One goal I will work toward during my first year as a teacher is being firm, yet kind, and being consistent with consequences. I have learned that teachers must have respect from students. However, teachers must give that respect back to students. Teachers can do this by providing students with expectations and the consequences that will occur when expectations are not met. Then, teachers must implement those consequences consistently. Teachers must correct the bad behavior and follow through with the consequence immediately. Otherwise, the management system will not work. The students will know that consequences are not always implemented; therefore, they will not take expectations seriously. I have witnessed this myself in my teaching. After reflecting on teaching, I realized that I have been inconsistent with expectations and consequences. Therefore, the students do not follow my directions. I have found that it is helpful to remind students of the expectations and give them a chance to correct their behavior before giving a consequence. It’s important to provide students with the choice to change their behavior. Students need to feel that they are in control of their choices. I believe that students respect teachers more when they are given a choice instead of being told what to do. Overall, I need to remember to be firm, yet kind, and consistent with consequences. Sometimes, I will be too firm and implement consequences very often. Other times, I will be too kind and let students get away with misbehavior without a consequence. Therefore, I want to balance being firm and kind during my first year of teaching.
Another goal I have for myself is to use positive reinforcement and extrinsic motivation during instruction. I thought that students should be more intrinsically motivated before this semester. Now, I realize that students are not as intrinsically motivated as I thought. My students need positive reinforcement and extrinsic motivation. I try to be positive it is more motivating to students than being negative. I have seen my students shut down and stop working when I am negative. However, my students believe in themselves and persevere through schoolwork when I use positive reinforcement. Also, I always looked down on extrinsic motivation, but now I see the value in it. I have found that extrinsic motivation actually fosters intrinsic motivation. I have seen the students work very hard as individuals and as a class through the use of extrinsic motivators. I have seen extrinsic motivators foster teamwork and a classroom community. I think it’s important for students to work together towards a common goal, even if there is a reward involved. I encourage my students to work as a team and give positive praise to one another. Students need to learn how to work together, and extrinsic motivators can foster that collaboration. Overall, I want to work towards using positive reinforcement and extrinsic motivation during my first year as a teacher.
Additionally, I hope to create engaging and meaningful lessons during my first year of teaching. Recently, all of my students passed their science outcome assessments! I am so proud of them for working hard and proud of myself for providing quality instruction! I have never seen my entire class pass an outcome assessment for a unit I taught. Therefore, I was shocked at their scores and reflected on why they were so high. I realized that my students did well because I planned engaging lessons and activities. The students sang songs, made a cloud painting, made a water cycle bracelet, watched video clips, made flip books, worked with partners, made graphic organizers, and played games to review content. The students were engaged in instruction, and the activities were meaningful to them. Also, I constantly assessed students for misconceptions. I reflected on my lessons using the assessments. Then, I adapted my lessons to address misconceptions. I had to put in a lot more work to plan lessons and assess students, but the work paid off. The students aced the assessment, and they still share connections they find about the content. I want to create more engaging and meaningful lessons during my first year of teaching. I want my students to enjoy learning and actively make meaning during my instruction. Therefore, I will continue to reflect on my lessons to make them more engaging and meaningful for students.
Finally, I hope to become a more reflective teacher during my first year of teaching. I have learned the importance of reflecting my teaching practice through my weekly reflections. Therefore, I want to continue to reflect during my teaching career. I learned that I become a better educator when I reflect on my practice. I become more aware of student understanding when I reflect on my instruction. Therefore, I know how to adapt my instruction to better meet the needs of my students. Also, reflecting on teaching has helped me become aware of how I am growing and how I can continue to grow as an educator. I am more aware of my strengths and weaknesses when I reflect on my practice. I notice which instructional or management strategies are working well, and which ones I need to change. Some strategies or activities I used may not have been effective, and I need to change them. Some students may not have understood a concept, and I need to find another way to help them understand it. I would not be able to do any of these things if I did not reflect on my teaching. Therefore, I believe it is important to reflect on my practice to understand the effectiveness of my instruction.