It was
interesting to read the Grant and Gillette article A Candid Talk to Teacher Educators after having completed student
teaching instead of as an introduction to my education courses at Goshen
College, because I feel like I have a much different perspective of the
teaching profession and myself as a teacher now than I did before I began this
line of study. Although I believe that the article has good points about some
of the experiences teacher candidates need to be exposed to before they begin
their student teaching/teaching career, I also believe that it is very
difficult for one to be well-versed in all nine areas before s/he is put into a
school system, especially because student teaching is such a hectic time. With
this said, though, I believe that there are a few of the nine actions that I
had good practice with due to the teacher education program at Goshen College,
and others that I could still use some more exposure to in order to make myself
a well-rounded educator.
A first of
the nine actions that I believe I have had adequate experience with is taking
education seriously. Throughout my life, I have been encouraged by my family to
do well in my studies, and have always strived to do my personal best in the
academic arena, which has resulted in achieving a plethora of “A’s” and academic honors throughout high school
and college. However, beyond solely receiving good grades, I was always taught
the value of why education is
important: because learning new ideas and how to manipulate/evaluate them is an
important life skill to have. Because of this, I have always seen the value in
ensuring that my students understand why they are learning the content they
are, which is something I tried to do during student teaching.
A second of
the nine actions that I believe I have embraced, especially throughout my time
in college, is learning how to become critically active. For me, being
“critically active” means that one takes the time to evaluate/analyze the
information s/he receives. This actually relates to what I said about the
importance of learning, as I believe that developing the skill of questioning
knowledge is a crucial aspect of learning. In my student teaching, I attempted
to be critically aware of the methods/instructional techniques I was using in
my classroom, in order to see which ones were effective. However, I also tried
to be critically aware of the information I was presenting to students,
ensuring that my students weren’t only learning at the surface level, but
delving deeper.
Although I
thought there were a few of the nine actions that I practice regularly, there
were also some that I felt like I need more practice with as I prepare to
become a teacher. First of all, I believe that I need some more rehearsal in
working with all types of learners and their families. My student teaching
placement exposed me to a learning environment that encompassed
students/parents from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. Because of the range
of diversity, though, and because of the large class sizes I worked with, I
found it difficult to cater to the needs of all my students and their families.
To alleviate this, I believe it will be important for me to continue to get
experience in working with diversity, as gaining experience, in this instance,
comes from repeated exposure. I also believe that I need to continue to find
ways to recharge my battery. Student teaching was exhausting, and many times I
would forego activities that I usually do for enjoyment to work on lesson plans
or grading papers. After awhile, though, this became both physically and
mentally draining, and therefore unsustainable. To help avoid teacher burnout,
then, I believe that finding ways to recharge is vitally important.
All in all,
I believe I have learned a lot from going through the teacher education program
at Goshen College
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