Being a teacher is more than a job, it is a calling.

You have to have a desire to become a

teacher and to work hard in order to be successful. I have felt this calling for most of my life. I

have always loved going to school and learning new things and understanding different

perspectives. As I grew up, that love for learning has only grown, and I want to help other young

students develop a love for learning too.

There is so much that must come together effectively in order to be a successful teacher.

This includes lesson planning, preparation, communicating with parents, faculty, and staff, in

addition to the actual teaching in a classroom. It is one thing to study this in concept but a whole

new experience to put those concepts into action in a live classroom. Admittedly this student

teaching experience has been more challenging than I ever imagined, and the transition from

student to teacher was difficult. However, it was even more rewarding, as I began to connect

with the students and experienced their growth and development, knowing that I was blessed to

be a part of it. I feel I have grown immensely in my understanding of the role of the teacher, or

perhaps more accurately, the many roles of an effective teacher.

As a teacher, I want to successfully meet the needs of my students. To do this, I worked

to gain an understanding of the type of learner they were because not everyone learns the same

way. There are four different types of learners – kinesthetic, visual, audible, and reading/writing

learners. Therefore, I tried to develop lessons that were responsive to those different individual

needs of the four types of learners. I learned different methods to incorporate this into lesson

plans, including doing different types of lessons on different days or even different types of

activities in small groups so that all the students had a better opportunity to understand the

material. However, just catering to the student’s learning style is not enough.
 A teacher also needs to understand that a student has different growth and development

needs as well. A student’s growth and development needs are met through the knowledge of and

appropriate application of growth and development theory and concepts. This includes but is not

limited to cognitive development, social learning development, and behavioral child

development. Understanding these theories and concepts are important because it allows the

teacher to understand the student’s development on a cognitive, emotional, and social growth

from childhood to early adult life. Therefore, as a teacher, I want to take the time to get to know

my students and help them develop in all of these areas.

After gaining an understanding of the different needs of the student with their learning,

growth, and development, then a teacher needs plans to teach them in a way to satisfy those

needs. There are different classroom and behavioral management strategies that I began to

develop in order to communicate effectively, adjust instruction, assess comprehension, and build

upon that foundation.

As I first struggled with maintaining control of the classroom in order to teach the

lessons, I quickly came to realize how critical classroom management, time management, and

most importantly preparation are to being successful. These skills did not come naturally to me,

and I had limited experience managing that many children at once, so I found tools along the

way to help me. I began using a timer to help with time management in the classroom and

learned to address disruptive behavior more positively, through encouragement and highlighting

the right behaviors instead of getting frustrated and directly correcting the disruptive behaviors. I

also learned that when you are better prepared and can be confident in your lesson plans, the

more flexible you can be as you also manage the classroom, and can adjust the lesson based on

the student’s engagement and understanding

My student teaching placements were two very different experiences, but I do believe that these

experiences have helped me develop the tools that I need to be a successful teacher. I will always

continue to build upon this foundation as I gain new experiences and as a result will continue to

grow my confidence in the classroom. As a teacher, you must be excited about learning, and

continue to be a good student too. There is always more to learn, new teaching techniques to

explore, and more tools to develop to effectively manage the classroom and help students reach

their potential.