The Kind of Teacher I Want to be

I will have high expectations of my students to always do what I know they are capable of doing to the best of their abilities. By having these high expectations, means that I am willing to cater to any and all needs they might need to accomplish the goals set forth for them. I know the students I will have with disabilities goals will be different than the students without but, my expectations of them will not lessen. In some sense, I do not want to hold any one's hand and do things for my students that I know they can do. I do not think that is doing my students a favor to not give them work because it might seem difficult to them, but I will prepare them for it and teach them the skills they need to get through it, and always make myself accessible to help. If I am teaching kindergartners I am not going to pass out paper and crayons for them, they should be able to get it and put it back themselves but, I will cater to them such as, putting the paper, pencils, crayons, glue, tape in organized baskets where they can reach them and understand where everything goes, that way they can get it and put it back themselves. I always want to be a service to my students and advocate for them. I want to go the extra mile, and if I see a student struggling and they do not come to me for help, I will go to them and if I can not help than I will seek help from anyone that can whether it is the parent, principle, another teacher or outside help. I want each and everyone of my students to learn, learn something even if they are lazy to do there work then I want to be able to stay after school with them while they do it, to ensure they do their work. I do not want any of my students to fail, no matter what the cause is to why they would be struggling in my class. I want all of my students to succeed and learn.

Technology in the Classroom

Technology is here to stay, that is the truth so incorporating it into the classroom is essential. Students enjoy using technology and many use it on daily basis. Students now do not know a world where technology does not exist so, I believe it is needed in the classroom and given educational purposes for students to learn from. There are a few technological tools I want to include in my classroom for my students, which ones I will use depends on the grade I teach. I want to have a podcast of all daily lessons so parents can hear what their children are learning, and so if a child is out of class for the day they will not have to miss the lesson. I also would like for me and my students to have a class blog, where the students can post their work and make connections with others from around the world. I want them to see that others besides friends and family enjoy their work. I want them to have a world wide audience so they can really see that the world is their oyster, and also so they can in some way see that there is a bigger world out there than their hometown. A couple of other tools I would like my students to use is TimeToast and Google Earth. I like the idea of making their own timelines to see events in history. Google Earth has multiple uses such as, taking a tour of an ocean floor or Google Lit trips where if we are reading a novel such as "The Great Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", the class can see the different places he goes. I also want my students to make movies, podcasts, and animations. Technology is the future, and if the purpose of schools and teachers is to prepare younger generations for the workforce than teaching them technology is a must.

Teachers Should Always Learn

I believe all teachers should forever learn, and as a teacher I will be a life long learner. I never want to get stuck in my ways and not learn new ways of teachings, new information, and new ideas. I always want to be better, and if I refuse to learn chances to grow and improve will be lost. One can learn from anyone, and I want to keep my ears open to fellow colleagues whether it is hearing what other teachers I will work with are doing with their students in their classrooms in the coffee room, or reading a fellow teacher's blog in Wyoming I want to learn from them. I also believe that how can I push my students to learn new things when I myself refuse to learn, that makes no sense to me. I need to always be learning as well. After all, it will be my job to help others learn, therefore I and all teachers need to keep learning. Teachers need to be examples for their students, it will only benefit everyone in the process.

My Aptitude

My greatest strength in any subject is Literature and English. I believe it is my gift. I also have a passion for History and Science but, Literature is in my spirit. I feel that any child that I have the privilege to teach English to will greatly benefit. I feel that writing is one of the most important things a human can do, and I will advocate this to my students. No matter what subject that is being discussed there will be some form of writing that they will have to do. Whether it's blogging, commenting on blogs, keeping a journal, or writing a paper, they will write. In the movie, "The Dead Poet's Society" Robin William's character says "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" I think sometimes that English and Literature are not taken as seriously as Math and Science but, that does not mean it is any less important. Where would we be if people did not write things down and others did not read that writing? As a teacher, I will try to hone their individual writing skills that will help them go far in any subject of learning, and eventually I hope that one day they will see the importance in it all as well.

Some Approaches to Teaching

As a teacher I want my student's to always have their brains turned on, ready to be creative and challenged. When I'm a teacher, I'm going to try to bring this out of my student's to the best of my ability. I want to bring out excitement about learning in my students, and my goal is for my student's to be enthusiastic and wanting to come to my classroom everyday. I believe that communication with parents is extremely important. I think that if parent's are aware of what is going on in their child's classroom and trust the teacher it leaves for more opportunities for student learning. A parent is a child's first teacher, and they know their child better than anyone. It's good to have a trusting and open communication relationship with a parent, it benefits the student greatly. One approach to teaching I would like to take, as a teacher this idea might change but, I would rather have students do creative projects like build a map of the United States with all states and state capitals labeled instead of just busy work. I know busy work can sometimes be necessary for student's to practice a certain skill but, I would like to try and stray away from it. I also want to forever grow as a teacher so I can always meet the needs of my students. Basically in a nut shell my approach is, to be creative, fun, always meet my student's needs all the time making sure they're learning what they need to know not only to get the grade, but learning skills they will need to know the rest of their lives.

It's All About the Students

My number one priority as a teacher will be to make it all about the students and their learning. That's what will come first. No matter what's going on with colleagues or my personal life, a student's education can not suffer for it. My job will be to responsible for student's learning so for me, that is the obvious number one priority for any teacher. I also believe that all children no matter what deserve an equal opportunity education. Every child should get a chance to learn the material at hand, and as a teacher I will hold myself accountable for student's learning.