

As a teacher, it is my duty to exploit these differences. Not only will they help me know more about the student and help me teach him or her more effectively, it will help other students to learn about different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. In so exploiting these differences, the students become the teacher. They have opportunities to share about traditions and experiences that they have had that other students may not have had or ever been exposed to. It would mean a lot for a student who is living a certain tradition, be it a cultural or religious tradition, to share with the students that way they can get more reliable information than it might be from someone who was less informed and tried to teach my students about a certain thing.

It is also fun to share differences, because it gives me as a teacher the chance to promote unity in the classroom, even though we are all different. We are all on the same team in the classroom. Sure, you may accomplish a task in a different way than your neighbor, but we are all moving toward the same goal. We learn to adapt and grow and learn from others. This is a vital skill that children can take with them throughout life as they meet various groups of people in the world. That training and adaptation starts in when they are young. It is up to teachers to give this knowledge in the diverse school setting.