Vision Statement

Courtney Greer
10-25-16

My goal as an educator is to create the most effective environment for learning. I want
my future classroom to be a place where students may escape their outside lives for a bit and be
welcomed into a safe place for learning and creating. I want to present content in fun, interesting
ways, with assignments that force students to think. I want students to know when they enter my

classroom they are safe to share thoughts and ideas with their peers or in personal ways. There
are certain qualities and skills one should have in order to be an educator.
Every educator owes it to their students to work at being the best they can be. There are a few
qualities one must have or work towards to be an efficient educator. Being understanding, or
avoiding bias, is important and even listed in the educators code of ethics on the TEA website (D
standard 3.4). Bias may include race, gender or certain cultures. Educators have a responsibility
to treat students and peers equally. The code of ethics also mentions appropriate relationships
regarding the use of technology. (I standard 3.9). One should not engage in inappropriate
communication with students whether it is over text, phone, email, or other forms of social
media. Students trust educators to be role models (Jensen, Role-modeling, pg 78). Creating
inappropriate relationships breaks that trust, just one reason it is wrong. One should enter the
room with a positive attitude. The teacher's emotional state will affect the classroom atmosphere,
(Jensen, 78) so it is important to keep that atmosphere as consistent as possible. I believe a good
educator is also open to learning about the students, their culture, lives, learning habits and
personalities. This is all information that can be used to create an effective learning environment.
One should enter each class with passion, this attitude will work to create a better learning
environment. flexibility can also be a great quality because it means you care and are willing to
work with students on their success. If, as an educator, one does not care about their students
success I would ask why they chose this profession.
Teachers have a very difficult job and there are skills that help get that job done. Organization
and Creating connections students can use inside and outside of the classroom are two aspects of
teaching I am very passionate about. This is a part of a learner-centered classroom as explained
in the Learner-centered proficiencies. The teacher selects and organizes topics so students can
make clear connections between what is taught in the classroom and what they experience
outside the classroom. I want my classroom to teach students content as well as how to use
critical thinking skills and how to think for themselve. Teachers should work with students
disabilities, it is important to work with these rather than against them. Teaching students that
something that makes their learning style different can be a chance for creative learning or
thinking, rather than something they allow to hinder their success. Teambuilding is one of the
skills I believe to be incredibly important.Through teambuilding, students come to know, like,
and respect their teammates. In the process we convert a group of virtual strangers into a
powerful learning team (Kagan 10.1) Teambuilding helps create bonds between students
making them more comfortable to share. This helps generate better thoughts in class discussions,
team projects, individual work and thinking skills in general.While all of the keys are important I
believe teambuilding will be the key in students success within all of the other keys. I would like
my classroom to be a team of learners.
In my plans as an educator I just hope to be a good teacher. I want to work to create a safe place
for learning and sharing ideas, a productive yet fun classroom. I want to know each day that I

worked very hard to generate passion in students, relate to them, make the content meaningful
and project the fact that I care if they succeed. I want students to come in knowing they will have
to work but that it will be relevant and meaningful. If I become the teacher who sits at their desk
going through dull power points and handing out packets simply for grades I will know I have
failed. My goal as a classroom teacher is to be open, on task, understanding, passionate,
organized and overall to create the learning environment students deserve.

references :
Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind. (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for
supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kagan, S. (2009). Kagan cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan publishing.
Educators' Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2016, from
http://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=2147501244
Learner-centered schools for texas, A vision of Texas Educators. SBEC publication. July 1997.
Educators' Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2016, from
http://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=2147501244