What does it mean to be a teacher?
I believe being a teacher means to be a source of opportunity, knowledge, and guidance. It also means to be an inspiration for some and a role model for others. I originally thought being a teacher had one main goal. In reality there are many aspects that we take on being a teacher and these aspects vary from student to student. For example, in my AP classes I thought my main goal was to get my students prepared for college through rigor, while also providing them incentive to pursue the fields I taught by making them interesting. In my freshman general education class, I had a different goal. My main goal was to get those students to pass my class and to give them skills that would prepare them for the real world. While I had minor goals as to try to motivate and get students excited about science, my main objective was to be a role model for these students and give them the skills necessary to graduate high school and prepare them for the real world. I had students that had terrible home lives and I know that myself and some of the teachers in the building were the only good role models for those students. I had some students that wanted to go above and beyond the curriculum I was teaching and they loved to spend time picking my brain for in depth explanations of the world and what college in the field will be like. I had some students who wanted to know about my research experience, to help them decide what options they have going forward into STEM fields. Sometimes, I would just have students who needed someone to talk to that day, who would just sit and listen to what they had to say, whether it be talking about their big game or the difficulties they are having in other classes. It's cliche but as a teacher we really do have to wear many different hats and play many different roles in order to be successful. I truly believe though, as a teacher, it means we do everything in our power to set students up for success to make the world a better place. |
Who Am I as a Teacher?
I am a teacher that holds students to very high expectations. I use my strong relationships as a means to get the most out of students so that they may reach these high expectations. When students are done with my class, they will have developed their skills across multiple disciplines and be ready to tackle any challenge that is thrown at them, so long as they continue to keep moving forward with a "never say die" attitude. They will also leave knowing that their instructor cares about them and their success. Hopefully, that will be enough to drive them to do incredible things.
Rationale
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I've had an interesting and unique experience during my student teaching time. I taught AP Physics, AP/CLEP Chemistry, and a freshman Physical Science class. Going into teaching I had a mono-thought process on my expectations level. It turns out that does not work when you go from teaching the most motivated in the school to the least motivated. I ended up having a semi split philosophy on what I wanted my classrooms to be like for each class. In Physical Science I wanted to make sure they were going to pass my class and have skills that would get them through the rest of high school. My philosophy for my AP classes was to get them prepared for college. My idea is that if they can get an A in my AP classes then they will breeze through their first few classes in a STEM field in college. In both classes though I still held all my students to high expectations, however, the level of comprehension of the subject I expected from the classes varied. Do not mistake this as having a deficit mindset, if students were able to achieve an A in my physical science class they knew the material and they were prepared for any class they would take in high school. While I was teaching though, I noticed an issue with this polarity in motivation. It was a bit easier to have exceptionally high expectations for students that were already motivated compared to the unmotivated students. However, while the motivated students were less reluctant to meet those expectations, they would still fall short of what I thought they could achieve. Even though I had two different paradigms of students I saw that the problem of not meeting the expectations still stemmed from the same foundational problem, apathy. Apathy exists in many different forms but it hinders a students success none the less. That is when I decided to delve into the research on how to address student apathy and I believe I found the universal solution. In order to get the majority of your students to meet the expectations you set for them it is vital that you set up a classroom environment that students want to be a part of. Even more critical is that you build strong relationships with students. Once students have a strong relationship with you as a teacher you will find that the rate at which your students reach your expectations increases exponentially. Whether this is due to the fact that they don't want to let you down, they decide that the subject is actually enjoyable, or because they appreciate the class because of you, every teacher will find that using strong relationships to propel students to meet high expectations is a highly viable strategy which has better payouts than any amount of money from a job could give.
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What did my students thinK?
AP/CLEP Chemistry 1st Hour
AP/CLEP Chemistry 3rd Hour
AP PHysics 4th Hour
Physical Science B 5th Hour
Overall Responses
Looking Ahead
I've accepted a job at Paonia High School. I will be starting from scratch a new AP Chemistry program for the school and I will also be teaching Mathematics. I'm getting sent to the AP institute this summer to learn how AP works and to get a plethora of resources to start up this new program. It is a very small public school, and I plan on using the strong relationships I build with my students to propel them forward so that they may be successful.
Conclusion
Who am I as a teacher? I am the type of teacher that holds incredibly high expectations for my students. I use my strong relationship building skills to motivate my students and to help them reach that next level. When students walk away from my class, they will leave with the skills and grit to tackle any challenge. They will also walk away knowing that I care about their success and that I did everything in his power to prepare them for whatever challenges they may face after my class.
Process Paper - Kyser Seaney
I.What is your question:
Who am I as a teacher?
II.What were your preconceptions about the PEX at the beginning of the semester?
It is basically a presentation that we must give to show the professors we did something while student teaching. Not only show that we did something but we also reflected on who we were as a teacher, or what we wish to become.
III.How did you scale this work?
How did you work it through?
I bucked up and did it. We are graduate students; it should be expected we know how to rise to the occasion.
What’s the meta?
My meta was/is explosions to hook people.
IV.What did you realize and learn “down the stretch” that you might not have expected? What, in a few words, were the surprises that were positive, or less so?
I didn’t think we would have to host our own PEX for the MAE program.
Outline
I.What is your question:
Who am I as a teacher?
II.What were your preconceptions about the PEX at the beginning of the semester?
It is basically a presentation that we must give to show the professors we did something while student teaching. Not only show that we did something but we also reflected on who we were as a teacher, or what we wish to become.
III.How did you scale this work?
How did you work it through?
I bucked up and did it. We are graduate students; it should be expected we know how to rise to the occasion.
What’s the meta?
My meta was/is explosions to hook people.
IV.What did you realize and learn “down the stretch” that you might not have expected? What, in a few words, were the surprises that were positive, or less so?
I didn’t think we would have to host our own PEX for the MAE program.
Outline
- Intro – Explosion!
- Who am I?
- What do I think it means to be a teacher?
- Who am I as a teacher?
- Rationale
- What did my students think of me?
- Looking Ahead
- Conclusion
- End with a BANG! Explosion!