Final Reflections

Just as my students moved from blank or masked canvases to masterpieces of art, so too have I been changed through this process. This year has been a challenge and a blessing at the same time.

I learned that it is more important to learn from my students. If they need me to work harder by providing them with more feedback so that they can be successful learners than that is my job. If only given one chance to succeed on an assignment, they do not learn, they simply feel defeated and give up. Giving multiple opportunities improves their writing, their work ethic, and their personal feeling about themselves as learners. It also improves the student teacher dynamic because they see all of us working together to achieve the same thing: success as learners. I am learning from them, they are learning from me, and they are learning from one another.

The responsibility rested on their shoulders. I had moved from the enforcer of policies to a supporter of their learning. It was such a natural shift and so welcomed by me. The positive change to the learning environment was transformational. I could now be the teacher I wanted to be. I could be the coach, motivator, encourager, educator not the task master, scheduler and hand holder. Kids were staying after class to finish work. They were reflecting on their learning and changes they witnessed meta-cognitively

One thing that really surprised me was how encouraging all their feedback was towards me as their teacher and the changes I was trying to make in the classroom. Some students now see their learning and grade in their hands and not so much in the teachers. I think this is a dramatic shift for such young kids to experience. I also was impressed by the reflections of students who really see my role as a teacher as more of an encourager, not wanting them to fail, but instead giving them multiple opportunities to be successful. It makes me wonder what teachers have done in the past to them that teachers haven’t created this feeling within them before. This echoes the difference between teachers as coaches and teachers as assessors. Students are differentiating roles of a teacher into a golden standard

I do not know why it took until I was working on my Masters to feel that I had permission to change. Whether they knew it or not, their drive to do more and be more, was inspiring me to do the same for them.

I have incredible support around me to try new things- to be the masterpiece of myself. I am surrounded by greatness that my students embody. They want to work hard for someone who believes in them. When they are challenged to do more and be more, they rise to that level. I know great things lie ahead for these kids. They will be forever changed and opened to the possibilities that are contained within them.

I have learned the possibilities that lie with in me. I am an agent of change who will not be satisfied with mediocrity anymore. I will hold myself and my students to a higher standard.

Through empowering my students, I have empowered myself. The art of possibility has created not only more successful students but a more successful teacher and learner as well who will continue on the path of reflecting, changing, questioning, and growing.