Section Five: Teacher Candidate Reflection Guidelines

Introduction
As educators we are taught to reflect on our experiences to improve and grow as an
educator. This is a philosophy which I also personally subscribe to as well. As I begin this final
stage of my formal education as a teacher, I am able to reflect on this part of my journey with a
feeling of satisfaction in the growth I have achieved in fulfilling my goal to become a certified
teacher feeling confident that all three of the TEAC claims have been firmly included in my
pedagogy, having a clear grasp of the subject matter that I am going to teach, aware and able to
teach diverse learners, and am a caring teacher concerned with the success of all my students. I
have learned many new and exciting things and have been able to finely hone my skills in
planning, instruction, and assessment while at the same time developing my philosophy of
education by examining more closely educational pioneers and their theories to contemporary
theorist and evaluating which theories fit my personal philosophy.
Portfolio Project/Teacher Education Learning Experiences
As I reflect on the process of attaining my Master of Education at Medaille College, several
key themes have presented themselves as an integral part of being a highly effective educator.
Planning, instruction and assessment are only a few of the elements that go into effective
instruction. The following are some of the key themes that go into making a highly effective
teacher.
Planning: As a highly effective teacher planning is a foundational skill. It requires me as
the educator to consider many elements besides just the content and delivery. Planning
includes a complete know of the subject material, classroom management strategies
motivation strategies as well as a thorough knowledge of all students abilities and needs.

Effective teachers view classroom management as a process of organizing and

structuring classroom events for student learning. Creating a well-managed classroom
with established procedures is the priority of a teacher the first two weeks of school. In an
elementary classroom where each day may have a different array of subjects and at
different times during the week, an organized classroom management plan is a teachers
most influential and effective tool and is the primary determinant of how well the
students will learn (Harry Wong, 2012).
Instruction: Instruction involves creating a culture of Yet, in a community of learners.
With this framework, I will try to replace an ever increasing fear for mistakes with
mindset of learning and growing from our mistakes. Within this community, I would
foster collaboration in the way I set up my learning environment as well as implementing
cooperative activities within my day plan to strengthen the students skill and confidence
in working collaboratively (Dweck, 2008). Effective instruction reflects the diverse needs
of the students and my ability to differentiate for all students so they enter the learning
task at their just right point is key (Cleveland, 2011).
Learner Accommodation: As discussed earlier learner accommodation is a key element
in developing instruction that aligns with the curriculum standards. Teaching students
with exceptional needs is a reality in every classroom. A key part I believe in planning to
accommodate is ensuring that students take ownership for their learning and are aware of
the strategies that best support their learning. That being said while each of us have a
preferred learning style or modality it is important to challenge the learners to learn using
other styles and modalities. Gardners Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983) are
important to keep in mind, but I believe it is equally important in having a growth
mindset to be open to using and working with other intelligences.

Culturally Responsive Teaching/Diversity: In planning to be a Culturally Responsive

Teacher I try and reflect back to the words of bell hooks speaking of her experiences as a
child attending a school in her early years with all black students the being desegregated.
Almost all of bell hooks teachers were black women who she feels were on a mission.
They were committed to nurturing intellect so that their pupils could become scholars,
thinkers or cultural workers (what she refers to as black folks who used our minds)
(Hooks, 199, p. 199). She decided from very early on that she wanted to become a
teacher and a writer.

When school integration was introduced in the 1960s, bell hooks transferred to an
integrated school that was the complete opposite of her first school. Here she was
confronted with an institution of all-white teachers who she judged were not
interested in transforming the minds of their pupils but simply transferring
irrelevant bodies of knowledge. She writes that the knowledge they were
supposed to soak up bore no relation to how they lived or behaved. Bussed to
white schools, bell hooks recalls, we soon learned that obedience, and not
zealous will to learn, was what was expected of us. Too much eagerness to learn
she regarded as something that could easily be seen as a threat to white authority
(Hooks 199, p. 6b).
These insights have motivated me as caring educator, to ensure that all lesson and
interactions are culturally aware and that diversity in the classroom is celebrated and
cherished as a source of strength and wisdom to be drawn from.

Classroom Management: As I reflect on my past experiences in education working with

the hardest to serve at risk students I have been fortunate to have been mentored by some
extraordinary educators who have had unique skills in classroom management as well as
developing my own skills in this area. We often here educators talking about relationships

with the students is the bedrock for classroom management to occur, and this is very true.
Developing a strong relationship with all your students quickly is so very important, but it
is only part of the solution. Having clear consistent, concrete expectations is another key
factor in effective classroom management. The students need the teacher to exhibit these
qualities (Harry Wong, 2012). But it goes further than that, it also includes cultivating a
community of learners that have a positive attitude about learning and are working to
having a Growth Mindset , seeing success in failure, learning from your mistakes and
having the resiliency to move forward (Dweck, 2008). These are the aspects that I have
not only learned from my time at Medaille but also working as an educator.

Professional Collaboration: A key trait in any educator is the willingness and ability to
work collaboratively with other educators to plan instruction and assessment to ensure
continuity in learning for the students. As an educator I extol the virtues of collaborative
work with the students I have worked with and practice extensively with them at honing
these skills. It only makes sense then that professional collaboration is something I would
do myself. It goes hand in hand with developing a inquiry based culture of learning who
have a growth Mindset (Dweck, 2008). Ron Berger takes this a step further by
highlighting the importance of modelling the behaviour you wish your students to adopt
(Berger, 2003). In my mind professional collaboration is the key to being a successful
teacher.
Professional Development: As a caring educator with a Growth Mindset I understand
the need and desire to continually upgrade and hone my craft. The dilemma however
comes in when I as stated in my classroom management philosophy, the importance of
being consistent and predictable so the students can be successful. Too many disruptions

in routine lead to uncertainty and eventually chaos. This then makes being part of a
community of educators who collaborate regularly and are able to challenge one another
to continually strive for better. This also then puts the onus on myself to seek out
professional development outside of instructional time as well as scribing to educational
journals that support my learning in key areas such as International Literacy Association
(ILA) which offers insight into teaching literacy, The Council for Exceptional Children ,
which offer daily, and monthly newsletters and updates. These are but a few of the
options which I will continue to use to foster my Growth Mindset and Grow
professionally.
Reediness to Become a Teacher
The process of preparing to become a teacher has developed some new and important
skills such as creating an understanding and competency in the use of standards to be the anchor
of my instructional practices but also has honed some existing skills by allowing me to develop a
keener understanding of not only pedagogy but an awareness of how I use it more effectively.
The bedrock for any educator is their ability plan instruction and assessment effectively. As I
have developed these skills, I have also been able to use both New York and Ontario standards
focus and drive my instruction. They have given me a framework to ensure that as I create
lessons that are both differentiated and culturally responsive I dont lose sight of the end goal of
ensuring success for all students. I have also successfully integrated the Action Research method
of problem solving into my repertoire of problem solving strategies. I have used the plan, act
develop, reflect method before but using Action Research has focused my attention more
efficiently on the problem and has honed my research skills in identify solutions to that problem.
Gathering data has always been a relative strength along with plan implementation. So
developing my research skills has only made me a more effective educator.

Using technology in the classroom has never been a tool which in the past used to its
fullest potential, however as I have progressed through my education at Medaille I was given the
opportunity to not only understand its importance in todays classroom, but given the tools and
instruction to become very proficient in its use and rational to use it. I have effectively used
technology to enhance student learning and outcomes by creating interactive lessons in which
students safely navigate the internet within the parameters I have set to research and create a
portfolio on First Nations peoples. As well as being able to take students on virtual trips to
almost any destination to further enrich their knowledge of a subject, for example taking a virtual
tour of an Iroquoian long house at Crawford Lake.
As mentioned earlier, I have also been given the opportunity to further develop my
planning, instructional and assessment skills by developing many lesson plans and receiving
critical feedback from both my peers and instructors. This has allowed me to continue to develop
ways to create and cultivate a Growth Mindset in my students motivating them to take of their
learning and be more engaged. Doing this has also focused my classroom management skills
allowing me to further incorporate classroom management into not only the lesson I teach, but
the classroom culture I am cultivating, a community of caring motivated learners. It is in the
blending of my old and new skills that my success as an educator has happen. I have been able to
more clearly define my educational philosophy as I outlined previously as well as challenging
some long held believes bout education and giving me the opportunity to reflect on them with a
community of peers as well as instructors.
Conclusion
As my time at Medaille draws to a close I realize just how much I have learned and how
developed my teaching skills are. I am both excited and nervous about what lies ahead, but I am

confident that I have been given excellent foundational skills from which to grow from. I firmly
believe that this is not the end of my educational journey and I will continue to build upon these
foundational skills on my way to becoming a master teacher.