“Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” - Michael Jordan
As Rita Pierson once said, “Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.” This is the role of a teacher. A teacher acts like support staff to parents, assisting in the upbringing of their students. With the diverse abilities among the students in the classroom, a great teacher accommodates all abilities so that each student will succeed. A great teacher will build an inclusive classroom where the students feel safe and know that they are valued.
What drove me to become a teacher is, foremost, my love for children followed closely by a need to provide a meaningful experience where students can grow to their full potential. In line with the BC Teacher Regulation Branch Standards, as a teacher I will “value and care for all students and act in their best interests” (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2015). Since the age of eight, I dreamed of becoming a teacher and dedicating my career as an educator to the well-being of my future students. During my grade eight year, I had a teacher who had a huge impact on our class. He was a true advocate for his students and encouraged us to be a community. He wanted everyone to be able to work together to create a comfortable environment for all of his students. On a daily basis he let us know that he cared about us, valued us and wanted to help us to reach our full potential. I did not know what he had done at this point in life yet, but he was setting the foundation for our class as a community of learners. He is in many ways my role model and he truly motivates me to want to be as great of an inspiration to my students as he was to me.
As a teacher, I will inspire my students to be open-minded people who are compassionate and who resonate this mentality within society. My goal is that the students I teach will possess the necessary life skills, both socially and scholastically, to tackle the challenges that they face in the real world. It is important to have a scholastic focus; however, we also need to focus on teaching students to become socially responsible citizens. We engage student in learning these things by offering a multitude of different experiences in the classroom by focusing on Gardner’s multiple intelligences of the learners and how this applies to our learners. This means we must engage students by learning through play, hands-on experience, field opportunities, technology and more. This will create authentic learning which goes beyond the traditional paper and pen exercises that I grew up with. This mindset will allow me to create innovative lessons which allow me to meet the needs of diverse learners. In my own classroom, I adhere to the Universal Design for Learners (UDL) in my classroom to enable my students to learn to their fullest potential. For example, there are many electronic applications available on google chrome such as dictanote which may enable my students to write with the rest of the class where they otherwise might not have been able to fully participate.
Teachers owe their students a lot as they spend many hours together. A teacher owes their students their enthusiasm, love of education and their affection. I will also owe them my full attention because it is up to me to ensure my teaching is conducive to their learning. This entails the creation of a comfortable learning experience and ensuring that the classroom has a healthy community of learners. It is important to understand that there are multiple intelligences as Gardner has theorized. I believe that language is the bedrock upon which communication and relationships are formed. It can help students to embrace other cultures and forms of understanding. I will also owe my students my affection as it is important that students know that as teachers, we are here because we genuinely care about their best interests. Learning can be a difficult endeavor for many. Therefore, it is my prerogative to adhere to the needs of my students when developing lessons plans, daily activities, etc.
I am excited to share my passion for sports, health and fitness, as well as languages. An interest in health and fitness can encourage not only a healthy lifestyle, it may ignite their interest in sciences pertaining to kinesiology or biology and much more. By focusing on proper biomechanics and teaching foundational skills in progression, I have been able to help not only my novice athletes, but also my advanced athletes in understanding how they can move efficiently. This is the primary focus of my instruction in Physical Education and when I have coached.
Assessment can be a sensitive area for students. According the OECD 7 Principles of learning, “Emotions are integral to learning” which is why it is important that I am aware of how emotions in learning can directly affect the students motivation to continue learning (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010). To assist in creating a high motivation to learn in the classroom, I will students in their learning through the co-creation of criteria. It is of critical importance to co-create criteria so that students will buy-in to the task, thus keeping them motivated and content with their education experience. This can be used for both assignments and classroom management. When setting expectations collaboratively, it allows the students to take ownership of their behavior in the classroom and of their learning. After the criteria have been created, the students will understand what is expected of them. During the learning process it is important to keep an open mind and heart in communicating with the student, consistently offering formative assessment. This allows the student to build on their skill-set. The students should also participate in self-assessment and if a strong community of learners is established, peer-assessment. The reason this is important is that if students are involved in the assessment process, they know what they can do to improve their performance. By including the student in the assessment process, the final summative assessment will not be a surprise to them. This helps to eliminate report card anxiety as the students will have a clear picture of how they have been performing academically.
Teaching is a role of collaboration. It is necessary to collaborate with the parents of the students as they are the expert on their child. Obtaining insight of a learner's needs through conversations with the parents can help the teacher to provide the necessary supports the students need to excel. Collaborating with colleagues is also important so that teachers can contribute back to the field, learn new innovative ideas and to utilize other skill sets to support students. This is why I am an advocated of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and group research projects such as the Healthy Living Inquiry Project I participated in during the education program at Vancouver Island University.
According to the First Peoples Principles of Learning, “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)” (First Nations Education Steering Committee). This is what I try to create in the classroom every day. In essence, a good teacher should pour their heart and souls into their classrooms creating an innovative learning opportunity for their students each day. They should be able to both recognize and meet their students’ needs while igniting a lifelong passion for learning. As a teacher, this is what I will do to create an exceptional learning environment for all of my students. As Joe Manchin once said, “Every child should have a caring adult in their lives. And that’s not always a biological parent or family member. It may be a friend or neighbor. Often times it is a teacher.” (Brainy Quote, 2001).
References
British Columbia Ministry of Educations (2015). Standards for the education, competence and professional conduct of educators in BC. Retrieved from:
https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/standards/standardsdevelopment.aspx
First Nations Education Steering Committee (n/a). First peoples principles of learning. Retrieved from:
http://www.fnesc.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11x17.pdf
Joe Manchin Quotes (2001). Brainy quote. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/joemanchin168545.html
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2010). The nature of learning: using research to inspire practice. Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf
What drove me to become a teacher is, foremost, my love for children followed closely by a need to provide a meaningful experience where students can grow to their full potential. In line with the BC Teacher Regulation Branch Standards, as a teacher I will “value and care for all students and act in their best interests” (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2015). Since the age of eight, I dreamed of becoming a teacher and dedicating my career as an educator to the well-being of my future students. During my grade eight year, I had a teacher who had a huge impact on our class. He was a true advocate for his students and encouraged us to be a community. He wanted everyone to be able to work together to create a comfortable environment for all of his students. On a daily basis he let us know that he cared about us, valued us and wanted to help us to reach our full potential. I did not know what he had done at this point in life yet, but he was setting the foundation for our class as a community of learners. He is in many ways my role model and he truly motivates me to want to be as great of an inspiration to my students as he was to me.
As a teacher, I will inspire my students to be open-minded people who are compassionate and who resonate this mentality within society. My goal is that the students I teach will possess the necessary life skills, both socially and scholastically, to tackle the challenges that they face in the real world. It is important to have a scholastic focus; however, we also need to focus on teaching students to become socially responsible citizens. We engage student in learning these things by offering a multitude of different experiences in the classroom by focusing on Gardner’s multiple intelligences of the learners and how this applies to our learners. This means we must engage students by learning through play, hands-on experience, field opportunities, technology and more. This will create authentic learning which goes beyond the traditional paper and pen exercises that I grew up with. This mindset will allow me to create innovative lessons which allow me to meet the needs of diverse learners. In my own classroom, I adhere to the Universal Design for Learners (UDL) in my classroom to enable my students to learn to their fullest potential. For example, there are many electronic applications available on google chrome such as dictanote which may enable my students to write with the rest of the class where they otherwise might not have been able to fully participate.
Teachers owe their students a lot as they spend many hours together. A teacher owes their students their enthusiasm, love of education and their affection. I will also owe them my full attention because it is up to me to ensure my teaching is conducive to their learning. This entails the creation of a comfortable learning experience and ensuring that the classroom has a healthy community of learners. It is important to understand that there are multiple intelligences as Gardner has theorized. I believe that language is the bedrock upon which communication and relationships are formed. It can help students to embrace other cultures and forms of understanding. I will also owe my students my affection as it is important that students know that as teachers, we are here because we genuinely care about their best interests. Learning can be a difficult endeavor for many. Therefore, it is my prerogative to adhere to the needs of my students when developing lessons plans, daily activities, etc.
I am excited to share my passion for sports, health and fitness, as well as languages. An interest in health and fitness can encourage not only a healthy lifestyle, it may ignite their interest in sciences pertaining to kinesiology or biology and much more. By focusing on proper biomechanics and teaching foundational skills in progression, I have been able to help not only my novice athletes, but also my advanced athletes in understanding how they can move efficiently. This is the primary focus of my instruction in Physical Education and when I have coached.
Assessment can be a sensitive area for students. According the OECD 7 Principles of learning, “Emotions are integral to learning” which is why it is important that I am aware of how emotions in learning can directly affect the students motivation to continue learning (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010). To assist in creating a high motivation to learn in the classroom, I will students in their learning through the co-creation of criteria. It is of critical importance to co-create criteria so that students will buy-in to the task, thus keeping them motivated and content with their education experience. This can be used for both assignments and classroom management. When setting expectations collaboratively, it allows the students to take ownership of their behavior in the classroom and of their learning. After the criteria have been created, the students will understand what is expected of them. During the learning process it is important to keep an open mind and heart in communicating with the student, consistently offering formative assessment. This allows the student to build on their skill-set. The students should also participate in self-assessment and if a strong community of learners is established, peer-assessment. The reason this is important is that if students are involved in the assessment process, they know what they can do to improve their performance. By including the student in the assessment process, the final summative assessment will not be a surprise to them. This helps to eliminate report card anxiety as the students will have a clear picture of how they have been performing academically.
Teaching is a role of collaboration. It is necessary to collaborate with the parents of the students as they are the expert on their child. Obtaining insight of a learner's needs through conversations with the parents can help the teacher to provide the necessary supports the students need to excel. Collaborating with colleagues is also important so that teachers can contribute back to the field, learn new innovative ideas and to utilize other skill sets to support students. This is why I am an advocated of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and group research projects such as the Healthy Living Inquiry Project I participated in during the education program at Vancouver Island University.
According to the First Peoples Principles of Learning, “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)” (First Nations Education Steering Committee). This is what I try to create in the classroom every day. In essence, a good teacher should pour their heart and souls into their classrooms creating an innovative learning opportunity for their students each day. They should be able to both recognize and meet their students’ needs while igniting a lifelong passion for learning. As a teacher, this is what I will do to create an exceptional learning environment for all of my students. As Joe Manchin once said, “Every child should have a caring adult in their lives. And that’s not always a biological parent or family member. It may be a friend or neighbor. Often times it is a teacher.” (Brainy Quote, 2001).
References
British Columbia Ministry of Educations (2015). Standards for the education, competence and professional conduct of educators in BC. Retrieved from:
https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/standards/standardsdevelopment.aspx
First Nations Education Steering Committee (n/a). First peoples principles of learning. Retrieved from:
http://www.fnesc.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11x17.pdf
Joe Manchin Quotes (2001). Brainy quote. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/joemanchin168545.html
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2010). The nature of learning: using research to inspire practice. Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf
BC TEACHER REGULATION BRANCH STANDARDS
BCTF CODE OF ETHICS
ATA - TEACHING QUALITY STANDARDS
FACULTY OF EDUCATION CROSS CURRICULAR OUTCOMES
BCTF CODE OF ETHICS
ATA - TEACHING QUALITY STANDARDS
FACULTY OF EDUCATION CROSS CURRICULAR OUTCOMES
"Let's remember that our children's spirits are more important than any material things. When we do, self-esteem and love blossoms and grows more beautifully than any bed of flowers ever could."
- Jack Canfield