Professional Plan: My Teaching Beliefs

Kelsey Berry

Department of Education, Ferris State University

EDUC 101: Introduction to the Profession of Teaching

Dr. Vanessa Wyss

July 27, 2020

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Ever since I can remember, I have loved being around kids and playing with them.

Whether it was the little neighbor boy who was playing baseball in the front lawn, to the

newborn baby down the street, I was always right there playing or helping. I knew that I wanted

to grow up and work with kids somehow, but it never occurred to me that I should be a teacher. I

always thought I would be a nanny for my whole life or maybe a preschool teacher. But it wasn’t

until ninth grade that I figured out that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. My

freshman year English teacher, Mr. Bernard, was the best mentor that I could’ve asked for. I was

actually scared of him and his class for the first week of school, he explained the rules and

expectations of the class and it made me anxious. I stayed quiet in his class until the day that he

pulled me aside and told me that he was really intrigued by the writing I did on an assignment.

Slowly but surely, we became close and created a bond that still to this day, hasn’t been broken.

He helped guide me through some difficult times of uncertainty and helped me be the best that I

could be. I hope that I am able to have this type of impact on at least one of my future students

and that I am able to be a light in someone’s dark time. Mr. Bernard was incredibly

compassionate and I cannot begin to thank him for the path that he helped put me on. If I am able

to make half the impact on a student that he has on me, I would call my job a success. As a future

educator, I believe that students should always feel welcome in my classroom, be represented in

the books and/or the material being used in class, have equal and ample learning opportunities,

and be able to give feedback to the teacher in a timely manner in order to get the most out of the

class.

Whenever a child walks into my classroom, I hope that they feel welcomed, safe, and

have an urge to learn. Starting a new school year with a new teacher and different kids is an

extremely overwhelming time for students of any age, including the teachers and parents.
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Something that I strongly believe in is that, all children need to feel safe and welcomed in my

classroom at all times. They should feel safe enough to raise their hand and add to a discussion,

feel as if they are valued and appreciated in the classroom, and ensure that they are welcomed

and wanted. Wong and Wong (2018) believe that teachers and classrooms that are inviting and

display attentiveness, expectancy, attitude, enthusiasm, and evaluation, strongly influence a

student’s self-concept and increase or decrease the probability of student learning and

achievement (p. 62). This is incredibly important for students to feel because when a child of any

age feels safe, their brains are more apt to develop and take in information more efficiently.

Another belief of mine is that every child should feel and be represented within the

classroom and the material being used during lessons. I hope that when we are reading books,

discussing concepts, or just looking around the room. It is so crucial to have your students

represented in your classroom as it helps with self-confidence, lessens bullying, and encourages

students to share their personal stories with the class. Rudine Sims Bishop believes that literature

transforms human experience and reflects it back to us (1990). Students should be represented

throughout the room and then be able to learn about other students and their culture in the

classroom.

No two children learn exactly the same, and you will not be able to teach the entire class

a concept with just one method of teaching. This is just one of the multiple reasons why I believe

that students should have equal and ample opportunities for learning/personalized learning. This

will overall help improve grades and more importantly the understanding of material for all

students. Pane et al. state that personalized learning and instructional approaches and strategies

will improve student outcomes in short term along with the long term (2017). Students should be
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taught a concept with more than one method of solving or understanding the material, no matter

the subject.

Reflection is not only good for students and their understanding of a topic, but it is really

good for teachers to hear and see how their students feel about the ways of the classroom,

material, and teaching techniques. I believe that there should be times throughout the day/week

of consistent reflection and evaluation of my teaching and the participation of the students to

ensure both students and the teacher get the most out of lessons. Gonzalez agrees by stating the

benefits of seeking your own students’ feedback, which are increased student engagement,

preventive discipline, differentiation, bully prevention, and self-preservation (2014). Reflection

and feedback should be mixed variety of anonymous, discussion, and comments.

In order to bring these beliefs to life in my own classroom, it will take a lot of work and

collaboration with students as well. There are a few things that would fulfill my goal and need

for my students to feel safe and welcomed in our classroom. The first of them being that each

student will have their own spaces/spots. They will be personalized with their names on it, like

name tags on their desks. They will have backpack hooks assigned to them, along with a spot

below their hook that can have a picture of them or their family to have a little comfort of home

with them. Lastly, there will be a designated spot that students are able to go and sit in if they are

feeling a lot of emotions, are overwhelmed, or if they are just needing some time to themselves.

All children should feel confident about their heritage, race, family type, and where they

come from. The majority of children’s books that are published each year feature white

characters, when I strongly believe that they should feature a vast variety of characters. In order

to make every child feel represented in the classroom, there will be multicultural books on the

shelves of our classroom library. Bishop states that books can be windows that offer views of
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worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. She also goes on to say that these

windows are also sliding glass doors and readers have to walk through them to become a part of

whatever world is being created or recreated by the author. Lastly, Bishop states that these

windows can also be mirrors, where in the reflection we can also see our lives and experiences

(1990). There will also be activities, lessons, and images of and about the different cultures that

make our world go round. Lastly, when there is an art project or any type of project done in the

classroom, I will do my best to display the students’ work around the room and hallways.

As mentioned before, no two students are able to learn the exact same way at the exact

same time. Though the same technique may work for both of the students, one student may need

three examples while the other needs five. To ensure that all students have equal and ample

opportunities to learn the way that works best for them, I plan on giving options for students to

choose from. Pane et al. talks about how personalized learning can improve achievement no

matter where the starting level of achievement was (2017). Whether it be where the student

wants to work (the ground, special chair, hallway, noise canceling headphones on, etc.), or how

they complete a project/assignment (PowerPoint, skit, make a poem, write it out, etc.), students

should have the option of how they want to complete their assignment. Lastly, I plan on using

different teaching techniques when giving examples and varying the style of teaching to allow all

students to have ease with learning.

Many teachers don’t get feedback straight from their students, they normally get it from

the administration team when they come and observe, or they get it from parents throughout the

year. I believe that it is important for teachers and students to consistently be reflecting and

evaluating their work habits, teaching styles, and their participation. To make sure this happens,

you should set aside time at least once a week (Friday’s would be most effective) to have
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students fill out forms, answer questions, participate in discussions, or anonymously give

suggestions on what would make learning easier for them. Gonzalez mentions that you should

start out with good questions and then begin asking questions that pertain directly to them and

how they are feeling with the style, pace, or information being taught (2014). I would also have a

box that students are able to put pieces of paper in with notes, suggestions, or telling you if they

need help (but are too scared to say out loud). It allows you to get feedback and communicate

with students that need that extra help.

Before I am able to dive head first into teaching, I am going to have to have a lot of

support and drive to finish out my schooling and student teaching. I am thankful to have my

family and a few friends that have always been there to support me whenever I was feeling

overwhelmed with school, creating a schedule, or just with life. I honestly don’t know where I

would be in life without my family and friends. Another type of support system that I constantly

rely on is the MyDegree program. This helps me feel like I am slowly but surely crossing off my

courses and I am inching towards graduation. I like to use it when I am creating my schedule for

the upcoming semester to know what classes I should be taking, along with looking at it when I

am feeling like I have gotten nowhere in school. I am thankful that I met with an academic

advisor before I even started at Ferris so I knew what I was getting into, along with starting to

build a relationship so I felt comfortable going to her with questions about my course of

education. She showed me the program MyDegree and helped me set a timeline on when I would

be finishing school and going out and starting to work in classrooms. I think my personal

experience with Ferris will look a little different than most since I am located at the Grand

Rapids campus. I don’t have access to all of the same amenities that the students who are located

at the main Big Rapids campus do. Due to this, I have never been to the writing lab since I don’t
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think that there is a Ferris writing lab on my campus. I know that there is a writing lab at Grand

Rapids Community College, but they might not be able to assist me with the assignments that

come from Ferris since I don’t know their protocol. This is something that I will need to look

into as I get further into my education at Ferris and begin taking less and less classes at Grand

Rapids Community College.

With any school, you need to have a set of study skills that will help you reach your full

potential as a student and person. I am thankful that as long as I can remember, I have had a

strong set of studying skills in my school toolbox. Some of my study skills include setting aside

multiple different times to look over material instead of just the night before the test, taking

notes, rewriting notes, and creating flashcards with vocabulary terms and questions about the

content. These skills will continue to come in handy as I take classes at Ferris, especially my

science courses since science isn’t my best subject. Organizational skills are also crucial to being

a student and being a teacher. I am thankful that I have learned to be organized and take my

organizational skills seriously. I have two planners, one that is dedicated strictly for all things

school related and the other that I have school due dates in, along with my work schedule and

appointments in. I also have color coordinated notebooks, folders, and markers for each specific

class to make sure that I am keeping all of my classes separate. Something that I might start

doing to ensure that I am staying on top of all assignments, due dates, and schedules is using my

Sunday nights to write out everything that is going on that week and the different things that I

need to study for and hanging it up in my room so I can check things off when I get them done.

I have learned that becoming a teacher is a lot more work and energy than I had

originally thought. For instance, at Ferris there are three different levels that you have to climb

through in order to get your degree. This doesn’t even involve all of your other general education
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classes that you have to take. Level one includes four classes, some of which have prerequisites

that you have to take. Level two includes the forty and eighty hour which is where I work with a

mentor teacher in their classroom. Lastly, in level three I have to pass my MTTC tests that

pertain to my majors and minors, which are integrated science, English language arts, and early

childhood education, in order to begin student teaching and get my first aid and CPR training.

While balancing all of those classes, you have to watch your grades with a close eye as you need

to pass all of your classes with a C or better and have at least a 2.75 GPA.

In order to prepare for my future job and feel comfortable in the classroom setting, I have

attempted to work at jobs that will somehow benefit me for those things. My first job was at

Walgreens and I learned a lot about communication skills, time management, and working under

pressure. I then worked at a child care center for two and a half years. This job has obvious

benefits for my future profession, where I got to work with children along with develop and

execute lesson plans. I was an assistant teacher so I did a lot of gathering supplies and assisting

with executing lessons. I also go to have practice talking with parents and answering questions

about their child’s development. The last job that I had was an after school program teacher. I

got to work with a group of about twenty students and assist them with their homework from that

day, and then I got to implement activities with them based on whatever theme that we had going

on that month. I wasn’t in charge of creating these lesson plans, but I was able to give my input

and suggestions on what lessons would be fun to do with my group of students. I loved this job

so much and I got to work with them during their summer program as well, where we got to take

a lot of fieldtrips and have a little more freedom with what we taught the kids. I have had the

opportunity to volunteer and observe in a few classrooms due to assignments that I had to

complete in a few of my child development classes, but I want to start having a consistent
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schedule of volunteering in classrooms. I am thankful that my uncle is a principal at a local high

school, and could get me into an elementary classroom if I wanted, along with keeping in close

contact with my own elementary teachers and being able to go and visit their classes.

As obvious as it should be for any student who is going into the field of education, some

people just don’t see the importance of staying on top of appointments with advisors, staying on

the right track academically, and setting the accurate amount of time for school work. In order to

be able to obtain my degree in elementary education, I am going to have to continue meeting

with my academic advisors to ensure that I am on track with my classes and create my upcoming

schedule. I will also need to make sure that I continue to attend class on time, and complete

assignments on time. I am glad that I already do this, so it isn’t an adjustment for me. But I am

going to need to start shopping and finding attire to wear while I am in the classroom observing,

volunteering, and eventually working. I have a few outfits, but not enough for when I start my

forty and eighty hour. I will also attempt to make a few friends that are in the program, so I have

people to talk to, vent to, and bounce ideas off of. Creating a support system outside of my

family and friends (that are not in the education program) is incredibly important so you don’t

get discouraged and so you have people who know what you are going through.
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References

Bishop, R. S. (1990, Summer). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives:

Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3), ix. 

Gonzalez, J. (2014, October 23). 5 reasons you should seek your OWN student feedback. Cult of

Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-feedback/

Pane, J. F., Steiner, E. D., Baird, M. D., Hamilton, L. S., & Pane, J. D. (2017). How does

personalized learning affect student achievement? RAND Corporation Provides

Objective Research Services and Public Policy Analysis |

RAND. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9994.html

Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2018). The first days of school: How to be an effective

teacher (5th ed.). Harry K Wong Publication.