Why I want to teach

Teaching is important because it builds on previous knowledge and improves each generation. Human ingenuity and progress are a hope for the future. It’s also important to me that learning should be fun and engaging for both students and teachers. There is always something to be interested in in a subject, and transmitting that interest creates a thirst for knowledge. The teachers who have made the most significant impact on my life and my children’s lives have been the ones who are enthusiastic and make learning fun. I want to be that teacher for others.

Beliefs as an Educator

Learning should be honest, fun, social, project-based, and practical. Students need structure, and I continue to improve at that, but it is more important to be an adult who consistently shows up, keeps trying, and represents good values. I am a determined, compassionate, and engaged teacher.

Theoretical Basis for Beliefs

The learning theory that best supports my approach is constructivism. Projects allow students to build on prior knowledge. “The student’s previous knowledge, experiences, beliefs, and insights are all important foundations for their continued learning” (WGU, 2020). Project-based learning also follows Vygotsky’s idea of learning as an active process.

Ideal Learning Outcomes

I want to help my students learn to ask questions and how to find reliable resources for answers. If students learn to ask and research questions, they can learn to do anything. They won’t always have a teacher guiding them, but they can learn how to become their own teacher. I want to teach them how to take good notes; I like to teach about doodle notes. Doodle notes make learning more active by engaging more learning styles (listening, reading, kinesthetic). Another important outcome is learning to appreciate that everyone has something unique and special from which we can learn.

Instructional Strategies

I teach students to ask questions by emphasizing the structure of open-ended questions. Questions should start with Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How and end with a question mark.

Part of teaching students to become their own teachers is recognizing the patterns they create. I want to teach them the CTFAR model:

C – circumstances are neutral facts.

T – thoughts about circumstances develop feelings.

F – feelings are valid.

A – Actions are a natural result of feelings.

R – results are the consequences of our actions.

This simple model helps us have continuous and sustainable growth cycles and promotes positive change. (Castillo, 2024)

Self-Reflection Rating System:

1 – I do not understand

2 – I’m starting to understand, I can do it with help

3 – I understand, I can do it independently

4 – I’m confident that I can teach someone else

Assessment Tools & Strategies

I use Exit Tickets to gauge understanding, support individual learners, and adjust lesson plans. The exit ticket is a simple task that allows students to demonstrate knowledge of the core standard.

Another tool I use is a self-reflection score. Students rate themselves in addition to the score they earned, which helps me determine their confidence levels.

Stakeholder Relationships

Parents are our children’s first and most important teachers. I see my job as an opportunity to work with parents to support students’ values and growth. That is what we all do as a community: support the best family outcomes. All stakeholders contribute to the well-being of students and their ability to learn. Being an involved community member is important by showing interest in culture, interests, and events.

Classroom Management Plan

Future Class

One possible future class is a 6th-grade Language Arts class. The first instructional activity is a biography poster of the main character in a nonfiction book of their choice. The second activity is a create-your-own board game activity based on a fiction book. Students can select from The Book Thief, The Giver, or Howl’s Moving Castle.

Personal Philosophy

My philosophy is that if I love my students and I love the content, they’ll love to learn. My motto is “be honest, kind and brave”; if we can learn to consistently embody these three qualities we can go far. I will model positivity in student ability and praise honest effort, while encouraging them to keep trying. Students will feel safe with their ideas and promote the safety of others. The biggest thing students can do for themselves is to keep trying, no matter how slow, if they keep trying, they will be productive. All ideas are important and make us better people. There is a famous experiment, demonstrated on the show Brain Games, about the value of diverse opinions. In the experiment 20 people are asked to guess how many gumballs are in a gumball machine. Not a single person came close to guessing the right score, but when all the scores were averaged together, they were within 20 gumballs of the right number. This demonstrates how including diverse opinions and perspectives helps us get to the best outcomes.

Three Goals

 

    • Students will be able to describe, recognize and demonstrate all three elements of the motto “be Honest, Kind and Brave”.

    • Teacher and students will be able to modify their viewpoints based on what they learn from others, including other students.

    • Teacher and students will demonstrate a “keep trying” work ethic.

Classroom Layouts

Group Discussion Arrangement

A screen shot of a computer Description automatically generated Teacher-Focused Arrangement

Creative Problem-Solving Arrangement

Two Routines and Procedures

Routine 1, the bell ringer:

Procedure:

 

    • Students come in and get out their study material (laptop, notebook, pens).

    • They will have their bullet journal open so I can see what tasks they’ve accomplished and what they see as a need to get done.

    • They immediately start work on the word puzzle bell ringer activity for the day while I take attendance and check notebooks.

Routine 2, time to go:

Procedure:

 

    • 5 minutes before class is out students get out their bullet journal.

    • They mark the things they’ve accomplished during the day and note something new they’ve learned.

    • They make a list of what they still need to do.

    • I check the notebooks on their way out.

Communicating Procedures

I will have a poster with the procedures. We will also practice these, especially the first weeks of class. I will monitor to see that all students have meaningful information in their bullet journal.

Classroom Procedures

Entering class –

 

    • Take a card and find the spot that matches the card

    • You’ll be having new seat assignments every day so it’s ok if you don’t get your preference.

    • No trading seats.

Bullet Journal –

 

    • First 5 minutes

    • Check your notes from the previous day

    • Cross off completed items

    • Write a priority list for today – include both your expectations and mine

    • At least weekly there will be a new visual dictionary item to add to your bullet journal. We’ll draw a simple picture and list meanings it can have

    • During the last 5 minutes we’ll update these again

Attendance –

 

    • Voice level 0

    • We’ll learn our attendance order and students will call names when it’s their turn

Class Expectations –

 

    • Honest, Kind, Brave

    • During the first week we’ll make a list as a class of what that does and does not look like.

    • It’s always AND

Bathroom/Water/Nurse –

 

    • Don’t leave before attendance or you’re tardy.

    • 1 person at a time, no sharing a pass

    • Sign out and take the pass – don’t ask.

    • I’m not repeating instructions so you’ll have to find out another way if you miss information.

We snap to show approval or encouragement

Bring Materials to Class –

 

    • Writing materials (pen/pencil, highlighters, markers/colored pencils)

    • Chromebook (charged)

    • Paper

    • Bullet Journal

Where to find:

 

    • Class storage spot (grouped by class)

    • Extra pencils

    • Daily work

    • Old assignments

    • Bell schedule

    • Calendar – during first week everyone is encouraged to add personally important holidays.

    • Assignment challenges (extensions)

    • Assignment supports

    • Bulletin for no name papers

    • Lost and Found spot

Uncharged Chromebooks

 

    • Students must stand the whole time where they’re charging (ie: at the back counter)

Voice Level Poster

 

    • 0 – complete silent (think testing)

    • 1- Whisper (practice whispering)

    • 2 – quiet talking (think group work)

    • 3 – Normal voice (think answering a question in class, or during attendance)

    • There will be a frame around the current voice level expectation. I’ll try to keep it at 2-3 as much as possible.

Food and drink is OK, until it’s not

Last 2 minutes is clean up

 

    • No trash

    • Materials in labeled bins

    • Chairs away (at end of day)

Sub Expectations

 

    • Outstanding behavior

    • Rewards – stickers, PBIS points, plastic flamingos

    • Negative – review class expectations

Repair letter:

Dear Parent or Guardian,

I’m writing to let you know that I’m having a hard time meeting expectations in Ms Fort’s class.


 The behavior I’ve been showing is: (Write what you did that didn’t meet expectations — for example, “talking while the teacher is talking” or “not completing assignments.)

My intention with this behavior was: (Write what you were trying to do — for example, “make my friend laugh” or “avoid a hard assignment.”).

The expectation is: (Write what you’re supposed to be doing instead — for example, “being honest by putting a fair amount of effort to the group work” or “being kind by talking respectfully to classmates.”)

 By not meeting the expectation, the impact of my behavior was: (Write what actually happened or how it affected others — for example, “I disrupted the class” or “I didn’t learn the material.”).

I’d really appreciate your help in thinking of ways I can be more successful moving forward.

Thank you for supporting me!

Sincerely,
(Your Name)

Three Class Rules

Be Honest – Be Kind – Be Brave

I will have Honest Kind and Brave posters around the room with pictures and descriptions of what each looks like. I will have students add sticky notes to a poster with observation, characters, traits, and action that represent these qualities. Throughout the year I will point out instances of individuals we study about who exhibit these traits. I will also help students learn about the obstacles and outcomes that came from these actions.

Classroom Rules to Support Classroom Norms

The major norm I want to focus on is, keep trying. Honesty supports this norm because we need to honestly evaluate what worked and what didn’t work, not feeling ashamed of mistakes, in order to keep trying. Kindness supports this norm because students grow best in a supportive environment. Bravery supports this norm because it takes intellectual bravery to persevere when things didn’t work out the way we planned in the first place.

Positive Reinforcers and Consequences

Positive reinforcement I will use is snapping. When someone does something positive, I will snap and encourage students to join in.

A consequence is, you break it, you fix it. Students will be accountable to repair damage done to equipment and make amends to people they’ve hurt.

Student Engagement

Students will be actively engaged by adding to our honest, kind, and brave poster. We will have a class discussion about what it looks like to portray these qualities. Students will help look for examples throughout the duration of the class. When a student needs help remembering the student will be referred to the poster and asked to provide in writing an example of how this could have been applied. They can ask others for ideas if they need help.