I believe that it is important to focus on professional growth. In order to continually work towards improving myself, it is important to reflect on where I’ve been and where I want to go. Looking forward to the next semester, I have set some professional goals for myself.
One of the essential things that I’ve noted in my teaching philosophy is the importance of making connections and building relationships in the classroom. During the first semester, where I spent 1 day per week in the classroom with my Grade 1s, it has been difficult to build a strong connection with the students. I was able to teach one lesson each week then spent most of my time either observing the class or bouncing around to see different grades. With some students, it’s easy to make a connection; they are open to it, or seeking it out and receptive to others. Going forward I would like to focus on finding that connection with the students that are more reserved, harder to get to know and make sure to see the strengths in each and every one of them.
So far I have a good working relationship with my teaching partner and cooperating teacher. I would like to continue to work on my professional relationship in order to be more comfortable with both in order to bounce ideas back and forth and sort through all of the challenges we face in the classroom. The better relationship we have, the easier it will be to navigate issues that may arise. Having a strong relationship with colleagues means having a support system that I can turn to when in need as well as someone to help celebrate successes with. I’m looking forward to working with my cooperating teacher, teaching partner, as well as the other teachers in the school that I have had the opportunity to meet so far.
Looking forward to my 3 week block in the classroom, I have set a goal to improve my differentiation between students. Being able to plan for different learning styles is something I want in my future classroom. I believe that it is my job to ensure that every child feels as successful as possible. To practice this, I have started a Student Learning Profile to help identify needs for differentiation in my placement. I will work towards helping each of these students by planning and accounting for each of their needs in lessons and assessments.
Lastly, I would like to learn as much as I can about the planning process. This semester, our focus in many classes was lesson planning. I have been taught that when planning, it is vital to have the end in mind to know where you want to end up and what you want your students to know when you’re finished. However, with the focus being on lesson planning, it has been difficult to see the end goal, which is long range plans, including year plans and unit plans. Next semester, I want to take the opportunity to really focus in on this to ensure that I have the bigger picture in mind when I go into the classroom for internship.
