Narrowing down your life’s passion into a concise essay explaining why it is you do what you do is a daunting task. It is very difficult to pour everything I feel about teaching into two short pages, but I will try to give a glimpse into what drives me forward daily. Everything I do in teaching boils down to just one belief which is, the kids are what matters most. They are the reason I get out of bed every day, the reason I fall asleep thinking of every possible way I can teach each new concept, the reason I volunteer to stay after school tutoring, and the reason my phone calls home always end with I just have to do one more thing.
My belief is that good teachers have students at the heart of everything they do. Learning teaching strategies …show more content…
Personally, I question everything I do. How can I make the lesson more engaging? Did I reach every students? How can I use Johnny’s love of Pokemon to teach him math? My brain is constantly thinking of ways I can reach my kids on every level, so that they will remember these concepts and build on them. For example, when I taught transformations I wanted to reach my kinesthetic learners, so I decided we could dance to help them remember. For translation, we did the electric slide, so that would remember a translation is just sliding the figure. For rotation, we danced to Turn, Turn, Turn, so they would remember to rotate the figure. For reflection, we did Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror and we flipped from front to back, so they would remember the figure is flipped. Being able to assess a student’s needs and reaching each new each student in the way they learn is something I strive for daily. My greatest rewards in teaching are those students who come back and tell me how much I taught them, the ones that run across a store to hug me or drive their next teacher crazy with Mrs. Yates taught me that. Those moments where they finally get it after struggling or you see the culmination of a project they have put their heart and soul into. Finally, it’s when you see the same eyes that you saw at the beginning of the year of one of those students who had lost hope and a desire to learn, but now you can see joy, light and hope for the future. Those are the moments I live
My belief is that good teachers have students at the heart of everything they do. Learning teaching strategies …show more content…
Personally, I question everything I do. How can I make the lesson more engaging? Did I reach every students? How can I use Johnny’s love of Pokemon to teach him math? My brain is constantly thinking of ways I can reach my kids on every level, so that they will remember these concepts and build on them. For example, when I taught transformations I wanted to reach my kinesthetic learners, so I decided we could dance to help them remember. For translation, we did the electric slide, so that would remember a translation is just sliding the figure. For rotation, we danced to Turn, Turn, Turn, so they would remember to rotate the figure. For reflection, we did Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror and we flipped from front to back, so they would remember the figure is flipped. Being able to assess a student’s needs and reaching each new each student in the way they learn is something I strive for daily. My greatest rewards in teaching are those students who come back and tell me how much I taught them, the ones that run across a store to hug me or drive their next teacher crazy with Mrs. Yates taught me that. Those moments where they finally get it after struggling or you see the culmination of a project they have put their heart and soul into. Finally, it’s when you see the same eyes that you saw at the beginning of the year of one of those students who had lost hope and a desire to learn, but now you can see joy, light and hope for the future. Those are the moments I live