Katarina Baziw

EDU-487
Dr. Belcher
March 31, 2017
Professional Knowledge: Responsive Classroom

For this reflection I have decided to reflect on the standard of practice pertaining to

professional knowledge. As educators we should always strive to learn and grow with the

ever-changing environment of education, and this commitment to learning for the benefit of the

students is crucial into creating caring classrooms. The goal of seeking professional knowledge is

to understand the need to reflect practices and strategies in the classroom regularly so that

student needs can be met. I believe that as an emerging educator in an ever-growing

technological age this is fundamental in all school communities especially, so that not only is one

class flourishing as one, but that the entire school community can take this knowledge to learn

and thrive together.

On March 31, 2017 I had the opportunity to attend the professional development seminar

on responsive classrooms. This EDIFIDE run seminar discussed the importance of character

education and how as educators we should be implementing activities that promote emotional

education. The presenters agreed that the value of these strategies lies in that students have the

opportunity to make connections as a whole group, and create meaning making opportunities.

The process benefits the overall classroom community, and the whole student. The sessions

learning expectation for educators was to learn of the four parts components of a responsive

classroom; morning circle, quiet time, closing circle, and positive time-outs.

There were two big ahas for me throughout the seminar. The first aha was the verbiage

and the acknowledgement of students. Each day they discussed how important it is to greet your
students and say goodbye to students by citing their name and giving the students eye contact

while doing so. Though there was much debate of cultural repercussions of eye contact, I believe

this to be valuable. Students feeling acknowledged can lead to a sense of belonging in the class,

especially by name. When it came to the verbiage with students my group discussed how we

might say to a student class we are starting our activity, please move to the carpet instead of

we are starting our activity, I will meet you all at the carpet. One implies choice where the

other is polite but directly asks students to follow you to the carpet. This small thing was huge

for me as I noticed when reflecting on my practicum experience that I say please in my lessons

far more than I should. Being polite is important, but being direct with students in what you want

is extremely important.

The second aha for me was the morning circle structures. It starts with a greeting,

sharing time, an activity and a message, which could be turned into devotions. This structure

excited me as it gave time for students to think about the question and give them to power to

share. As a future educator my class would start each day like this as then the students emotional

needs could be recognized and then we could move on to the academia, or even connect the

curriculum in this. Overall this portion of the seminar ignited a passion in me to create safe

places for students to share and think.

This seminar echoed much of my past TRIBES training that I have received, and gave me

an opportunity to go deeper with my purpose for wanting to implement these strategies; for the

benefit of the holistic student, not just the academic. As an educator I believe that I have the

power to engage students with the kingdom of God and through many of these strategies I

believe that I can do this with the help of many of these strategies.