The End of the Semester...

As I reflect back on the past semester, all I can think is WOW! I have grown so much in such little time. The acronym NCTCS, was once something I could barely remember the meaning of and now I can explore each standard with depth. My questions have changed from "What is that?" to "How should I incorporate that into my future classroom?". This class has put me into the perspective of a future teacher and makes me excited to learn more! Reflecting back on the standards I now see the importance each standard holds in a classroom.

Leadership: Not only should I show leadership to my students but I should show leadership in my community, in my school and among my colleagues. Taking initiative is a key aspect of this. I also should help my students develop these same qualities in themselves by allowing them to work cooperatively and collaboratively.

Diversity: This standard holds a much different definition now in 2015 than in would of in even the 1990's. Our culture is constantly changing so as teacher we should be adaptable to that change. Students are Students and the goal is ultimately to learn no matter the differences among students. Everyone is unique and in the idea of a race each student has different obstacles and pathways that lead to the same end goals.

Content Knowledge: The teacher must know the content she is going to teach. I must be able to make connections to student's interests to keep their attention. In order to do this I must know every aspect of the content. Students will ask and and every question about the lesson and I must prevent a gap by being as prepared as possible to answer those questions.

Facilitate Learning: This goes much further than teaching a planned lesson plan. Much thought should go behind the How? and Why? of each aspect of a six point lesson plan. Constantly making sure your students understand and comprehend what you are teaching while also entertaining their interests can be daunting, but must be done. Students also have unique learning styles and attempting to highlight each of these so each student can reach their full potential is also very important.

Reflection: Constantly reflect on EVERYTHING. Also teach your students that it is important to reflect back on their work so they can see mistakes and learn from them. I want my students to understand mistakes are okay every now and then as long as they can grow from reflecting on those mistakes. My classroom will not be perfect, I will not be perfect, therefore I will not expect my kids to be perfect. I will however expect my classroom to be successful, expect success from myself and from students. The goal once again is growth and learning to prepare them for their future lives and dreams.

I still have a lot to learn but I'm very excited to be on the Journey of a Future Teacher!

Remembering the Goal...

As this semester is quickly ending, I find myself swamped with projects to finish, papers to write, and exams to prepare for. All of this can be quite overwhelming. However, today's class was an excellent reminder of my goal. Today in class we had a current student teacher come in and teach a lesson during class (living proof school of ed is survivable). Today I was reminded the goal of what I'm doing, it's not just to become a teacher for a career fulfillment but instead I'm fulfilling my dreams. It's very easy to get caught up in all work and think that this is just too much but in the end if it benefits my future students... I'M IN! My goal is not a career but rather to be a positive influence on the lives of children, to make them fall in love with learning and the beauty of knowledge. I want to help them develop as individuals that will one day fulfill their own dreams!

The past few projects we have been focusing on are not pointless. One day we will step into a classroom full of 25 students. Each of those students come with a unique background, personality, group of needs, and so much more. I as their teacher want to be prepared to teach them in the best way I know how. I want to be able to make my lessons interesting by making them relevant to their lives and to be able to address each of their individual needs so they can fulfill their full potential! I want to harvest success from ALL my students and encourage them to reach farther and higher than they ever believed possible. The children I will be teaching will make up the next generation. To think I can leave an influence on the next generation is such a privilege. 

So as this semester continues and comes to an end, I will let this drive me. The fact that what I am doing now will prepare me to prepare my future students to be successful. Remembering that I am not just striving for myself but for my future students!

Teaching my First Lesson...

Talk about a nerve racking 25 minutes... standing in front of a classroom full of future educators and teaching a lesson I had been preparing for weeks. However, it also showed me how much I've grown already. As I taught today my thoughts were "Do the understand what I'm explaining?", "How can I check to make sure?" , "Am I helping them internalize it rather than memorize it?". All of these questions ran through my mind even though I knew my classmates know how to round to the nearest ten, I wanted to ensure I was acting as if they were 3rd graders.

One thing I know I must work on after today is handling distractions during the lesson. Students can come up with the most creative questions that will test my method of explaining to the max. However, I want to be sure to answer the on topic questions to the best of my ability that encourages the most growth. I also to work on redirecting classroom focus when some of the off-topic questions are thrown my way. The focus of an elementary school student is like a needle in hay stack once you lose it it is very hard to find it again.

Teaching my first lesson was a very valuable experience no matter how nervous I was. Improvising is key because as we have previously talked about lesson plans are for the ideal classroom. Ideal classrooms rarely happen so I must still be able to encourage learning and growth!