Reflect

As education has become increasingly important to our modern society, so too has
the role of the teacher. Todays teachers need to prepare a new generation of young
minds to successfully handle the continuous change molding our economy,
governing bodies, and our developing technologies. Teachers face a number of
challenges in this task, including: increasing economic disparity, changing dynamics
of the family, and increased standardization of the educational process.
The increasing economic disparity facing our country is readily seen in most
classrooms across the country. This is important because as a familys economic
resources diminish, often so does the involvement of the family in their students
educational process. These families tend to have non-traditional hours of
employment, lower income, and less access to transportation-all of these factors
contribute to their students lack of participation in school-related activities that
could serve as a bridge to overcoming gaps in academic or social progress.
Furthermore, the family dynamic of our classrooms continue to change. Students
come to our classrooms often raised by single parents, siblings, or grandparents (or
all three). This situation makes it difficult for one or two family members to keep
track of their students educational struggles and successes. This is why it is so
important for a teacher to keep the line of communication open with a childs
family, no matter how many channels one must cover. Finally, teachers are
continually battling a more and more rigid educational process. Standardized testing
and a curriculum focused on math and reading has greatly changed the academic
discourse in our classrooms. Teachers are now required to traverse a curriculum that
focuses on content and efficiency, stressing the skills that will most likely benefit
the needs of the future. This outlook tends to marginalize lesser-regarded subjects
like science, social studies, music, art, and gym. It is the teachers role to
incorporate these subjects into the classroom when applicable, rounding out their
students educational experience.
However, there has been a change recently in the way families view the importance
of education. Families now see education as an almost necessity for their children to
find future economic opportunities that will provide the necessary financial support
to raise a family, attain home ownership, and retire comfortably. Families are

beginning to understand the importance of maintaining a relationship with their

students teachers and many seek opportunities to participate in school-related
activities. In addition, it seems that many families are becoming increasingly
sympathetic to the needs and challenges of their students classroom. Families are
helping with the responsibility of supplying classrooms, helping at school events,
and supporting academic decisions affecting their students.
Student-Teacher Relationships
Teachers must build trust with their students to successfully meet students
emotional and learning needs. Creating a safe, challenging, and fun classroom
environment where students feel safe to take academic and social risks is essential.
Teachers can implement a safe classroom environment by creating and enforcing a
clear set of classroom expectations and procedures. To optimize the effectiveness of
this activity, teachers should give students a central role in creating classroom
expectations. The beginning of the year is a great time for students to work with the
teacher to make anchor charts and posters that outline expected classroom
behaviors which work to optimize learning outcomes and personal relationships.
This activity will help hold students personally accountable for their actions and
behaviors, increasing the likelihood appropriate behaviors will be practiced in the
classroom. Also, students need to understand expectations will be enforced. I
believe teachers must work diligently to enforce rules with consistency and fairness.
When children know the consequences and understand they are applied equally to
everyone, the student-teacher relationship will be strong.
Principal-Teacher Relationships
The principal-teacher relationship is built off of communication and collaboration.
Teachers will do their best teaching when they maintain open and honest dialogue
with their principal and collaborate to take the required steps needed for their
students to reach their potential. Teachers will normally find a strong ally in their
schools leader. Curriculum questions, parental relationships, classroom
management concerns-these are all issues a principal can help solve. However, for
problems to be overcome there needs to be honest dialogue. Be specific yet
positive about the problems you bring to your principal. Let them know of your
concerns but also that you are willing to help find a solution and follow through with

a corrective course of action. Likewise, its equally important for teachers to support
their principal. Changes to curriculum, staffing, funding, and procedures must be
met with an open mind and positive attitude. Principals are the leaders of the school
and like teachers, try to make decisions based off of what is best for their students.
Teachers must implement these changes to the best of their abilities, making
suggestions for modifications when necessary. The principal-teacher relationship will
always be at its best when both parties communicate openly and collaborate
together to take the necessary actions that are best for their students.
School Climate
I believe that schools must be safe places for children emotionally, socially, and
academically. This is necessary for students to take the required risks to grow as
learners and as people. Creating this type of school climate takes much more than
just a students classroom teacher. All school staff members should make their best
efforts to build personal relationships with students, finding out what makes each
student unique and help them reach their academic goals. Learning students
names, attending school-related activities both in and out of the school, and taking
time to show interest in students as individuals all go a long way in creating a
positive school climate. In addition, schools should have clean, well-lit hallways and
classrooms that are neatly adorned with positive messages that help meet the
emotional outcomes of its students. Staff members can further these messages by
modeling desired behavior in and outside of the classroom. Students will greatly
benefit when they see examples of teachers interacting with other teachers,
administrators, specialists, and parents in a respectful way that promotes
collaboration. Finally, a schools climate needs to address the social needs of its
students. This can be addressed when all students are engaged in productive
educational activities that encourage individuality while simultaneously building
school unity. Efforts should to allow for opportunities for children to build
relationships with their peers, teachers, and administrators. An engaged and
respected student body will be much more inclined to exhibit positive behaviors and
will promote inclusion.
Preferred Curriculum in the Classroom
I believe the best curriculum is interactive, challenging, and accessible. While texts
are often an important part of curriculum, opportunities for implementation of new

learning are essential. I wish to create as many hands-on opportunities as possible

to achieve a strong connection between new learning and actual understanding. By
incorporating opportunities to apply new learning I wish to bridge the gap between
challenging and accessible. All students bring different strengths and weaknesses to
the classroom. Some students may only require a text and a notebook to attain
actual understanding of content. However, I find that most children can reach a
level of actual understanding when given the opportunity to implement academic
concepts with activities that combine new knowledge with concrete concepts. I also
believe in quality over quantity, something that I feel promotes higher order
thinking to solve fewer, yet more difficult problems. These types of questions often
promote the idea of teamwork as students are required to share thinking strategies
with their peers and learn from one another.
Preferred Pedagogy in the Classroom
I believe the best pedagogical practices create a safe, fun, and rewarding learning
environment. Children need to know that sometimes they need to fail to succeed,
that learning is much more than memorization, and that succeeding in academics is
challenging yet attainable. In addition, I have come to recognize the importance of
incorporating Developmentally Appropriate Practices into my future classroom. As a
teacher I will greatly benefit when I understand where my students are in their
intellectual development, how they behave with the physical world around them,
and by knowing how their cultural background and home life are shaping their
educational expectations. Using the principles of DAP can help me personalize
instruction to meet individual students needs. Furthermore, the observational skills
I have developed over the past two years will help me implement DAP practices. By
watching children, taking notes and keeping records, I can better understand what
best helps them learn. All students can reach their full potential when provided the
proper pedagogical frameworks.
The Management of Students in the Classroom
First and foremost, I believe it is vital to create a concrete set of rules and
expectations for classroom behavior with your students. By working together,
students realize how their behavior directly impacts the daily operation of the
classroom and how their actions influence the ability of others to achieve their

learning goals. Anchor charts, posters, classroom jobs, etc.-all of these activities
contribute to helping students achieving the expectations of the classroom by
eliciting desired behaviors on a day-to-day level. Secondly, I feel it is important to
address behavior, both positive and negative, in a predictable and uniform manner.
For example, students straying from the expected classroom behavior model must
know what to expect concerning discipline. The course the teacher takes must be
consistent for all students, regardless of previous offenses or behavior. By doing so,
students will be more likely to obey and respect the rules when they understand
punishment will be applied uniformly. More importantly however, is the intervention
steps the teacher takes to address behavior shortcomings to begin with. Will the
teacher respond with negative consequences? Or will the teacher take steps to
implement positive behavioral reinforcements to help limit future transgressions? I
believe that sound classroom behavioral expectations will be more likely followed
when opportunities for positive reinforcement are provided. Students should be
encouraged to act accordingly instead of discouraged to do so.
Developing Partnerships with Parents and the Community
I believe the partnerships teachers build with parents and the community are
essential to optimizing student learning and performance. There is a well-known
connection between a students home life and their success at school. I believe that
teachers should provide every opportunity available to connect with family
members and make them part of their students educational progress. Classroom
letters, blogs, websites, volunteer opportunities, emails, etc.-all of these
communicative/interpersonal outreaches seek to establish a bond with a students
home life. Once those at home are engaged and understand the role they play in
their students educational outcomes the likelihood of a childs success greatly
improve. I like the idea of allowing families a look into their students classroom and
plan on utilizing classroom newsletters and online applications such as Seesaw
Parent to accomplish this. These tools create a window in to the happenings of our
classroom and include family members in the process. In addition, the community
at-large is a great resource for optimizing student performance. Reaching out to
your communitys public employees (fire, police, utilities), as well as business and
political leaders can help strengthen the bond between students and their

community. Whats more, students are provided windows into how the community
works and what it takes to become a successful member of the community.