Ramzie Nielson

Professor Saladino

EDU 201

December 3, 2021

Portfolio Project #12

The teaching profession has interested me almost my entire life. I have always had

extreme respect for teachers and that is a large part about why I decided to become one. Many

teachers inspired me, but my third-grade teacher and my high school orchestra teacher made an

extreme impact on me. They were kind, generous, and they enjoyed helping their students

succeed. I had the opportunity to observe an elementary school teacher and she was an amazing

example of an effective teacher. She was kind and loving, which made her students respect and

listen to her. I have also recently gotten a job as an assistant cheer coach at a middle school, and

that has helped me prepare to become a teacher because I am working with kids in a sport that is

very foreign to them. This is giving me the opportunity to teach, even though it is not curriculum.

However, this is not preparing me for how the school system works. I am not quite sure if I want

to enter the public school or private school sector as a teacher, but I do not know much about

either one of their systems. I think when I do look into that, it will help me decide which one I

would enjoy working in more.

Even though I do not know much about the school systems, I do know what I want to

base my teaching on. I want to pursue a progressivism approach in order to focus on the needs of

my students and their abilities to work together, rather than focusing on my needs as a teacher. I

want to help my students enjoy learning by relating it to them and helping them see the relevance

it has in their lives. I believe that students learn the best when curriculum is centered around their
interests. With that being said, I also want to teach with an experientialism approach because it

supports the idea that students learn when they are engaged in the learning process. Additionally,

the history of education is extremely motivating because it shows that education throughout the

nation is willing to change to meet student needs. I am hopeful that this will continue, and it

gives me confidence in the school system.

The approach to teaching is equally as important as the strategies I will use within my

classroom. I am going to strive to be understanding of my students no matter their background. I

want to engage my students through hands on activities during my lessons in order to help them

retain the information. I will give my biggest effort into including all students and helping them

feel loved, seen, and understood through inclusion in all of the classroom activities. If a student

is not able to perform some of those tasks due to disability, I will try to make variations in order

to give that student equal opportunity. Additionally, when students act out, I will implement

consequences to promote respect in the classroom (whether it is to me or their classmates).

However, I will not allow behavior to interfere with assessments and grading of students. I want

to analyze the material they know and determine what they need help on without comparing

them to other students. I will assess student knowledge by looking at their progress rather than

their rank inside the classroom.

All of these goals and plans cannot be achieved without the qualities a good teacher

should have. To successfully perform in this career, I need to be patient, open-minded, non-

judgmental, and loving to my students and coworkers. With that in mind, I want to continue my

education and finish my degree by 2025. My goal is to get licensed quickly after that and become

a teacher at a private school. As of right now, I want to get my substitute teaching license and

start subbing to gain more experience as I am pursuing my degree. This will help me surely
know if teaching is the right career for me. I am very excited for the rest of my educational

journey.