Peter Castro

About the Author!

Hey! my name is Peter Castro, and I am a sophomore from Alexandria, Virginia. I have one sister, a cat, and you can always find me hanging out with my friends. I have gone to schools in both Virginia and DC and traveled around most of the country. Other than being with my friends I love going on walks, listening to music, binging my favorite shows, playing tennis, and steak. Some of my favorite artists are Tyler, The Creator and Lil yachty and some of my favorite shows are How I Met Your Mother or Peacemaker. My journey to becoming a teacher started in my junior year of high school, when I had actually gotten suspended and part of my consequences was, I had to find a job or internship to go to during school some days. I chose to be a TA for an art teacher, at a bilingual school in DCPS (DC Public Schools) and quickly found that I had an untapped passion for working with kids and helping them grow and learn. After realizing how much I enjoyed being a TA in an art class, I requested to be a TA for a teacher who was with the kids the entire day, the ones who taught the core subjects. I got my wish granted, and for my senior year I helped teach the same kids every week. It was such a great experience, and I learned so much about myself during the time as well as many lessons about teaching and how to handle certain scenarios. I am forever grateful for my time as a TA, and I think its done a big part in shaping my future and guiding me on my career path.

Here is me and my sister's boyfriend (I'm on the right). I would put a solo picture of myself, but I have none.

Some pics of me!

What I know?

I believe I am very personable, and this allows me to build strong bonds with all of the kids, making me someone who they feel they can talk or express themselves to. I know how to listen well and be empathetic when kids need it. I have lots of patience with the kids as well and I believe that is a huge deal, especially when the kids are getting loud or obnoxious. I also know the typical structure of a teacher's day during school hours, since I was around a real teacher so much of my senior year. One other thing I know is what teaching a diverse classroom is like. Being at a bilingual school presented me with a ton of kids from different cultures and I believe I picked up on a lot of strategies on how to make class as inclusive as possible. However, I think the best thing I know, is that I know every kid moves at a different pace and may not be as excited or motivated to do work every day. I will always do my best to make sure ANYONE in my class is able to succeed no matter how helpless they feel.

What I need to learn

I believe I still have a lot to learn about teaching, albeit having over a year of experience. I would say things I know are mostly based around interactions with the kids. I still need to learn things like what making a lesson plan is like, or how to go about making a grading rubric. One big struggle I felt I had when I was a TA was finding a balance in my personality of being stern at times but also friendly at times too. Sometimes it felt like I was taken less seriously, because I always tried to be a fun and nice friend, which made it harder for students to look at me as a true authority / adult figure. Classroom management as a whole is something I'm really looking forward to learning, as I feel my ability to do that can make my life as a teacher much easier. I also need to learn how I prefer to have my kids sat together, and the methods of putting kids in certain groups together. Lastly, dealing with conflicts or bullying is something I need to learn, because I want to cultivate a classroom where everyone is respected and respectful, and I need to be able to know how to properly discipline kids when they are not respecting their peers or me.

AI image description: Here I asked AI to envision a teacher observing a group of diverse students working together on a hands-on project. The hands-on project involves science, which is how I incorporated essentialism and the progressivism is shown by the students doing the hand on projects

The Teacher I will Become

When thinking of the teacher I will become, I think of a teacher who has been in their district / community for some time, as well as being respected and trusted. I will be a teacher who teaches using elements of progressivism, existentialism, and essentialism. Elements of progressivism will show up when I give my students hands on activities, where they will develop critical thinking and problem solving, while also learning how to talk about what they are doing. Existentialism elements will be incorporated by letting kids do certain projects or activities on things they are interested in, so that they can learn more about themselves and the ways they like to learn or do assignments. Finally, essentialism will be important in my class, because I still want to make sure my students are well versed in their core subjects, and that they have the tools they need to succeed in the future. But at the end of the day, I want to be a teacher that inspires my students to care for others, follow their dreams, and get outside of their comfort zone.

How I used AI: I used AI for the picture in what I know section and the picture in what teacher I will become section. I also used AI to help summarize what the educational philosophies meant so I could incorporate them into my what teacher I will become section.
Canva was used to make the Who I Am introduction slide and google slides were incorporated as well.

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