Humility

I try not to be wrong, but sometimes on homework and quizzes or tests I get things wrong.  I try to learn from my mistakes on homework so then I don’t get them wrong on the test.  I think it is a good thing to get things wrong on homework or stuff like that.  It makes me work harder on my studies.  I would spend more time focusing on that subject.   As a future teacher I believe it is easy to balance confidence and genuine humility.  If you are confident it can help you be humble.  

Team!

          Here at college, I am a member of the Luther College Swimming and Diving team.  I believe our team is a very highly effective team.  To be a highly effective team you have to work hard.  That is one thing our team does daily.  We have double day practices and at every single practice we work hard.  Another quality to have in an effective team is support.  On our team we support everyone.  At our meets we never sit down.  We stand and cheer at every lane for a Luther swimmer.  The final quality that comes to my mind that makes an effective team is a goal.  At the beginning of the season we fill out a goal sheet for ourselves.  We also have team goals which we establish at a standards meeting.  I believe establishing goals helps the team stayed focused.  It keeps everyone in line to not be lazy during our training.  

         Collaboration refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal.  The students are responsible for one another’s learning as well as their own.  Thus, the success of one student helps others to be successful.  Cooperative learning is more than simply asking student to get in a group and work on an assignment together.  This stresses formal instruction which teachers carefully design lessons and activities that are suitable for use by teams.  Cooperative learning is working together to accomplish shared goals.  Both terms are used interchangeably. 

Effective Qualities

Being a highly effective teacher doesn’t just come to you.  It will take time.  The first real experience will be your first year of teaching.  Effective teaching is a teaching philosophy that can be very efficient to use in the classroom.  If a teacher is very self-aware, confident, and persistent, has good work ethic and believes in one’s ability these traits can be incorporated into effective teaching.  One characteristic that I think is important is work ethic.  Another way to show you have a good work ethic is through your lessons plans.  You also need to have great enthusiasm because you want your students to be interested in your classroom activities.  If the students are interested they will be engaged in the lessons that you are teaching.   Another key attribute would be confidence.  This would be important to me because if I am confident in myself I will be less nervous in the classroom in front of my students.   I need to believe in myself and know that the college courses I have taken will help prepare me to be an effective teacher in the classroom.  I just have to get to the classroom first to get the experience in.   

C_R_E_A_T_I_V_I_T_Y

As teachers we should encourage creativity and imagination every day.  I think it is an essential thing to teach while the children are in elementary school.  It gives them the chance to explore what they want or what they are interested in.  If we don’t encourage it in our students they might think it isn’t okay to do.  I think the best way to teach creativity is to create projects that let the kids use their own imagination to come up with the final project.  Using writing assignment that might be done in the classroom where the students chose what to write about is a great opportunity for the children to express their creativity and imagination.  I’m not sure you could reward someone for their creativity although you would be able to display art projects.  Creativity is an important skill to have in the 21^st century.  Our society is becoming so technological that it is important to not forget about creativity.  We should encourage students to think outside the norm.  Creativity isn’t hard to find in children it just needs to be encouraged and not hidden.  As students grow older their imagination might not be as crazy as it was when they were younger but it is still there.  Creativity and imagination should be addressed at school when the students are so intent on learning new skills.       

Reflectiveness:

It’s a complicated thing to do today in schools.  Teachers and students do it daily.  The students might have a hard time because it takes concentration and some thought into reflecting.  I think students don’t like to spend that much time doing it.  The teachers might find it hard because they just don’t have time to do it.  Reflection is a key component in being a professional and is important to a teacher.  Being a teacher every day you are faced with things you may have never thought you would have to deal with.  Reflecting after every day of work will help you reevaluate lesson plans or become a better decision maker.  I reflect best at night in my bed.  I just go through my day and think about everything I did. 

Floral Design….. Who knew?

So, I am not really into art to begin with and to graduate high school I needed at least 8 art credits.  I was dreading taking art classes because I didn’t find them fun or exciting.  I wasn’t very good at drawing or painting anything.  I had heard about this floral design class.  It didn’t have to do with drawing or painting which I was so happy to hear.  It was about flowers.  I was surprised when I learned it counted as art credits.  During my spring semester of sophomore year I enrolled in floral design.  I took it with the intention that it would be an easy way to get my art credits and also get an easy A.

                The teacher who taught floral design was Ms. Brown.  She brought great energy to the class every day.  She would really get me excited about class.  Floral design was a great passion of hers and it started to rub off on me.  I found the class to be very relaxing and creative.  I was able to create different floral designs from week to week.  I had the chance to learn all about different flowers and the different types of designs I could create.  It wasn’t as easy as I thought the class would be.  We had tests on flowers and the designs.  We also got graded on our completed projects. 

                Ms. Brown had the right enthusiasm to really make this class a great experience for me.  I would have never thought that floral design would have been so much fun, but after taking the class I realized it was.  It really grew on me.  I ended up having a real interest in flowers after the class.  If Ms. Brown didn’t have the enthusiasm she had for floral design the class would have been very boring.  It would have been a class I would have hated to go to.  I thank Ms. Brown for bringing her enthusiasm to class every day.      

Authenticity

If you are a teacher, I think you should always be true to your students.  If you are true to them they will have more trust in you as their teacher.  If you are not being authentic to your students you aren’t being a good role model to them.  They might think it is okay to be fake to others when really that is not okay.  Always be real to your students. 

                I don’t think you need to show limits for expressing authenticity.  As a teacher it should always be shown.  Students can tell if teachers are not being authentic by the things they say.  If they are not being truthful to their class then the students will be able to tell.  If students don’t feel their teacher is being authentic then they might not believe anything they teach them.  They might feel like why even pay attention in class if the teacher isn’t being real to the class.  It could be a bad situation if the teacher is not being authentic to their students.       

Mr. Z

It was in between third and fourth grade when my mom signed me up to do a summer program at school.  It was called Jump Start.  I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know anyone else doing it.  The first day I remember walking in nervous and anxious at the same time.  I was met by a man named Mr. Zamzo.  He had a huge smile on his face as we were introduced.  Instantly I felt welcomed into this new program.

In this program we practiced our math and reading skills.  I wasn’t really behind in any of them.  My mom just wanted me to keep it up over the summer.  It was a two week program for about three hours a day.  Most of us in the class were third or fourth graders.

Mr. Zamzo was a great teacher to do the summer program.  He kept us all motivated during the three hours we were with him.  He took interest in every student.  He didn’t have favorites which some teachers do.  He was supportive.  We would have worksheets for math and he would push us to finish them and get them all right. 

I think the interest and compassion Mr. Zamzo had for me during this program made me want to try harder in school.  He made learning so fun.  He would be there if you needed help on anything.  He kept us all on our toes.  I’m pretty sure he helped me get organized because when I was younger I had a problem with that.  I know I improved my math skills so much from what he taught us in the summer program.  He taught us a game called cribbage.  This game was a great tool for all the kids.  I still play cribbage with my family sometimes.

The program flew by.   I was disappointed when it ended.  I was going to miss the program.  Once school started back up in the fall, I saw Mr. Zamzo around even though he wasn’t my fourth grade teacher.  He would say “Hey kiddo how’s it going?” It would always bring a smile to my face to see that he still cared for me.  I felt like we still had a connection through the rest of elementary school. 

It is nice to see that teachers care so much for their students.  It really brightens up the students.  They feel welcomed in the classroom and excited to learn.  This summer program was an excellent start to my success in school.  

RESPECT

How do I define respect?

Well, respect to me means that you look up to someone with high regards.  If you get someone’s respect you are valued in a way to that person.  You are willingly showing someone you appreciate them.  It could potentially be anyone in your life.  Respect can be shown through actions and can also be felt. 

How does it look in the classroom?

First off, I would teach the students the golden rule.  It is very essential and I think would help a lot of students respect one another better.  The golden rule is to treat everyone how you would like to be treated.  If the students followed this rule you would be able to see respect in the classroom.  As educators, it is part of our job to make sure students are treated with respect while in our classrooms.  If they are with us then they all should be treated equally with respect.

What is the impact of respect or lack of respect in the classrooms?

The impact of respect can be very good in the classroom.  It allows the students to feel comfortable in the classroom with their teachers and the other students.  If the students feel respect in the classroom they will trust you as a teacher more.  With lack of respect in the classroom I feel it could bring down the class.  If you hear disrespectful comments in the classroom make sure you say something to the students.  Let them know that isn’t okay to say anytime.  If nothing is said the students will think those comments are allowed.  If there is a lack of respect in the classroom students might not feel safe or comfortable to learn in that type of environment.

How is respect best established in a classroom environment?

Again, on the first day of school establish those classroom rules on what is allowed and what isn’t.  Make a game or activity to help the students understand.  If the students understand the rules then they should be able to treat everyone with respect.  An important rule that should be established is the golden rule.  This gives you the chance to honor the students, how they feel, what they say and do.  Then you as a teacher can expect them to do the same to you and to other classmates.