This week was my first full week. Monday On Monday, in my regular math class, we just revisited the exit slips, and for homework, the students had a review. In my accelerated math class, we practiced dividing fractions. Due to dividing fractions using modeling which was something that I had no experience with, I spent Saturday and Sunday trying to figure out how to teach it so that it made sense to my students. I learned how important it is to reach out for help, and my twitter PLN came to my rescue. I tweeted a message using #mtbos and reached out to former professors as well. This helped me understand the modeling component, and by working together alongside my students, we were able to better grasp the topic at hand. Tuesday On Tuesday, in my regular math class, the students took their unit 2 part 2 assessment. In my accelerated math class, I had the students complete an exit slip on modeling division of fractions so that I can see where my students were at during that point in time. Many of my students understood how to divide a fraction, but I knew they needed more practice in regards to modeling. The thing that made my day was that a student came up to me and told me that he got sent to the principals office, and although he was a little confused, he later realized that it was a good thing. I nominated him for a positive office referral, and he said that his parents got contacted.. Later that day, I sent two positive emails home and received an email back from one of the parents who said that I mean a lot to his daughter and even explained how he is so proud of her. On those days when teaching can be tiring, it is crucial to find those bits of gold that keep a teacher going. Wednesday On Wednesday, my regular math students took a fraction pre-test so that I could get a better idea of the background knowledge they already have. With the results of these pre-tests, I plan on figuring out which students may need differentiation due to not wanting certain students to feel bored in class. It is important for us as teachers to modify our instruction to suit the needs of our students. In my accelerated math class, the students were practicing how to write word problems that represented a division problem. The students were learning that in, for example, the problem 3/4 divided by 1/8, it meant how many groups of 1/8 fit into 3/4. Although the word problems were new to the students due to figuring out how to word the situations, they were making progress. Thursday Thursday was my roughest day due to behavioral reasons. During my first hour, the students were supposed to be working on their paragraphs of the week which they did, but a group of students decided to take advantage of both the substitute and myself. The group of students all took out their phones which they are not allowed to have in class. They are allowed to have them in their backpacks, but they must be hidden and out of sight. Well, these students decided to all take out their phones and put them face down on their desk while waiting for me to notice. Due to being busy helping students and answering questions, I did not notice right away, but once I did and told the students to put the phones away, a student remarked to me that the group was just waiting to see how long it would take for me to notice. I know that, for these students, the inconsistency may be difficult, but that act did hurt me due to the fact that actions can oftentimes speak louder than words. I have been in the classroom since August and have been working hard to teach my students, but I also realized that these students were testing the limits which is normal. I brushed away that incident for a while questioning whether or not I did the right thing, but I also did not want to engage in a power struggle with my students. During the team meeting, I told my team teachers about what happened, and one of my team teachers said that what they did made her angry and that they would never do such a thing in the other classes. To be honest, that made me feel incompetent, but I realized that I am just beginning my journey as a teacher. She was debating on having a team meeting with all of the students to make sure that they knew the expectations. Even though we did not have time to do that, she still pulled one of the students who was a part of that phone incident and talked to her in the hallway. She said that what she was doing was mean and that she did not view her as a leader. This student is one who has been giving me quite a hard time, and I do care about her, but I really do think her behavior is starting to have a role in terms of her academics, and her academics is something I care strongly about. The teacher also told this student that I will be a teacher and that I am in the process of learning how to do that, and the way she is acting is disrespectful to me. The student replied by saying that she did not realize she was doing that and began to be upset. I genuinely want the best for this student, and I invest a lot of time into planning and grading as all teachers do. It just hurt me to see that these students were just trying to take advantage. In addition, I also got observed during 8th hour, and when I called on a student to answer a question, the student said that he did not want to answer, but he said it in a disrespectful tone. At first, I did not know how to respond, but I decided to call on another student. My students behaved well, and we got through all I had planned. During the post conference with my supervisor who knew what I have been dealing with, he just said that the one student who replied that way made me look bad. I did take his feedback to heart, but I also struggled with knowing how the way my student acted was a reflection on me. After a rough day, I went on #masterychat which was genuinely the highlight of my day and the break that I needed to remind myself of the passion that I do have for teaching. I was ecstatic to be mentioned in the facebook live after and look forward to being the guest moderator of the chat on 2/1 at 7 pm. I invited my team to join and even emailed former teachers who stated that they were proud of me. Sometimes, we all need a little pick me up, and mastery chat was mine. I also received a note that the mom of the student who I nominated was crying when she heard the message. It reminded me that I am making a difference even if I do not always realize it. Friday On Friday, the substitute left during lunch due to her mom not doing well. I had a different substitute, and I am not sure if she will be back next week. I know that, in hindsight, I will appreciate this experience, but, at the moment, sometimes, it does feel like I have a lot to juggle. My supervisor, on Thursday, was concerned due to being worried that this was too much, but I told him that I was doing fine, and although I have a few rough days in between, overall, I feel a lot more confident for my first year of teaching and beyond. My regular math students learned how to subtract decimals, and my accelerated math students took a quiz. After talking to my team about my post observation conference, they said that the comment made by that one student did not make me look bad but rather made the student look bad. I did not break down this week and really do feel like I have more authority. I passed back the quizzes to my students, and although I was upset by the scores, I realized that these students are trying their best for the most part. I did say that I was a little disappointed by some of the scores and also asked them if they studied. I had the majority of the students raise their hand that they did study while others were honest and said that they did not have the time to do so. One student asked if she could go in the hallway to fill out the retake form due to not wanting other students to see her filling it out. This broke my heart because I understood how she felt. I let her go out in the hallway, but it made me realize that, even though we use SBG, the students still compete with one another in a sense. I never want my classroom to be one where students are upset by a score, and I want them to celebrate their victories no matter how small they are. I had a student get a 2, and she was happy due to it being a step in the right direction. For me, a 1 and a 2 seem weak due to knowing that my students can obtain a 3. I had to take a step back and reevaluate my personal idea of success for my students. Although my students did struggle with this topic, they worked hard and sincerely tried their best. I am going in on Monday and emphasizing a growth mindset. I have already had a few students fill out the retake form due to wanting to improve which makes me happy to see that they know they can do better. Something that may seem like failure to us, as educators, is a success for our students, and we should acknowledge that. Here I was, somewhat beating myself up over these scores when, in reality, these scores were ones that some students were proud of due to knowing that they struggled but got that far. We are all at different places, and we, as teachers, should remember that, even though, it may take some of our students longer, they are still making progress. After this week, I realized that I do have an impact and that I should continue to spread kindness as much as possible. Although some behaviors of my students discouraged me a little bit, I realized that I had to be more stern while remaining loving. I am a work in progress, but I am all about my students and their success. I hope I am perceived as a caring educator by my students, and I hope I can make them as proud as I am of them.
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As I look back on my reason why I became a teacher, one thing rings true. I would not be where I am without the teachers who pushed me to become the best I can be. They are my reason why. In their classes, I felt inspired and saw teachers who gave endlessly never knowing if their hard work would mean something, but I am a living testament that it did.
Because of the teachers I had who fought the good fight in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, I am motivated to inspire and hopefully make a difference in the lives of my students. Now, this journey is not easy, and I have learned that thus far, but it is immensely rewarding. When a student who struggles does great on a quiz, it makes my heart happy. When I send positive emails to parents and get a reply that makes me realize I make a difference, it makes my heart happy. Those moments make the tears that occasionally come with this profession and stress worth it for me. The thing I keep in mind is the fact that my teachers never gave up on me, and because of that, I owe that level of dedication to my students. I have been inspired by countess educators who saw a shy student before their eyes and did not let me settle than anything less than my best. They encouraged me and continue to keep in to touch with me to this day and provide me with much needed advice and encouragement. My teachers will always have a special place in my heart, and I teach because I was inspired by great teachers so I get that we do everyday truly matters. Do not forget that you could be the reason why someone wants to become a teacher in the future, and I promise that the seeds you harvest will bloom. As a pre-service teacher, I only hope that I can make my former teachers proud. They left a footprint on my heart and touched my life in more ways than one. I genuinely want to give back because I would not be who or where I am today without them. Tuesday On Tuesday, I taught LCM word problems to two of my classes and, in my two accelerated courses, the students took an exit slip and learned how to multiply fractions. It was a good day back after the long weekend. Wednesday My 1st hour on Wednesday was chatty due to it being language arts and them mainly writing a rough draft. I found myself trying to make a deal with them that, based on how quiet they were, I would decide whether or not they would need to finish the rough draft by today. Towards the end, I realized that I should have been more consistent in regards to when the rough draft was due. I found myself changing the date numerous times due to wanting to be flexible, and while I think that is important, I should have chosen a date for the rough drafts to be due and hold my students accountable. After 1st hour, I did an LCM review, and I taught multiplying mixed numbers to my accelerated class. I thought like, overall, things went fine in regards to teaching the content, and after asking the students for expectations for both themselves and myself as a teacher, my students in 8th hour were a lot better and gave me honest feedback including the fact that I needed to be more strict. The last thing I want to do is not be able to effectively manage a classroom, and although it has been difficult due to my CT being out, I knew that I had to take initiative and show the students that I am in charge. After the students signed the contract, I felt like things were a lot better in class. I told the class that I do have some students who always do the right thing and that I sincerely appreciated that. After I taught, I had a conference with the substitute teacher who said that I was doing well but said that I was not being fair to myself. He told me that no one could say that I did not work hard, and he said that, if he graded my passion and preparation on an SBG scale, I would get a 4. When the substitute said that I was not being fair to myself, I broke down because I have been struggling with the behaviors of my students for the past week. I genuinely care about my students and was spending countless hours grading and preparing for the next day. He took note of that and said that I needed to take Wednesday afternoon off to recharge. I listened to that advice, and after going to church Wednesday night due to that being my way to recharge and find peace, I felt a lot better and also regained my energy. I reached out to former teachers who gave me advice, and I also reached out to my amazing Twitter PLN who helped me out as well during that difficult moment when I was questioning whether or not I am on the right path. My biggest blessing however were two emails I received later that night. A teacher on my team emailed me "First of all, I want to tell you that I think that you are doing a wonderful job! Kids care about you and speak so kindly of you! I know that you put in hours of work constantly trying to find strategies and new approaches!", and she also wrote " When your CT realized that she was going to have this surgery and be gone for so long, did you notice that every one of the team teachers said something about how lucky we were to have you? Everyone believes in you!! This profession is so complicated and just really hard sometimes!" I was grateful for this message, and later, I received an email back from a parent who I emailed about her son due to her son being positive in class and a hard worker. She mentioned that "he has been coming home since break saying how he is so lucky to have you filling in for his teacher while she is out. Please know that you are making a difference and are doing a great job! He really appreciates the extra time you are taking to explain these recent difficult topics!", and she also wrote "I’m sure Student Teaching is stressful and you can often be unsure but please know how well you’re doing and how appreciated you are!". This email came at the perfect time because I was doubting myself and wondering if I have what it takes to make a difference. Thursday On Thursday, I did things a little differently, and the substitute and I co-taught which took the pressure off me a little bit and made me realize the joys of teaching once again. He taught me tricks on the smart board, and we got to laugh with the students as well. The most important thing I learned on that day was that I had to be flexible and things do not always go according to plan. Friday On Friday, things went well, although, due to the other substitute coming back, the students were adjusting. They were chatty once again, and I found myself feeling drained at the end of the day, but recently, I looked at a quiz by a student who has been struggling all year. I noticed that she obtained a 3 on her latest quiz, and I honestly feel like I am going to cry tears of joy due to seeing this student achieve success. It is amazing how much these students mean to me already and how they truly become a part of my heart. Although I questioned myself, my former teachers and my PLN on Twitter reaffirmed that teaching is indeed my calling. Although, as teachers, we can oftentimes feel tired, run down, and exhausted, those moments when students connect with you or a struggling student does well on an assessment means the world. Let us continue to find light in our daily profession and share those moments with others. Teaching is never the same day in and day out, but this profession is immensely rewarding. I am blessed to be a teacher and am excited to see how the rest of the semester goes. I still have a long way to go, but I am working hard and thinking of strategies. The inconsistency could be a reason why my students are testing my limits, but I did begin to be more strict and noticed a change in my students. We were able to learn and have fun while doing so on Thursday, and that was a day that I will remember. This weekend, I plan on catching up on grading and uploading the answer keys to exit slips, notes, and homework assignments on Google Classroom so that the students know where to look when they do miss a day of school and so that it can be accessible if students are confused and need to check over their work. I also plan on getting more organized due to needing structure and realizing that teaching goes a lot better when that is the case. Tuesday Today was my first day of student teaching, and overall, it went well. I taught four periods and got the opportunity to make two imprints for both my CT and another teacher on my team. I used nearpod which the students enjoyed, and I did struggle in terms of getting their attention due to my students talking over me. This particular group of students is chatty, and I have been trying techniques to quiet them down, but I need to continue to work on this in order to find one that truly works. After school, I broke down due to questioning whether or not I would be a successful teacher. I know that it is the first day after break, so that could be why my students were particularly talkative today. I know that I have to focus on the positives. I did smile, and I did manage to focus on continuing to build those positive relationships. I have faith that tomorrow will be a better day. Wednesday went a lot better for me. I continued to teach four periods, and I genuinely felt like my students were engaged. On Thursday, the students were well behaved as well, and I remember walking out of my classroom feeling like I had a good day. I began to implement classcraft and had one of my periods try it out to see if this is something I would like to use next year in my classroom. So far, I felt like this truly engaged my students who enjoy video games due to them explaining all the components of the game and wanting to level up. I find my students asking me if they would earn or lose points, and, although I want my students to focus on positive behaviors, I am not focused too much on the points at this point. I want them to be intrinsically motivated, but I feel like I needed to try something in order to motivate my students to treat as a teacher. I will continue to reflect on my experience with classcraft as the semester progresses. On Friday, the students were talkative due to it being the end of the first week and having a three day weekend. I was able to teach my lessons in all my classes, but during 3rd hour, I had a student who started to cry due to not understanding a math problem and claiming that it was impossible. I worked with him after class, and he managed to obtain the answer with an appropriate amount of scaffolding. I also had another student who was disrespectful to me towards the end of the period and, due to not wanting to engage in a power battle, I let him go to lunch and plan on talking to him after class on Tuesday about the choices he made. This particular student moved his seat without being told to due to his peers distracting him, and I asked him to work on the exit slip which he did not seem interested in completing. He refused for a while until I walked away to calm myself down, and he began to work on it again. Then, after class, he started to open up to me and told me that his peers distracted him which is when I told him that he should have said something to me. He responded "well, you wouldn't have done anything anyway" which made me feel incompetent. My mentor teacher was not in the room, and I felt tears forming, but I held them in due to knowing that he might have something else going on in his life. I want to help my students, but I cannot read minds which is why I wish he would have told me earlier about this situation so that I could let those students know that they were distracting him from learning. During my second to last hour of the day, my projector turned off ten minutes before the end of the period, and I had to adjust my lesson. I had a nearpod made, so I just decided to not utilize it and did the problems on the whiteboard. It was hard for my students to pay attention, and I mentioned how I have a soft spoken voice. The last thing I want is for my students to not be able to learn due to myself not being able to control a class effectively. In my classes, I have a few students who seek attention, and these are the students who I strongly believe need me to care. I need to remember that my students have a lot going on in their lives, and because of that, I want to teach from the heart. I am just starting out, and my mentor teacher who is the substitute due to my CT being out told a student that this is my first time fully teaching ever and that he was making it hard on me. She mentioned to the class that I was a great math teacher and that they should respect me, and it made me feel good to hear those words spoken, but I am not okay with struggling in this aspect. My students are well behaved for the most part, and I really do not have a lot of behavioral problems besides them being talkative. I am grateful to be learning the realities of teaching as a pre-service teacher. I still want to be the teacher I wanted to be on day one, and I know that I have come far. I just need to remember that I am a student teacher, and due to that, I need to give myself grace. I was hard on myself on Monday, and I reached out to certain members of my PLN who got me through that moment. I know that teachers have good and bad days, and, in the end, I know things will work out. After reading "Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth" which I may need to re-read, I learned that it is okay to make mistakes as long as I learn from them. I am just starting out, and I have a long way to go, but I am reaching out to my PLN for support and trying to figure out new ways to reach my students. I am going to read "Hacking Classroom Management", and I know that book will give me a direction to go in. Being a new teacher is difficult especially with everything that teachers have on their plate, and I am trying to maintain my passion while being the best that I can be. I know that classroom management takes experience, and I know that it is an aspect new teachers struggle with. Next week, I plan on circulating around the room to make sure all my students are on task,a nd I am also going to create popsicle sticks for every student so that I can just pull names out and give everyone a chance to show me what they know. I am also going to try out new ways to get my students attention, and I plan on having a discussion with my students about how certain students are causing other students to not learn as much due to them disrupting the class. I want my students to know that we are a family, and I am here to encourage and support, but we all need to respect each other. In the summer, I read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn due to a professor recommending it, and it changed the way I think about the usage of rewards in any setting.
I have always been intrinsically motivated, and although I did enjoy getting a small reward from time to time, I do not feel like I ever relied on that to get the work done. I feel like, as a younger child, many children want that reward in regards to doing chores due to helping out, and while it can be a way to encourage children to help out around the house, I oftentimes wonder if that is not the right way to approach it. I feel like, if parents give children rewards when they are young for doing things they should be doing anyways, it sets the wrong message to the children and promotes instant gratification. I remember growing up and hearing my peers say how they would get an allowance for doing chores or earn money for obtaining good grades on a report card. My parents were raised in Poland where they were expected to do these things, and it was not something you should be rewarded for but rather an expectation. At first, I felt kind of jealous because I wanted gratification due to seeing my peers obtaining it, but looking back, I am grateful my parents were not like that because I do think it made me more of a caring person and one who does things just because I want to do it and not because I want to get something out of it. My parents taught me the importance of hard work, and I took pride in my grades because I wanted to achieve my dream of becoming a teacher. This ties back to our job as teachers because, at my school, we give out slips to students who are being respectful, responsible, and safe which they can enter into a raffle to win things. I do give them out because I want to acknowledge the students who are doing the right thing, but I have a few students who like to count all of them and spread them out across the table and, in essence, view it as a competition. I was just reading "The essential 55" by Ron Clark, and one rule he set in his classroom was that, if students asked for a reward, he would not give it to the students even if they were promised one. My CT did something similar when a student asked, and she said no but he has to give one back because he asked. I felt like that was an appropriate response because I have noticed that many students want to feel acknowledged which I do think is important, but I feel we, at times, go about in the wrong way. I feel like the quiet students who are frequently doing what they are supposed to are oftentimes overlooked, and I know that because I was one of those quiet students. The good thing about me becoming a teacher is that I try to intentionally acknowledge the quiet students due to knowing how being overlooked feels like. I understand shyness, and I understand how these students want attention as well. I frequently watch videos where teachers tell students that they are appreciated, and I even emailed the link to the principal at my school because I wanted to do something similar. On these videos, each teacher picks one student and basically tells him/her that he/she is appreciated and valued. They film it on camera, and I love seeing the expression on the students faces. I think this is the direction we should go in. We should acknowledge those positive characteristics that Roman Nowak (@NowakRo), Laurie Mcintosh (@lauriesmcintosh), Alana Stanton,(@StantonAlana) Megan Hacholski (@megan_hacholski), Rae Hughart (@RaeHughart), Kristen Nan (@nankr1120) and many more are prime examples of. These teachers are kind, compassionate, and always willing to lend a helping hand. Our students are lucky to be in these classrooms by teachers who teach from the heart such as the ones mentioned above because they walk away with a gift that is truly priceless- an example to live by. I just hope that, as teachers, we can teach from the heart and teach students how to be genuinely good human beings because the world needs more of that. A teacher I had emailed me that she believes that I can make a difference in the world, and that email made me realize the immense power we, as teachers, have to make the world a place where love exists. It is easy to get lost in all the negative things going on, but if we stop and pause, we can take time to appreciate the students who are making a difference right in front of us and who have the potential to leave the world better than they found it. Let's continue to teach from the heart and focus on what really matters like teaching kindness, respect, empathy, etc. Those characteristics should be embedded within our curriculum because, when our students leave us, these are the characteristics that they will take with them. Sure, they may remember a lesson we taught, but the way we made them feel lasts a lot longer. These students need us to provide hope and encouragement, and through our examples, they will change the world. I am inspired by my students on a daily basis. I have been interning in a classroom since August, and I will be student teaching in that same classroom with the same group of students starting on Monday. My university had an option to do PDS which is what I did, and I am grateful to have been in the classroom since August due to already having a positive relationship with my students. During the Fall, I taught three days a week for 12 weeks and took my classes on Thursday and Friday. Starting October 23rd, I had a 4 week block where I was in the classroom all day for 4 weeks.
Of course, even though I build a positive relationship, it is not perfect, and I feel like I have a stronger relationship with certain students than others which is something I want to work on. As a teacher, when I am teaching a lesson, it is difficult to interact with every single student and gauge where they are at which is why I turn to formative assessments such as plickers, nearpod, quizzizz, etc. I am getting two new ELL students, and since I am obtaining an ELL specialization, I am excited to get to work with these new students. Although it can be hard to figure out how to best reach them, I had an amazing professor at ISU who really gave me a toolkit and supported me through the process of trying to get my students to interact with me due to them knowing minimal English. Towards the middle of the Fall semester, one of the students started speaking to me in English. It consisted of small phrases, but it was progress made in the right direction. As a student teacher, I am worried about things such as: Will I be able to effectively run a classroom? Will my students learn from me? Do I have what it takes to be effective? I have more things that I am worried about, but I do feel like, by knowing my students already, I am more confident in terms of lesson planning, and I am working to continue to strengthen those positive relationships. I look forward to reflecting once a week on Fridays with a breakdown of what happened on each day so that I could look back on this in June and learn from my mistakes which helps me grow as an educator. ISU prides itself in creating reflective and responsive teachers, and I know that, during a week if I do not time to pause and reflect, I forget what happened during a specific day. I am going to write a 30 minute reflection at the end of each day and publish all my reflections on Friday so that I can even see the change within the week and then throughout the semester. I am grateful for my PLN who ensured that they have my back. Although I do have a few doubts about whether or not I will be a successful educator, I know that doubts are normal, and they show that I care. I think I stress myself out a little bit because I want to be the best that I can be in all aspects of my life, and, at this point, I want to be the best student teacher I can be and help my students have a memorable experience. I know I will have difficult days where I will question whether or not I am on the right path, but I also know that I will have good days. Through it all, I know that I will have a smile on my face because I get the opportunity to shape young minds. My CT told me that I have withitness and that I seem to be a natural. That helped make me realize that I am on the right path, and that even though I may go through difficult days, it is just part of the journey to help me be the best teacher I can be. This is just the start for me, and I know that I have grown from where I began to where I am now. Twitter has helped with that, but I also never gave up and continued to push myself forward. I just hope I can obtain a job position that is the right fit and one where I can truly be a champion for my students. As a pre-service teacher, I decided to read "Culturize" by Jimmy Casas, and I loved the theme of the book which was promoting a positive culture in the schools where we work at.
After reading about how teachers can be merchants of hope and how we can shine our lights on others, I thought of my PLN. I recently connected with Kristen Nan (@nankr1120) who is an example of this. She wrote a blog post about goodness, and it made me realize how often we take those small interactions for granted. Yesterday, she mentioned that I was an energizer bunny of gratefulness. That meant a lot to me because I genuinely try to be grateful and appreciate all the blessings in my life which, to me, at this moment, besides my family, my greatest blessing is being on this road to becoming a teacher. Ever since I was little, I had many teachers who made a difference in my life, and they were ones who believed in me when I did not believe in myself. My math teachers pushed me to succeed, and even though I struggled, I knew that I wanted to bridge my gaps. My college professor also inspired me, and she was mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts. With that being said, I was blessed to have many examples of amazing teachers who I aspired to be like one day. As I got older, I realized that I am not like anyone else, and my teaching style doesn't naturally align perfectly with any other teacher because, as teachers, we are all different, I am able to take bits and pieces of what I like into my own classroom, but my personality is the deciding factor. It is great to have role models, and I have many who led me on this amazing journey, but in the end, I need to figure out how to effectively reach the students in front of me. Our students have a lot going on in their lives, and I was just talking to my dad yesterday about how teaching is not a profession that does not consume a large part of our lives. Even, during break, I was thinking about my students and how I can make learning engaging especially after being inspired by Twitter chats that I participated in and my amazing PLN who do not let me settle for average. I had a student email me over break, and he wished me a happy new year. That email meant a lot because it showed that, even though I was only in the classroom about 3 days a week during 1st semester, he still thought about me. I look forward to continuing to build those positive relationships with my students. My PLN is incredible at spreading kindness especially Roman Nowak (@NowakRo), Laurie Mcintosh (@lauriesmcintosh), Alana Stanton (@StantonAlana), Megan Hacholski (@megan_hacholski) and many more. They are real life examples of merchants of hope and ones that teachers, such as myself just starting out, look up to in order to hope to teach from the heart just like they do. I am happy to see other teachers that care just like I do, and I feel a lot better having that support. As teachers, we have an immense responsibility to shape the future, but I can assure you that our future is in good hands. If you do not believe me, search the hashtag #tlap, #122edchat, #kidsdeserveit or any other educational hashtags and look through the posts. These educators are taking time out of their busy schedules to collaborate with others and to effectively reach these students who are, in many ways, our hope for a better world. As a pre-service teacher, I have a lot of room to grow due to just starting out in the profession. In May, I joined Twitter, and I do believe that it changed my perception of education. I go on Twitter on a daily basis and try my best to join at least one chat a day. For me, it is like a part time job. I try to go on due to knowing that I can intensify my passion for teaching and learn from educators who are going above and beyond on a daily basis.
While my peers are enjoying college, I spend my time going on Twitter and advancing myself professionally which I am grateful for because it pushed me to open myself up more. Twitter has given me confidence to grow as both a person and as a teacher. I am no longer afraid of taking risks, and I do not feel isolated. I have had a few doubts about whether or not I would be successful, and I quickly learned that having doubts is normal, and it is okay to have them because it shows you care. Whenever I feel discouraged or need advice, I know my PLN has my back. The support I have received has been genuinely amazing. I hosted a pre-service Twitter chat in December, and it was an amazing experience for me. My goal is to be the best teacher I can be but also to encourage other teacher candidates and teachers to take a risk, join Twitter, and see what it is all about. If I did not push myself forward, I would not have grown as much professionally. I do not know it all due to being a young teacher, but I do feel empowered which is one word that was mentioned in an amazing #learnlap chat hosted by Teresa Gross (@teresagross625). I feel like doors are beginning to open up for me, and it is a humbling experience. I am still pretty shy, so the fact that I am beginning to blog is something that I was not expecting a year ago. I did not think I would ever have a blog due to feeling like my thoughts were not ones people would be interested in reading, but I was far from correct. I love that I get to share my blogs with my PLN and that they accept me for who I am- a young, preservice teacher. I feel like I am part of a family who embraces me and uplifts me in more ways than one. I am venturing beyond the status quo on a daily basis due to trying something different. I feel like my hard work is paying off, and I do feel inspired by my PLN on a daily basis. I see amazing things going on at schools that I want to implement in my classroom, and I want to live up to the incredible teachers that I follow. Without taking a risk, I would not have this many doors open up for me, and I would not feel as fulfilled as I do now. I know I am where I need to be, and that is something worth celebrating. Teaching is a difficult profession, but it is one that is immensely rewarding. We need amazing teachers to fight the good fight, and Twitter makes me proud because I get to connect with those teachers who are living up to my expectations I had as a child. When I was little, I wanted teachers who cared, and I was lucky to have numerous teachers like that such as @kimdevriesteach and @Sra_Shalash. These two were not the only ones, but they did push me to become a more caring educator. I actually received an email from @Sra_Shalash which brought tears to my eyes. She wrote "Your teachers are lucky to have had you in class, but your future students are even luckier! I know with all my heart that you will make a difference in this world. Please do your best to make it a better place. Flash that smile, warm their hearts with your own and you are all set!" It made me realize the power I have to make a difference, and it meant a lot to hear that I have that potential. I have always cared about others, and I know how important it is to care about our amazing students who are in our classrooms for a reason. They are meant to have us as teachers, and I am excited to hopefully hear that I have made an impact down the road. As a teacher, if I can make a difference in at least one of my students' lives, I will feel like I have fulfilled my calling.
On Twitter, I have seen multiple educators tweet about their #oneword2018.
As a pre-service teacher, I spent time reflecting on my journey as a teacher thus far, and one common theme occurred. As a pre-service teacher, I strive to work as hard as I can, and due to that, I decided that my one word for 2018 is dedication. As Michael Abramczyk (@_on11) mentioned to me in a tweet during the summer, I chose to go on Twitter chats while my peers were relaxing, and while there is nothing wrong with relaxing, I decided to push myself forward and take a risk. I joined Twitter in May and had maybe 300 followers if that, and now as I am writing this post, I currently have 1,139 followers and have grown my professional network beyond my wildest dream. To me, Twitter is all about making connections and growing my PLN. I learn alongside amazing teachers whom I would have never connected with if it was not for Twitter, and through it all, I remain dedicated to my calling which I believe is being a teacher. To me, dedication means staying focused on my long term goal which, for me, is becoming a teacher at this point in time due to starting my student teaching experience in one week and starting to apply for a teaching position within the next few months. As time goes by, and I secure a teaching position, my goal will shift towards being a well informed and responsive educator and striving to be the best that I can be. I eventually hope to obtain a Masters in Education and obtain my National Board Certification as well, but that will not be for a few years due to wanting to obtain experience first. Even as a student teacher, I am trying to be the best I can be and obtain the most that I can from this experience due to this being, in a sense, like a trial run. I learned that it is okay to make mistakes as long as I learn from them, and my studens teach me so much more than I can ever teach them. They teach me the power of kindness and how important it is to be in the present moment each day. As a pre-service teacher, my CT gives me the flexibility to be creative, and I am able to try out new educational websites such as flipgrid, nearpod, plickers, etc. Even though it takes time to play around with these websites, I have noticed more engagement in my students and know that they enjoy learning this way. I do have to reflect on this technology and whether it does supplement my instruction in useful manner, but that is the key to being an effective teacher. I have a long way to go, but I am more and more excited for my future each and every day. Being dedicated is a choice, and after all, it is better to teach with passion than not at all.
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AuthorMy name is Ms. Jachymiak, and I am a pre-service teacher currently attending Illinois State University. This blog follows my journey as a student teacher. @MsJachymiak Archives
May 2018
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