In the Inspired Teacher Collaborative Group Presentation uploaded to my Showcase blog titled, Inspire, Motivate, Dedicate the Future, has aided in my growth as a future teacher in regards to the Teacher Performance Expectations. TPE 6.1 states that “Beginning Teachers reflect on their own teaching practice and level of subject matter and pedagogical knowledge to plan and implement instruction that can improve student learning.” (CTC). During the group project, we were able to reflect on what it means to be a teacher to us. We examined our personal biases and explored how, when we were students, did our mentor teachers keep classroom inspired and motivated. We also discussed what this type of teacher might look like. TPE 6.3 states, “Beginning teachers establish professional learning goals and make progress to improve their practice by routinely engaging in communication and inquiry with colleagues” (CTC), this TPE was in practice throughout the presentation as it was specifically tailored to allow us to collaborate as colleagues and discuss our future teaching styles and beliefs. This presentation had a great impact on my growth as a teacher, it helped me to make a growth plan for becoming a teacher and it allowed me to explore my version of what an “Inspired” teacher would be.
The main device that helped my growth as a teacher during this project was challenging my view of teaching against two other people’s ideas. It allowed me to see that, although, our view mainly coincided, there were factors that we did not agree on. For example, one of my classmates was going to be a math teacher and he relied more on fact based teaching. His ideas were more black and white as far as discussion with students and ideas discussed during class. This allowed me to discuss with him, more in depth ideas of how to inspire students in a subject that could become stale fairly quickly. This led to slides in the presentation involving engaging and adapting our lesson plans so that the students stay motivated. This allowed me to grow with my own ideas as there will also be times where lessons in an English Classroom may become stale also. It also allowed me to ask questions of myself as a teacher. How will I be a motivated and dedicated teacher when I have a family that I have to be inspired for? How do I dedicate myself to an entire classroom of students when each one has their own individual needs that must be met? Answering these questions has helped in my growth as a future teacher and to make a plan for all future growth.
Discussing and analyzing the TPE’s and applying them to my beliefs as a future teacher has helped to make a growth plan. This plan involves four actions, Assess, Plan, Adapt, and Reflect.
- Assess each new classes needs, as an entire class. Where are they at mentally, behaviorally and scholarly. What is are the demographics of the class? Are there any disabilities that must be addressed? Are there any remedial lessons that must be taught before moving forward, and finally, what is the best way to teach them? These questions will help to start the class in the right mindset. It will allow me to dedicate my time to teaching the class in a more specialized way and make the students more comfortable so that there is a better flow of ideas and conversation.
- Plan my lessons to align with the initial assessment and state standards. Even though I would like to encourage and teach students exactly where they need to be taught, I have a job, as a teacher, to teach them what the state of California needs them to be taught for their grade level.
- Adapt my lesson so that if there is a more difficult subject for the students to grasp, then I can slow down or speed up the lesson. I can make new activities or add extra tutoring time if need be. It is important that teachers can change as there are many outside influences on a classroom as well.
- Finally, I must reflect on the classroom regularly. After each lesson, during each lesson. I must always ask myself how to make the lesson more universal? Is every student learning? Am I dedicating myself to each lesson and student and am I taking responsibility for each students learning?
Each of these actions will help me to be an inspired teacher. They may be repeated as many times as it takes for the lessons to be effective. And they may change over time.
The Inspired Teacher Collaborative Group Presentation has helped me to relate what I have learned in this class to TPE 6.1 and 6.3. We reflected on our teaching styles and learned how we can implement our beliefs into our teaching. I have also developed two of my core beliefs; that all student have a right to learn and the teacher is responsible for the facilitation of that learning, and that all teachers are responsible for the professional development of themselves by collaborating with their colleagues to challenge their ideas about teaching. Both of these beliefs will guide my decisions as a teacher because it allows for the ultimate reflection of my lesson plans and my teaching. They will help give me ideas on how to refresh my lessons as well as allow my own ideas of teaching to be continually challenged so that I can adapt.
Resources
California Teaching Performance Expectations: Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016).