Академический Документы
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Part I
Teaching is like a piece of machinery that breaks down often. When these issues
occur, most creators (teachers) mask the problems with a lot of talk and manuals.
Teaching should be like a well-oiled piece of machinery whose creators make changes
when changes are necessary. These creators also should care about the machinery
and work to make the product (students) the best that it can be. In order for teaching to
change into this well-oiled machine, its creators must be caring, confident about their
skills, and receptive to change. More specifically, an English teacher must care about
his/her students, be confident about his/her teaching skills, and seek out resources that
enhance and manipulate his/her craft. After this has been adopted into a teacher’s
Care is a term which seems to be a bit overused. Even so, it is a term that
should be adopted by any teacher hoping to become a good teacher. Care can come in
many forms. For starters, teachers need to care enough to motivate all of their
students. “Teachers are often frustrated by their students‘ deficiencies. More often than
not, these deficiencies are blamed on a lack of motivation or care in school. “Teachers
rarely [reflect] on their own insufficient teacher preparation or lack of teaching skills”
(Mastropieri, Scruggs, and Graetz, 2003, 104). With that in mind, it is our job to
research ways to fix this growing problem. “Students can be motivated in multiple ways
and the important issue is understanding how and why students are motivated for
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school achievement” (Linnenbrink and Pintrich, 2002, 313). It is our job, as caring
teachers, to figure out where motivation is hidden within our students. “Having a variety
of tasks in the classroom and multiple forms of assessment such as portfolios, essays,
students with the opportunity to be successful, thus fostering self-efficacy among all
students learn in very different ways, so giving them a multitude of options to conduct
students are given options often. For example, after completing a close reading of The
Giver, by Lois Lowry, we watched The Truman Show. Since these two texts correlate so
closely, I wanted my students to write a compare and contrast essay. After a comment
from a student, regarding this upcoming essay and his distaste for it, I asked him about
a type of essay that he would prefer to write. He promptly replied that he would prefer to
write an opinion essay that explored why he would rather live in Truman’s world (the
main character of The Truman Show) over Jonas’s (the main character of The Giver).
After some careful deliberation, I reworked this assignment, and I offered my students
five essay options for consideration. I found that using this technique helped my
students to see that I cared about their learning, and it also helped to foster good
teaching skills and student learning. “The ability to design and deliver lessons to
and use assessments to tailor instruction are all central to effective teaching” (Moats,
1999, 14). I feel that the above example shows that I am on the road, one lesson at a
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time, to becoming a truly effective teacher; this is something that coincides directly with
good teaching. Also, research has shown that “the design of classrooms and schools
and Pintrich, 2002, 314). The design of these environments should start with positivity
and trust (Intractor, 2006, 237). Once these important staples have been established,
teachers must then make sure that “They [possess a] flexible and deep understanding
of their subject matter and continually [seek] points of intersection between their subject
matter and the interests of their students” (Intractor, 2006, 237). “One of the features of
intrinsic motivation is high personal interest in the task or activity” (Linnenbrink and
Pintrich, 2002, 318). A great way to find this intersection could come in the form of
could talk informally with students about why they think they succeeded or failed in a
specific situation” (Linnenbrink and Pintrich, 2002, 318). Who is a better source for
information about student motivation than a student? After receiving valuable answers
from students, it is up to the teacher to start a routine that moves his/her classroom
toward success. This routine should most definitely incorporate popular culture.
“According to Morrell (2002), using popular culture has been found to be a highly
(Gambrell, 2004, 197). If this is true, wouldn’t a good teacher try his/her hardest to find
teaching tools, from popular culture, that help to spark his/her students’ interests in
reading?
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Also important is a teacher’s confidence. A good teacher is confident in his/her
ability to be caring, trustworthy, and a teacher who can convey his/her subject matter
teach and appreciate how knowledge in their subject is created, organized, linked to
other disciplines and applied to real-world settings” ( National Board for Professional
task of this nature, he/she must then gain the confidence to believe that he/she can
impart this knowledge effectively upon his/her students. I know that this task is one that
has plagued me throughout my four short years of teaching. Quite often, I find that I am
teaching a lesson right after I have learned the information myself. For example, I teach
grammar lessons every other day in English 8. Each day that I introduce a new
grammatical concept, I find that I have to re-teach myself the concept in order to be sure
that I fully understand it. In my opinion, this is important because I cannot effectively
good teaching for the pure fact that teachers are teachers because they have the ability
“Regardless of their confidence and skills, practicing teachers are begging for
instructional practices that provide them with tools to enhance learning outcomes for all
students who are struggling...” (Vaughn, Kilnger, and Bryant, 2001, 66). This is where
good teaching truly rears its head. I believe that a good teacher must seek out ways to
create a classroom that functions smoothly; a place where all students feel like success
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overwhelmed at the prospect of meeting the diverse needs of the students in their
classrooms. They are eager to embrace practices that assist in organizing the
classroom and improving their teaching to enhance outcomes for all students” (Vaughn,
Klinger, and Bryant, 2001, 73). With that in mind, how does a teacher use these facts to
One piece of information could be a possible answer to this question. It is our job
to seek out resources that will help us to fix issues within our classrooms/schools.
“Teachers need skills and tools that help them process and organize what they are
learning from their experiences” (Intractor, 2006, 233). As far as tools go, where do they
come from? There are so many places that a teacher can go to find resources that will
teach them how to conduct themselves within a classroom and meaningfully teach the
diverse body of students that step into this classroom. Before diving into this research,
head first, a good teacher establishes his/her goal(s). That fact brings up the question,
“Is the goal to discover the one best system of educational practice and thus
thinking about their practice and empowering them to see teaching and learning
I feel as though the latter must be our main goal. All of this research can teach us a
plethora of ways to complete one task, or discover one outcome, but shouldn’t our main
goal be to keep our minds open in order to allow for further manipulation, even after
conclusions have been drawn and teaching practices (hopefully successful) have taken
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place. A good teacher allows his/her practice to be questioned, manipulated, and
praised. “Beginning teachers need skills and tools that help them process and organize
what they are learning from their experiences” (Intractor, 2006, 233). A great tool that
teachers can use to learn from his/her experiences will require him/her to open up
enough to share his/her experiences with colleagues. Going public is a very effective
tool because,
“Programs for teachers make the assumption that, no matter how skilled and
accomplished the participants are, they could be more effective if they could
result, it makes sense to engage them explicitly in activities in which they can
Who better to do this with than their fellow teachers? With that in mind, teachers should
have no choice but to share (go public) their questions and expertise with other
teachers. When a teacher goes public, in my experience, he/she generally learns about
his/her students, new techniques that they can incorporate into his/her teaching, and
ways to get through the tough times that every teacher encounters during his/her career.
To clarify, when teachers go public, and talk with their colleagues about specific
students, they can learn about those students’ behavior and progress within that
teacher’s class. In doing so, both teachers are able to make accommodations and
changes so that they can help that student to succeed. For example, I often go to my
colleagues when I am having issues with students. These colleagues are ones that
have or have had the student. These discussions were always conducted in a positive
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way. Most often, I ask guiding questions of my colleagues. These questions include,
“What types of issues, if any, do you have with this student?” and “What approaches do
you take with this student that work?” After discussions of this nature, I often find that I
have been equipped with a new arsenal. This arsenal can then be used to approach
the instruction of this student in a new way. This arsenal should be cherished and often
called upon because good teachers attempt to use, manipulate, and reuse these skills
when hoping to help their struggling students. This fact was reiterated by Darling-
Hammond and Baratz-Snowden, in their book What do teachers need to know? They
stated that in order for teachers to teach all students, they must, “Be able to develop
(2005, 27-28). Also helpful, with regards to going public, is the forum that is opened up
when teachers open up to one another. “The human being actually runs on stories, and
many of the greatest contemporary thinkers argue that the narrative mode is a supreme
saturated with meaning” (qtd. in Jalongo and Isenberg, 1995, 5). With that said, it only
makes sense that teachers often benefit from telling each other stories about the trials
and tribulations that they live through each year. Telling stories about my day occurs
almost daily at the school that I teach. It is a very small school, so the staff is very
close. With that said, I often find myself breathing a heavy sigh of relief, after a long
school week. Once this has occurred, I walk out of my room and seek out colleagues
that are open to listen to the issue(s) that I struggled with during that week. Most often,
these discussions include questions about ways to deal with the teaching components
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that I struggle with most (classroom management and discipline). A teacher that goes
public about the “issues” listed above can be called a good teacher, in my opinion. The
reason that this is true is because this individual cares enough about his/her craft to
learn ways to change his/her classroom habits that are obviously not working.
Aside from going to colleagues for tools that shape them into good teachers,
practice and to fashion new knowledge and beliefs about content, pedagogy, and
characteristics:
development.
participant-driven.
* It must be connected to and derived from teachers' work with their students.
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* It must be connected to other aspects of school change (Darling-Hammond and
Once professional development of this nature has been found, it is up to the teacher to
utilize what he/she learns in a way that brings about positive results for his/her
classroom. It is then that his/her student and school will benefit most from this teacher
Once an individual has entered into the very difficult profession of teaching,
he/she must continue to be devoted to his/her craft. If this does not occur, he/she will
never be able to be considered a truly good teacher. In order to accomplish this lofty
goal, one must care about his/her craft, become confident enough to convey the
knowledge that they have been put in place to impart, and be open enough to change
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References
every classroom: Preparing the highly qualified teachers our children deserve
Hatch, T. (2006). Introduction Bringing teaching out of the shadows and in the
Intractor, S. (2006). Beginning teachers and the emotional drama of the classroom.
Jalongo, M.R. and Isenberg, J.P. (1995). Teachers’ stories, teachers’ knowledge and
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Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., Graetz, J. E. (2003). Reading comprehension
reading should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: American Federation of
Teachers.
Vaughn, S., Klinger, J. K., & Bryant, D. P. (2001). Collaborative strategic reading as a
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Teacher Wepage
Part III
Go to http://www.lhteach.weebly.com/
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A Plan of ACTION
Part III
How am I going to ensure that I become a better teacher? I think that that is the
“golden ticket” question; the one that, if answered and attained will send the stellar
teacher past Go with two-hundred dollars in his/her pocket. It is a question that all good
coveted “ticket.” After determining the standards that need to be met, with relation to
• Place myself on the spectrum (the good teacher spectrum), in order to determine
• Determine the things (a very vague word) that I need to learn, as a teacher, in
• Determine the things that I need to learn, as a MATC student, in order to achieve
this goal.
When all of this has been accomplished, I will then be able to say that I have
As I stated within my position paper, I believe that a good teacher is one who is
caring, confident, and able to change to meet the needs of the environment in which
he/she teaches. As far as where I stand with relation to that standard, I believe that I
am a novice. After four years, I still feel like I am feeling my way through the murky
waters of teaching; this is something that occurs daily. With that said, I am not bogged
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down by this fact. I feel as though these murky waters are ones that help me to grow by
good or bad, in order to figure out what went well, in order to recreate those days, and
what went poorly, in order to remedy the issues that were barriers to meaningful
learning. This self-reflection is the key ingredient that I must employ in order to move
toward being a good teacher. Even more important is the fact that in self-reflecting, I
may have taken care of one component of my definition of good teaching. In clearer
terms, self-reflection shows that I am a caring teacher. After each day of teaching is
done, and I have reflected, I will learn new techniques and approaches in order to shape
(change) myself into that confident teacher that I know that I can be.
With that in mind, I also must figure out what it is that I need to learn in terms of
myself as a teacher. To begin, I must learn exactly what my students need in order to
that each has with the materials that I “throw” at them every day. Also, I must gain the
to understand how to do the same. How can I expect my students to see themselves as
worth something, and in turn believe that they can and should mark their lives by
These points of learning are also true when speaking/thinking about myself as a
MATC student. I need to learn exactly what my needs are in order to be a successful
student. If I do not succeed, how can I become a better teacher? I must hold myself to
the same standards in which I hold my students; those standards are grounded in the
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fact that excellence is a priority, not an option. Even further, I become more confident in
my skills as a student. There have been many instances where I have written a paper
effective, and/or even meaningful. At times, this hesitation can be a positive thing,
which had the result of pushing my thinking further, but other times it has come at a
detriment to my learning. Self doubt is a virus that has the potential to destroy its host.
As an MATC student, I must push through these times and come out a stronger and
more rounded individual. I have full faith in the fact that I can achieve my goals of
becoming a better teacher. This excellence comes with time, which is what makes me
more sure that I can achieve my hopes and dreams. I entered the MATC program 80%
wanting to get paid more and 20% wanting to learn about my craft (a fact I am ashamed
hit me harder once I am done with my large projects, that tells me that I am going to be
a great teacher.
This greatness will come when I achieve my learning goals. These goals are
multi-tiered. First, my goals that pertain to my school are that I push myself to become a
stronger part of the staff. I want to become a teacher leader who portrays herself as
one who is so confident and knowledgeable that the other staff members cannot help
but to come to me for guidance. I am aware that this seems a bit arrogant, but if done in
the correct way, a teacher can be a leader who is respected and revered. By no means
am I saying that I want to be “knighted” and given the golden scepter of success. I
simply want to work with my fellow teachers to help our students and school to also
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achieve greatness. I can attain this status by continuing to research the best-practice
skills that are offered to us in this program (that is where the MATC falls into my
plans/goals). I plan to accept what I am given by my future professors, sift through what
I need to attain my goals, take them to my colleagues, and watch as the flower (our
students and school) grow into a strong and hearty garden of knowledge and excellence
. Also important is my self-directed path that I will take to achieve the goals listed
above. As I stated earlier, I reflect on my teaching daily. This reflection is one piece of
proof that I have set myself off on my self-directed path. Additionally, I must do more to
move myself down this path a bit faster. A teacher’s learning can become stagnant, so I
must consciously do more to explore, on my own, resources that are available to me.
The availability comes from book stores, online resources, and my colleagues. I should
continue to immerse myself in books about my craft, online journals, and the work of
my colleagues. Once I have done this, I will be more equipped to achieve my goals.
It is clear that I have my work cut out for me. Even so, I am confident that, with a
bit of perseverance I can do exactly what I set my mind to. I know that I will become
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Artifact Commentary
Now that I have completed my TE 807, I can reflect on the outcome of this
immense outpouring of my inner being. This artifact represents me and what I strive to
become within the near future (within five years, or so). I have compiled a complete
description of what it is that I hope to accomplish as a teacher and human being, at that.
I have sifted through the many pieces of writing that have been presented to me during
this semester and the few short years that I have been teaching. This artifact also
represents a growth that I have gone through during this semester. The major part of
this growth comes in the form of a rejuvenated passion that was beginning to fade after
a few long years of teaching. This class, along with TE 846 has served as a North star
that will guide me to my place in this profession. This artifact also serves as a reminder
I want my reader to notice the main point that I am trying to make within this
good teacher, is important for a good teacher to have in order for he/she to stay
effective. Also, I want my readers to see my voice within each piece. I believe that
everyone is unique, and everyone has the right to be heart and understood. It is my
hope that I have conveyed my points in a way that the reader is able to see through the
teacher. The first step, in my opinion, is figuring out exactly what is needed to become a
good teacher. Once defined, an individual must take it upon himself/herself to seek out
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the guidance and tools needed to be the best that he/she can be. I believe that I have it
in me to do all that I have set my mind to. I hope to soon be an even more caring,
confident, and receptive to the change that is necessary to be the best that I can be.
This artifact is my first step. The second step will be taken every day that I wake up with
the passion that I feel today. I pray that this passion is something that never leaves me.
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