I believe…

-All students should have equal opportunity and resources.

-Incorporating all modes of perception into a lesson is important.

-There’s no right way to do something, new ideas are always good.

-Everyone learns and thinks different.

-Not everyone has the same background knowledge, so certain knowledge cannot be assumed.

– Safety and kindness come before all else.

-There is no such thing as a bad question.

-It is important to incorporate different teaching styles (ie. Not just lecturing).

-It is important as a teacher to know what your students need to be successful.

-It is important to reflect on your teaching and teaching methods, and always be looking for ways in to improve.

-It is important to look after the mental health of your students, not just physical.

-As a teacher you should be looking for signs of struggle, or complications in your students and offering help where able to do.

-As a teacher you should be a reflective practitioner.

-You should design lessons for L2 learners, what benefits L2 learners will benefit everyone.

What Teaching is to Me

In class we were asked to write about what it means to be a teacher to us. I think it is really important to think about this as a future teacher to understand the importance of why your becoming a teacher in the first place. My response was as follows:

“To me being a teacher is about helping your students learn and succeed to the best of their abilities. Education is always changing and there are always so many new resources open to teachers. It is important as a teacher to recognize these tools open to us, and how to use those in the interest of your students. This is done by the idea of reflective practice, and reflecting on past lessons you have taught and the outcomes of those teachings. Chapter 1 of Educational Foundations in Canada talks about reflective practice in terms of diversity in teachers, and teaching styles, as well as students and learning styles. This chapter talks about how no two teachers will teach the same, and no two people that learn the exact same way. This is why reflective practice is so important as a teacher, because everyone is so different, and learns so different one plan cant possibly work for two different groups of kids if everyone is truly learning to the best of their ability. With this in mind teachers always have to adapt, change, or rearrange their plans to suit the needs of their students. Teachers can reflect on what worked well in the past, and what didn’t work well, and how those can be changed or altered to improve the outcome for the learners. There are no two teachers that teach the same, and the textbook talks about teachers learning from each other. If every teacher uses reflective practice and sees what challenges are being faced in class settings, collaboration of each other’s ideas and experiences can lead to more positive learning environments with more successful outcomes. Teaching with reflective practice is important to ensure your students have the best resources available to them, and as a teacher you have to turn to every resource you have to ensure you are giving your students all they need to succeed.”