As you observed and interacted in your field experiences, how did the focus questions connect with one another? What connections did you make personally and/or professionally to the ‘interconnectedness’ of our weekly topics, field experiences and assignments? How does this experience affect your journey to become a teacher? What do you need to learn more about? What questions do you now have? What are 3 professional goals that you are setting for yourself for your next leg of your journey?
My time during this fieldwork experience in Miss. Johnson’s Kindergarten classroom has taught me a lot about who I want to be as a future educator. As I reflect on the experiences and lessons that I’ve learnt from her I can corroborate that there is so much more to teaching than just showing up to school, working with the kids and going home. Interacting and building relationships especially in younger grades is essential to establishing a core trust system between yourself and your students.
The weekly focus questions really opened my eyes to more of the behind the scene situations that occur in students lives. The atmosphere of a community school definitely added to the uniqueness of every student, and made me think about how teachers also have the added challenge of having to modify lesson plans to specific students. As I reflected weekly the focus questions enabled me to grow as a student, and a future educator. They encouraged me to think outside of the norms that I most accustomed to, and looked at the bigger picture.
These past eight weeks at Elsie Mironuck Community School have really helped in beginning to shape my future teaching identity. It has reinforced to me that teaching is what I want to peruse, but maybe not in an Elementary school. Although I love playing and interacting with younger students, I feel that with my major being in physical education that a secondary classroom is better suited for me.
I have realized from the classes I’ve taken up to this point, and well as this ECS 100 class that there is still so much for me to learn, if I want to a successful teacher. Listening and taking in all the expertise from guest lectures has shown to me how rewarding teaching really is, and how many lives I could have the possibility of impacting with this career.
There are many questions that I still have and I will always be developing more as I grow and learn. Some right now would be:
- How do I make students whose interests aren’t physical activity to become engaged in the lessons I teach?
- How do I become an inclusive teacher?
- What are some ways that current Physical Educators make adjustments to lesson plans because of children with disabilities?
Three Professional Goals:
- Understand that not all students are athletic or have interests in sports, by teaching them the importance of being physically literacy in class it can contribute to them being more knowledgeable in daily tasks.
- Be a role model that my students can look up to.
- Never be afraid to try new methods of teaching, learning from mistakes will allow me to grow and be able to refine my educational philosophy.