1st Grade Educator
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My Story |
Philosophy |
I started at Montclair State University and studied Family and Child Studies and CEAS certification.
From January of 2017 through December of 2017, I gained my first experiences of teaching by being a student teacher at Hawkins Street School. The love and passion for education and community showed me that this is the right place to be. As of January 2018, I have been a First Grade teacher at Hawkins Street School, where I will continue to strive for excellence. |
Every teacher should get to know each of there students individually. When getting to know their students they should make note of their social skills, their interest such as hobbies, how they handle their emotions such as stress, as well as how they learn and read. Gaining this knowledge will help complete successful lesson plans and create accomplishable goals for the students. Students should always feel safe and comfortable and to do so, the teaching should always have a warm and welcoming tone when communicating with the students. Another way the teacher can help make a student feel comfortable is by asking how was their weekend was or how do they feel if they were out sick or were not feeling good the day before. As a teacher you want your students to feel comfortable enough to approach you for anything. A teacher should see the parents and guardians as equal partners in the student’s education. Parents and guardians should be included in many different learning experiences throughout the year such coming to see projects or presentations that the children worked on, doing story time, or even participating in field trips. Teachers should provide open communication to parents and be available as much as possible by giving out a parent/teacher communication email address or a messaging system for easy contact.
Hands on activities and individual instruction based learning objectives and hobbies will be the key to learning that will assist all students who learn in different ways. Students can go into different groups based on hobbies and explore answers, come up with their own questions, and accomplish their own goals while meeting the teachers goal. Students will also be allowed to show their creativity and interest while self-teaching and accomplishing a learning objective. The classroom will consist of many tools and resources such as crafts, technology, and books to help students with hands on activities and individual instruction based learning. Critical thinking is stronger when students are able to collaborate ideas with other peers. Not only will students get to collaborate ideas with peers but they will do so in fun and engaging ways. To answer questions or collaborate ideas students can play a game to make it interesting. This will also show students that they can learn without lecture and there can be multiple correct answers based on other student’s perspectives. Students will that they have done great work throughout the day because they will receive Dojo points. Parents will also get notified when their children are gaining points which is encouragement for the child. As a part of society we learn new things everyday. To be a successful part of society we need to expand our minds in many ways throughout our school years. Learning is a key of life and to make sure students are always comprehending what they are learning the teacher needs to facilitate assessments before and after lessons to see the growth in each individual students. These assessments should be well planned out based on the student’s style of learning. For example, if majority of the students are hands on learners a great way to assess them would be a project. Prior to a lesson, I will ask students what they know about the topic, what they want to know about the topic, and what ways would they like to learn about the topic. This will show me where all the students are at and assist me with a lesson that will engage all my students. At the end of the lesson, I will have my students present to me what they learned compared to what they knew prior. To create a positive atmosphere, I will have my student appraise each other after presenting what they know as well as appraise them on their work and Dojo. Having students see their own progress by what they created during learning will encourage them to continue their hard work as well as challenge them to become more creative with other learning experiences. The best way to learn is to not think of it as an obligation but as a fun discovery to something new. My classroom will be an encouraging and creative atmosphere to show where children’s minds are expressed to their full capacity. Children will feel safe by the comfort of a teacher and inviting by their peers to want to learn together. |