First Blog

I can hardly believe that it's been almost a month since I started EDUC 250. I have learned and experienced so much already. As I reflect on this month and everything I have learned, a quote from Robert John Meehan comes to mind. He said, “Your life as a teacher begins the day you realize that you are always a learner.” If anything sums up my first month in EDUC 250, this statement does.  

Every time I come to class, I learn something about my future profession. However, I have to say that one of my biggest “A-HA!” moments has been realizing that my learning doesn’t stop when I leave Dr. Parker’s class. I’m constantly preparing for my future classroom. My parents and I discuss what I’m learning in class, and they give me their own perspectives as high school teachers. In my MATH 204 class, we have been learning about fractions and I have started thinking about how I would teach the concept in my own classroom. I have learned about inclusion in Educational Psychology class and I have started to think about how I would work with a child who has special needs or a learning disability. I also research lesson plan ideas and work with the technology mentioned in a class (Twitter, Flipgrid, etc.) to improve my understanding. I have started doing these things in the spirit of learning, but also so I will become a better professional. In order to be an effective leader in my classroom (Standard 1 of the NCTCS), I believe that I need to show my students that I am as committed to my own learning as I am to theirs. This means seeking to improve in areas where I know I am weak, finding answers to questions, and learning new methods. I am never done learning.

Other learning experiences this semester have been related to coursework I have completed for EDUC 250. One of these experiences has to do with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Before choosing the standard for my lesson plan this semester, I looked through all of the K-6 standards. While reading the standards, I realized that teachers have to know a lot (Standard 3 of the NCTCS). This was repeated in class. Dr. Parker has said that in the eyes of our students, we are subject-matter experts. For elementary school teachers, the content is extensive. In my classroom, I will be teaching my students reading, math, science, social studies, spelling, and all manner of other subjects. It is important that I know my content because my class of third or fourth graders is going to look at me as the expert. I have to know what I’m talking about, so I will stay up to date on the standards and will review material I am not as familiar with. However, teaching a third grader how to spell science is only half the battle. My students have to want to learn.

That leads me to another learning experience I’ve had in EDUC 250. When we talked about the Conceptual Framework at New Teacher Orientation, I was struck by the vision statement- “Gardner-Webb University School of Education is a premier catalyst for positive, sustainable change.” Teachers have more influence on students than we think. When students are in the classroom, the teacher is given the task of making them learn. Teaching is so much more than that! You could know your content and have the perfect lesson plan, and everything could fall apart in ten minutes. In order for students to want to learn, we have to show them that we care about their learning and that we are committed to helping them succeed. By doing this, we create positive relationships with the student that can contribute to their future success (Standard 2 of the NCTCS). In my future classroom, I will be the teacher who not only teaches her students how to be strong academically but also how to be good human beings who care about other people by teaching them to work together and resolve conflicts. These are skills that will serve them in their future lives and careers, and that will stay with them well beyond elementary school.