Professional Goals
Areas of Growth
Connecting with Students
When I had initially started school A, I had some prior knowledge since I have worked as a teacher aide in a special education class for over a year, so I was comfortable to being involved in the classroom. In some cases, it becomes extremely difficult to understand your role in the classroom. Although I am not the teacher, I still have their ears and am able to express an authoritative role within it in. This makes classroom instruction easier as the students would be more willing to be engaged and would not be misbehaving. This does not mean that I take a hard approach to teaching as I like to joke around and have fun with the students. I find that humor works best in having students respect you and find it easy to confide in you. Being able to build a connection with students takes time, and I am currently trying to figure out how to best approach students when necessary.
A New Perspective
Being in this classroom has given me a new perspective on my approach to teaching and has helped grow not just as an educator, but as a person as well. I am constantly helping students understand material that is complex and requires abstract thinking. I like to guide students' learning through open discussion so that the material sticks with them. I learned to navigate and use online resources within the school in order to deliver the content.
Areas for Development
I need to work on learning to adapt to environments I myself might not even feel comfortable with. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood and being of Hispanic ancestry, I was always surrounded by people who were affirming my identity. It wasn't until I got to College that I found people of diverse backgrounds and of diverse experiences. I need to work on being more open to students of all backgrounds and embrace their culture. I would benefit from growing in this area because a teacher is responsible for making their students feel welcomed and accepted, so it is imperative that I foster a culture of acceptance within me.
In this classroom, most of my time consisted of one on one instruction with the same student. This student has many behavioral issues and is constantly being reprimanded for late/incomplete work, being tardy, and being disruptive in class. I like to help all students and I see myself in him because likewise, I was also a troublemaker back in my youthful days. However, I still make an effort to reach out to this student and have him work when I am with him. Although he has not completely changed his malignant behavior, he is still improving as a student and as a person when I am present and when I am not, as evidenced by his behavior in class and by teacher comments. My goal is for me to be able to learn how to help students who are struggling and to be a bit more empathetic when dealing with them.
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