The competent teacher structures a safe and healthy learning environment that facilitates cultural and linguistic responsiveness, emotional well-being, self-efficacy, positive social interaction, mutual respect, active engagement, academic risk-taking, self-motivation, and personal goal-setting.
I wrote this introduction letter to my students during my student teaching placement in the Fall of 2018. This note, along with my cooperating teachers note, was sent to the students before the first day of school in order for them to get to know me before school began. The letter includes a warm introduction, fun facts about myself and my goals and hopes for the nine weeks we would spend together.
By creating and sending this introduction letter to the students, I hoped to set a tone for my time in their classroom, creating a warm and positive atmosphere. I wanted to convey to the students that I was interested in them as individuals, by being vulnerable and introducing myself to them. Throughout my time in the classroom, students referenced my letter several times throughout conversations and expressed their enjoyment of getting to read personal details about me, their teacher.
Through creating this letter I meet Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 4D which states the competent teacher "understands factors (e.g., self-efficacy, positive social interaction) that influence motivation and engagement (IPTS 4D)". By introducing myself, including fun facts and welcoming the students into the classroom, I created a positive atmosphere and encouraged students to engage in positive interactions both with myself and other students. Throughout the first week of school, I had students write letters and play games to introduce themselves to their classmates, using my letter as a model. By going first, students felt more comfortable to share themselves with both myself and the class.
By creating this letter, I learned that it is the teachers role to create a warm and welcoming environment for students by modeling how to do so first. I also learned that the first week of school is crucial for setting the tone of the year, so sending home a friendly letter to help ease some of the anxiety and worry of students before they come to class can be helpful. Lastly, I learned that these simple efforts can contribute to positive behavior and group dynamics later on in the year, creating a cooperative and safe learning environment.
This is a English Language Arts abbreviated lesson plan I wrote in the Fall of 2018 during student teaching. After many of the students expressed interest in reading, I created this lesson plan as a way to introduce weekly book talks by and to students. During the lesson, I first model a book talk by using a class read aloud text. I then had students use the books they brought from home to pair up and give a book talk to their partner about their book, using the checklist of items I created for them. I then allow students to take action with their book talk and read either the book their partner suggested or the book they suggested to their partner. I encouraged students to partner read or silent read, spreading out around the classroom.
Through first modeling what a book talk should look like and discussing each element before hand, I showed students the expectations and created a guideline for them to follow during their own book talk. By doing so, I meet Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 4I which states the competent teacher "creates a safe and healthy environment that maximizes student learning (IPTS 4I)".
By pairing students up with students they worked well with and were comfortable with, I allowed students to practice the skill of giving a book talk in a low pressure environment, allowing them to become more comfortable with the skill before volunteering to present in front of the class at a later date. I also created time limits for each student's book talk and informed students when it was time to switch, as well as gave each group a check list of items to discuss during their book talk. By creating positive working environments and supporting materials, I meet Illinois Professional Teaching Standard by showing that I "understand how to help students work cooperatively and productively in groups (IPTS 4C)".
Through implementing this lesson, I was able to learn more about students by the books they brought and the items they highlighted in their book talks. I continued to use this information when creating lessons down the road in a way to make the lessons engaging and use student interests to motivate them.