Career Choice:

I hope to become a bilingual educator and want to work with English and
Spanish-speaking students in elementary grades. After seeing my wifes passion for
teaching and how much joy it brought her, the love for the career was contagious. I
helped her with her classroom and in her after school activities and really enjoyed
working with the students. My ideal grade to work with is fourth grade. I feel like the 910 year-old age range would benefit from my experience and style of learning. My
personal reason for choosing the teaching profession is to give back to society and
have a positive influence on the future generations to come. Teachers have the ability to
motivate students to become interested in a subject such as math or science. Teachers
can also instill a strong sense of social responsibility. So much more than the facts
written in textbooks will be taught to students. Students will learn to think critically and to
develop problem solving skills that will benefit them in all aspects of life. If I can be a
positive and motivating teacher I believe my students will become successful adults and
can achieve anything they set their minds to.
The Teaching-Learning Process:
The teaching theory that stood out to me the most that I will use in my classroom
is that of the constructivists. Vygotskys zone of proximal development and scaffolding
will help me teach to a level that is just beyond the students capabilities. Teachers can
facilitate the problem solving skills that will be necessary to complete an assignment
and students will be able to build upon their previous knowledge. I imagine that as long
as I can keep students interested and engaged they will be able to succeed through this
method of teaching.
Classroom Management:
Dreikurs theory of social discipline and his belief on implementing logical
consequences is how I plan on managing my classroom. Dreikurs gives many reasons
for why a child will act out and the most important action to take is to speak to the child
in a calm and logical way while helping the child determine what his or her appropriate
behaviors should be. This can be done by writing out goals or teaching students to think
empathetically. I hope to never raise my voice at students as to create a positive
classroom atmosphere where all students feel comfortable to learn (Soheili, p. 442).
Professional Development:
I hope to continue my professional development in a few different areas. Since I
will be teaching in a bilingual classroom I would like to learn about as many resources
and strategies for working with bilingual and ELL students. Since I have little experience
in the classroom I hope to continue to develop classroom management styles and how
to engage diverse student populations.
Some of the most helpful professional developments I have attended this year
are content-specific trainings. Many of the math, science, and language arts trainings
have provided me with a different teaching perspective and many invaluable resources.

I think it is important to continue to develop my knowledge base in all content areas to

provide the best learning experience for my students.
My Philosophy
Many people choose to teach and there are many different reasons one would
want to do so. Within teaching there could be job security, a love of a subject matter, a
desire to work with children, and an interest in being a lifelong learner among other
common responses. My personal reason for choosing the teaching profession is to give
back to society and have a positive influence on the future generations to come. I am
currently in my first year of teaching and my philosophy and practice as a professional
educator has changed some over the course of this internship. One of my biggest areas
of growth was understanding that I have to meet the needs of each of my students and
teach them on their level. I have learned to provide varied levels of activities and
materials to best suit each students needs. This has been a struggle as it requires a lot
of hard work to find materials in English and Spanish that are in the zone of proximal
development for each student. This has added to my teaching philosophy that each
student needs to be provided with appropriate stimuli in order to be a successful
learner. Vygotskys theory of the zone of proximal development has influenced this
change in my teaching philosophy, but I believe it adds to my philosophy that all
students can be successful learners if given the appropriate instruction (Harland 2003,
265).
I have worked with children in my previous profession of foster care and I really
enjoyed spending time with them and educating them in a less formal way about life
lessons. This could be discussing a behavior plan for school, or saving money from
chores to purchase a vehicle. Much of the time I would have life discussions with the
foster children while I provided transportation to a court hearing or doctors appointment.
Working in foster care was very emotionally draining. This was mostly because of the
previous abuse that the children had come from and were beginning to learn how to
cope. I imagine that teaching has some similarities because there are children from all
backgrounds in each classroom that a teacher will get to know on a personal level. I
really enjoyed the opportunity to build up and encourage the foster children I worked
with in hopes to get them excited about what life has to offer and to strive for excellence
in all aspects of life. Personally, teaching will allow me to continue to build up students
to be mentally, emotionally, and socially prepared for success and will allow them to aim
high with their life goals and aspirations.
Over the past 2 years I have met a number of teachers and have had the
opportunity to get an inside look at the profession. Most of the teachers I have met are
teaching in elementary or middle school grades. My wife is one of those teachers and
she will be beginning her third year as an elementary music teacher. What I have heard
from the majority of them is that there is a sense of excitement and ownership that

comes along with being a teacher. Everyone knows that teaching can be very difficult
and there will always be times that are emotionally stressful, but what I continue to hear
from them are all the success stories and how rewarding it is to work with children.
I believe that teachers are proud of the opportunity and the responsibility they
have to educate the future of America. Many of my teacher friends are motivated to
provide the best education possible because they want their own children to receive it. I
believe teachers consider themselves highly trained and have a desire to continually
improve their teaching methods. During this internship year of teaching I have seen that
this is true. Many of my coworkers chose the teaching profession because of their love
of education and working with children. Many of these same coworkers have also said
that it is only that desire that drives them to continue rather than the pay or other
benefits.
I believe that all students have the potential for success. With the proper direction
and encouragement students will take co-ownership of their education and can
participate in setting goals for themselves on an ongoing basis. I believe that students
can overcome hurdles that others might be too quick to say are those students limit. In
my experience this year I have worked with several students who are in fourth grade but
reading at a second grade level. Although they are behind academically, I have seen
that when they receive the proper instruction they can keep up with their classmates
and be successful as well. It is my job as their teacher to see their potential while
providing the structure and resources they need.
I believe that classrooms should be a safe place where children can feel
comfortable enough to express themselves and use creative thinking. This means a
classroom that is free of ridicule from other students and a teacher who will demonstrate
respect to all students and ask that students give respect in return. I also believe that
classrooms should be structured with the teachers classroom management plan to
allow for the maximum learning to occur. Eriksons theory of psychosocial development
oulines the normal stages of development for children at different ages. His ideas also
imply that when a childs needs arent met that child will not be able to progress at the
normal rate. For this reason, I think it is very important for a teacher to be a safe and
nurturing adult that helps children in their development (Karkouti 2014, p. 258).
Overall I am very excited about beginning a profession in teaching. I enjoy
working with children and believe that I can be a positive influence to them. I hope that
someday a student will look back and say that I had encouraged him or her to achieve
great things.

References
Harland, T. (2003). Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Problem-based
Learning: linking a theoretical concept with practice through action research.
Teaching In Higher Education, 8(2), 263-272.
Karkouti, I. M. (2014). Examining Psychosocial Identity Development Theories:A
Guideline for Professional Practice. Education, 135(2), 257-263.
Soheili F., Alizadeh H., Murphy J., Bajestani H., Ferguson E., (2015). Teachers as
Leaders: The Impact of Adler-Dreikurs Classroom Management Techniques on
Students' Perceptions of the Classroom Environment and on Academic
Achievement. Journal Of Individual Psychology;71(4):440-461.