EDTE 501

Breanna Dorman-Banks

Frame of Reference

I believe the purpose of education is for educators to transfer knowledge and

skills to help prepare students for the best possible outcome in our society. Nelson

Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to

change the world.” I am there to help them through their development and

academic growth. Doing this, I will have to carry out many responsibilities and

have an adaptive attitude that facilitates all learning. I believe this will require

being observational, approachable, thoughtful, and reflective. I hope to be the

teacher that makes students fall in love with learning. I want to be an educator that

continually keeps growing with learning new strategies and techniques.

Students work best when they are set up for success. It is important for

students to feel they have a connection with me because when a teacher believes in

a student, that is when you will see them shine. I believe I should know each one

of the student’s strengths and stretches and what their goals are for the school year.

It is critical that I stretch all students enough to reach their full potential. For

teachers and students to work effectively together there needs to be a solid

relationship built. They need to feel that they have a comfortable and safe working

environment to express themselves. I would like to develop an inclusive classroom

and I believe I can do this with Reggio Emilia for our learning environment. A

strategy I thought to be very effective was creating a class profile and individual

learner profiles. I have recently learned about Shelley’s Moore’s Who Am I

Profile and think it is a great tool to use when completing a class profile. I believe

this is a method I will carry on in my future teaching. It is a great way to learn

each individual student as well as the class’ strengths and stretches.

All learners are different and it is important that I recognize individual

differences. Learning styles and strategies, interest, motivation, self-efficiency,

beliefs, cultural and social backgrounds and emotion can all play a part in how a

student learns bests. It is crucial to have a learning environment that is adaptable

to each learner and can help them strive to do their best. I need to notice the

students who may need extra help and also pay attention to the students who are

finishing work quickly. Differentiating learning and adaptations will play a

substantial role in developing my inclusive classroom.

I hope to have a professional and effective relationship with my colleagues.

I want to be able to collaborate with them to enrich our learning experience.

Having good connections with my colleagues will be crucial for me to be a great

teacher. When it comes to my students’ parents I would like them to know I am

approachable and always have the best interest for their children. I want them to
be able to come to me for questions or concerns. Having a good system put in

place for ongoing parent communication is important. I will do this through email

or having a class website set up.

I believe classroom management is one of the most important skills in order

to run a smooth and effective classroom. Teachers can use many effective tools

and strategies to have a successful classroom setting. My experience so far with

classroom management has involved clapping, bells or chimes to get the students

attention. I find they respond quickly to this method and I have their attention

right away. Having clear expectations for what is to happen when a student needs

to leave the classroom. An example I have done for this is having a sign out sheet

for the washroom. This is an approach I prefer and will continue to do in my

future practice.

My assessment will be based off of the core competencies, big ideas and the

curricular competencies. I will focus on having summative and formative

assessment in my practice. I want to allow my students to have a voice in their

assessment as well. For example, while doing my practicum I did an assessment

on the Ishi unit I planned. In the assessment, there was a section for students to

answer one question, and then tick off boxes they felt they learned throughout the

unit. All questions were based of the core competencies. This assessment was
also sent home to the parents to look over and keep them informed of their child’s

progress. It is important as stated in the 7 Principles of Learning that, “Formative

assessment should be substantial, regular and provide meaningful feedback; as well

as feeding back to individual learners, this knowledge should be used constantly to

shape direction and practice in the learning environment.”

It is important to me that I foster a safe learning environment where every

student feels included. I will be there to help students through their learning

journey and hope to see them reach their fullest potential.