Chelsea Weimar Platform Paper EDCR 2015 4/22/13 My Experience I was in kindergarten when I knew and decided I wanted

to become a teacher. Ms. Oliver, my teacher, was delicate, beautiful and never without a smile on her face. She was gentle toward her students, and now I know how difficult that must have been! But despite the chaos and the messes, she always made learning a delight. Once I reached third grade my desire for teaching grew to an all new level. My teachers, Mrs. Watts and Ms. Merle, would dispose of hundreds upon hundreds of their old worksheets. I would gather up a bunch and take them home to play school with my siblings. In my basement I had a dry-erase board, desks, my teacher desk and lots of papers! I loved spending hours playing school and imagining myself as a teacher one day. In eighth grade I realized what it really took to be a great teacher; passion and understanding. Its really quite simple, but rare to find in an educator. This, too, I also discovered. Mrs. Schumacker was and has been my favorite teacher and the reason why I am on the path toward this career today. She created the platform for what kind of teacher I want to be like and how I want to run my classroom. She was different and because of that, students seemed to flock to her. She always had kids in her room. Whether it was hanging out during lunch, study hall, or before and after school, Mrs. Schumackers door was always open and students knew that and were comforted by it. I have seen my fair share of teachers whom I would like to forget, and I have been touched by a few that have transformed my ideas of teaching and learning.

Because of these memories, I have the beliefs that I do today and am thankful for the ones that helped push me even more toward this blessed career. The Role of a Teacher In my classroom, the role of the teacher is an imperative one. I believe a teacher should inspire his or her students; cause them to go deeper with their thoughts and to ask questions that will challenge their opinions, but also challenge the thought process that gets them there. To encourage grappling means that as teachers we also help them connect and apply what they believe is true. Throughout history the role of a teacher has too often been to stand before the class and demand assignments and to lecture at them. However, when a teacher pushes grappling, these adults in training can learn how to foster their own education, giving them responsibility to apply what they know instead of me feeding them the information. I believe a teachers role requires authenticity. I want to be a teacher that challenges my students while also challenging myself. How can I hold my students to a standard that I do not hold myself? When students see authenticity, or me just being plain real with them, I believe they will be more receptive to my teaching and want to model after my behaviors. I believe choosing to be authentic toward my students will open the door to honesty and trust. Not only do I want my students to trust me, but I want them to know that I can trust them. Throughout my education in CARE, we have referred to high school students as adults in training. As a teacher I find it imperative to the teacher-student relationship to them as such and leave the lines of communication and engage in a trust relationship with them that trust is broken. I think this helps in making students feel empowered, which is exactly my goal in my classroom.

I think the role of a teacher is also to create authentic learning. This means that learning is relevant to the students and meaningful. As a teacher of English, I find that I have many advantages that other teachers may not have. Often what we research in English can be related to our own lives. I believe the role of a teacher is to require reflection in the class and ask students to find meaning in what we are learning and how it relates to them on a personal level. Someone may not take from my class a new-found love for books, or a pressing desire to write poetry or short stories, but I believe whole-heartedly that everyone amongst various levels of academic success can take something from my class. Whether its how to develop their own ideas, form new opinions, learn something new about themselves, or the importance of reflection; something can be learned in my English classroom. This is what inspiration is all about. Inspiration is about growth and pushing people to new heights they did not know were possible to reach. This is what I believe the role of a teacher should be. Classroom Environment I believe there are two important components in the environment of the classroom. There is the physical environment which I believe should be organized and student-based. There are several different ideas I have received from various places about how to organize a classroom. Some ideas I particularly like is having folders on the wall for each day of the week and placing extra copies of handouts in the folders. If a student misses a day of class, they can easily see if there is anything they missed. If a student misses class, it becomes their responsibility to make up the classwork by either speaking with me or another student. I think this encourages students to take ownership of their responsibilities and encourages them to think and act like adults by taking the initiative in their school work. I think this also encourages camaraderie between students and pushes them to help one another and build each other up rather than tear each other

down. However, if after conferring with a peer a student still needs clarity, they are always welcome to ask me for help. Another organizational tool I have seen and found to be helpful is having work folders for each student. At Federal Hocking High School I have seen work folders being used that have students names on them and maybe some creativity added to help the teacher get to know the student better. With these folders students can easily transfer their assignments and comments or questions in one, organized place to their teachers. I think this is a great idea for high school students to keep their work together and is helpful to the teacher so he or she can put several things in the folders at once. As far as a student-based classroom, I want my students to be proud of their work and know that I am also proud of what they accomplish. To communicate this I will display their work and creativity throughout and outside our classroom to showcase their hard work. One idea I have received on how to do this is having a word wall. This is a wall dedicated to current vocabulary words where each student receives a word that they need to find the definition for, part of speech, write a sentence and draw a picture. Once this is completed on a piece of construction paper it is displayed on the word wall. I think this is a great idea to easily display work that they students do and makes them feel that they play a part in the environment of their classroom. The other component to environment in the classroom is the emotional environment that I believe should communicate optimism. For a positive environment I will have many inspiring and relative quotes throughout my classroom. I want my students to feel as soon as they step foot into my classroom that this is a place where they are believed in and supported. I have found many ideas and posters that I would love to have displayed in my classroom. One quote I love is written in the format of a letter from teacher to student that says, Dear student, I believe in you, I trust in you, you are listened to, you are cared for, you are important, you will succeed. Love,

Ms. Weimar. I think this is simple and personal and would explicitly tell my students exactly my feelings toward them. They will always know that I am here for them, not against them, and in case they forget they can read it on the wall. Another quote I found that I feel is very important to display in my class says, If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. This really stood out to me personally because I feel like I had to learn this for myself when it came to my own future and education. I did not learn it until I was a senior in high school. I want my students, at any age, to know immediately that they can become unstoppable when it comes to their education and the depths they can reach in their learning. Community I believe in community in the classroom and it being detrimental to students ability to learn. What is community? It is my students and I working together toward common goals and practicing the ownership of those beliefs. I realize it can be difficult to implement this in a classroom full of high school students that have various different challenges with one another outside of my classroom. However, my hopes would be that inside my four walls we can establish an environment that only promotes encouragement, optimism and support. If I can establish this in the classroom I believe it overflow into their lives outside of my classroom. I think establishing a community can be done in several different ways and that all these ways should be utilized. The goal is to get them to support one another without them realizing it, so that it becomes second nature to them; a way of life that is natural to them and that they become used to. I will try to establish community in my classes by requiring various group-work projects and activities that require them to listen to one anothers opinions and search for answers together. Also, I believe some days require a need for me to break up my lesson plan and allow

for time to work through stumbling blocks amongst my students. For example, I will have a jar full of popsicle sticks with different activities on them and on a day that may be lazy or I feel my students growing weary, I can pull from the activity jar and we might do 20 jumping jacks to get the blood flowing. Another activity includes a talking-game that might ask two people who may not be close friends share what they will do over the weekend with each other. This activity can be incredibly useful on a Friday when students are anxious to leave school, especially when something huge is happening that they are excited about like prom or homecoming. No matter what the activity may be, they are fun and quick to do. These activities promote laughter, team work, conversation, and overall, community. I believe community in the classroom is important because when students are supportive of their peers, kids feel comfortable exploring in the classroom. When students feel they can be open, honest and themselves, they will feel more at ease with asking questions or even helping their peers through the grappling process. I want this kind of environment for my students because each one of them deserves the right to learn in whatever way best suits them. Teaching and Learning I believe teaching and learning are democratic, progressive, active and relative. I believe in democratic learning so that students feel they have a decision in what they learn and how they learn something. I think the best feedback can come from the students because it is they whom we are trying to reach anyway. Students have some great insights on innovative ways to learn new concepts. I believe learning is progressive meaning there is a strong emphasis on collaboration and cooperative learning projects, critical thinking and problem-solving, development of social skills and that education is often best learned through activity and doing. These beliefs will affect every aspect of my teaching methods and strategies because I want to

incorporate as much active learning as possible. This could be group-work, projects, community service or reflections. Teaching the Best Practice Way says: Having thousands of lesson plans in your head doesnt make you a master teacher, either, though it is a common side effect of excellent teaching. Nor do the really top teachers study state curriculum standards as they drive to school each day, stopping at every red light to review a few more benchmarks, targets, or outcomes. No, what truly accomplished teachers possess is a small repertoire of powerful structures that help organize subject matter, time, space, materials, students, and themselves to make learning happen. I think this passage is important in helping teachers realize that it is the structure of a teaching strategy that produces outstanding outcomes. I believe in the power that many creative teaching strategies possess and are capable of. However, I also believe that it is more important how you set up a strategy so that it can yield success with the students. As a teacher, I also believe in personalization when it comes to how I teach. Personalization is one of the 10 Coalition of Essential Schools Common Principles. This principle emphasizes the importance of student and teachers time, choice of learning materials and specific pedagogies. Every lesson plan will be thoroughly detailed in considering all the needs of every student in the classroom and trying to incorporate as many of those needs as possible. I believe personalization also accompanies responsibility. Especially in the high school setting, where teachers work with adults in training, responsibility is an important part of a students ability to learn and make applicable the study. Teaching the Best Practice Way exceptionally states: If we are to restructure big parts of the school day for students to make decisions about their learning, select and explore alternatives, and pursue some of their own interests and goals, then

we have to hold them accountable for finishing the jobs they start, monitoring their own performance, submitting their learnings to public exhibition, critically appraising their own work or artifacts, and making even better choices the next time, as their understanding of the process of inquiry grows. To me, this is perfect for what high school students need in order for them to be responsible for their own learning. As a teacher, I will incorporate these important components into my teaching methods and strategies. Assessment I believe that assessment should measure a students knowledge of a particular subject or concept. When it comes to assessment, there are many different ideas that teachers have and hold true. Using a CES Common Principle as a premise, I believe in a demonstration of mastery when it comes to assessment. This principle is centered around documenting a students progress and results based on performance of real tasks. Believing that assessment should be reflective, there are many different ways to accomplish this; however, I think demonstration of mastery is the superlative way to assess because it gives students the opportunity to explore their ideas, back up their opinions with evidence, and helps them to relate ideas on a personal level. In my classroom, I would like to use portfolios as a key way to assess my students work. Using portfolios is a great way for a teacher to study and analyze the raw materials of students learning. In working folders, students would collect samples of their work such as: rough drafts, polished drafts, brainstorming ideas, drawings, scripts, lyrics, research, graphs, experiments, CDs, recordings, etc. From these large collections, students then select important pieces to include in their portfolio which will be the more formal collaboration of their final project. I like this way

of assessment because it gives students freedom in choosing what they feel is their best work and gives them incentive to improve the work they have already done before I assess the end product. I also like the responsibility factor that this assessment provides because students can explain their thought process to me and describe why they chose the pieces they did and how it affects their project at large. Another form of assessment I will use in my classroom is essay writing. Instead of a big test I might use this form of assessment to understand what my students have learned in class. In an essay I might ask students to explain a concept we have been discussing or reading about and then further explain how that concept is represented in our discussions and readings, and finally ask them to reflect upon their answer. I want to be sensitive to the different ways students express what they have learned, but I feel that essays have many benefits. Essays give students the opportunity to explain their reasoning for a certain opinion or idea and provide the opportunity to practice writing in an organized, thorough and purposeful manner. For smaller units that we cover in class such as vocabulary or grammar, I may decide to assess through smaller percentage quizzes. This is also helpful for students who would rather take a multiple choice or fill in the blank form of assessment for things such as grammar rules. The Role of a Student I began with what I thought was the role of a teacher and would like to close with what I believe the role of a student is in my classroom. A student in my class will learn to use their mind well and will explore exactly what that looks like. I agree, this will look different for every student that enters my classroom. As a teacher, I am prepared and honored to help them figure this out as we move along the course of the school year together. A student in my classroom will

come to appreciate the word together as we work collaboratively to establish a safe environment. When I say safe, I do not mean an environment that we are always comfortable in. No, by safe I mean that our classroom must be a safe place to fail, to take risks and to make mistakes. This was said to me by a teacher who truly believes that we learn best from our failures, and I must say that I have to agree. If you are a student in my classroom, and you have not failed, then I am not doing my job in pushing you hard enough. A student in my classroom will learn to overcome obstacles that perhaps they never thought they would have to face and that maybe no one else thinks they can succeed. But in our classroom, we encourage making the impossible possible. I encourage this because I have seen it done. And if we cannot make it happen, we will accept the mistake and figure out how we can do it better the next time, and the time after that. Every student in my classroom is capable of learning. There is a quote by former President Ronald Reagan which I believe encompasses my feelings toward student success, leadership and responsibility. A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough. Technology Technology is a very useful tool in the classroom. I think employers would be pleased to know that their teachers were implementing the use of technology in the classroom because of how accessible technology is in our world today and how quickly it is growing and advancing. I think the use of technology should be determined by the teacher and students. I want my students to know that I am open to their likes, interests and ideas pertaining to those interests. However, I also need my students to understand that we will only be using those interests for the good of the classroom environment and to further our learning, not for distractions. I think together we can determine how we use technology, what is appropriate for our class, and how often we use it.