Response to Professional ways of being, DallAlba, (2009).

What challenges me in a way that will influence my 4th practicum?

Set goals and work towards them...I need to press into the direction I want to go. Its just like when
driving a car: I must look in the exact direction I want to end up in. If I fail to do this then I will end
up off course and likely to cause an accident.

Watch the other teachers around me and learn from them. This is a practice I should continue
throughout my entire teaching career. There is always something to learn from observing those
around me do their job.

Consider my own philosophy of education even further so I can walk in that and truly believe it.
This reminds me of what Parker Palmer talks about: knowing myself is as crucial in teaching as
knowing my students and my subject...when I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students
are (Palmer, 1998. p. 1).

I must put my learning (knowledge & skills) into action for myself to truly become the teacher that I
aspire to be. This is why my goals for prac 4 need to be well considered and align with who I want
to be as a teacher in the future.

How can I best encourage my students to become lifelong learners?

How can I model lifelong learning in action?

A key quote from the reading:

As Blattner nicely puts it, there are two functions here: opening up the range of possibilities, and pressing
ahead into one of them ...We become what we are not yet, then, by pressing ahead into (or projecting
ourselves upon) our projects. (Thomson, 2004, p. 450). p. 36
In my own words: We must be intentional if we are to grow, transform and become someone better than
we were before. We need to be goal driven.
References:

Palmer, P. (1998). The heart of a teacher: Identity and integrity in teaching. Retrieved from
http://newhorizons.org/restr_palmer1.html
Learning from my critical friend
In her annotations, Chaslin made a number of comments in reference to the process of transformation we
experience as teachers in training. This unpacks the bti PIPI term being and becoming quite succinctly, I
feel. I had picked up on it a little in my own reading of DallAlba, but looking through her annotations
helped me make these connections. As training teachers, we remain ourselves the whole time, but we
undergo a transformation in the process of our training. BTI prepares us very well for the teaching world,
while enabling us to remain secure as we transform. BTI encourages us to know who we are at the core so
that we arent tempted to change our innate being in the process.
FYI, the quote you refer to: we teach from who we are is a quote from parker Palmer, (1998). I have a
copy of this reading from year one if you would like a photocopy.

Take time to think about your dispositions; your real drive for teaching (passionate creed). Dont be
tempted to write a passionate creed that has the keywords to land you a job...make sure it truly reflects
who you are as a teacher and your philosophy. Your autobiography for TCDC and your Ideas & Ideals
essay from last year will give you a strong indication of your natural dispositions when you read between
the lines.
Also look at what Vicki LaBoskey has to say about a passionate creed (I also have a copy of this from year
one). Look deeper into what Parker Palmer has to say about the person who teaches.
I really love the key quote from DallAlba that you unpacked in your own words: while knowledge and
skills are necessary, they are insufficient for skillful practice and for transformation of the self that is integral
to achieve such practice. This really clarifies the role of a teacher as professional.