Going into the Belize trip I did not have any specific goals.

I know how this sounds, how

could you possibly not have any goals joining a student teaching trip where you go into another
country? The only thing on my mind at the moment of signing up for the trip was that this was a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You get to see the country, its inhabitants, the school system, and
do fun activities as a bonus. Why wouldn’t you want to go? I guess you could say the only goal I
had was to observe and enjoy my time.
Along the way, I started to realize my goals were more specific. I got matched up with a
male teacher who I could learn from. I honestly was nervous to meet him as he looked very
serious but then realized he is a very nice, open, funny, and caring individual. I didn’t just get the
opportunity to observe and learn from him but we got the opportunity to learn from each other
which was more than I could have asked for. My goals evolved and turned from something
vague to more concrete. The first, improve your classroom management skills. The second, learn
how to embrace your personality as a teacher. These were my main two goals, I had other
smaller objectives such as learning every day but these goals were the most concrete and
everything else was just a bonus/learning opportunity.
These two goals were always a struggle for me. Classroom management has always been
so tough for me as it usually combined with my second goal. I did not know who I wanted to be
as a teacher. Did I want to be that nice/funny teacher, the caring parental figure, the strict teacher
who students don’t want to mess with, or other teachers that I have witnessed in the past? This
was always so hard for me, and the question of who I am or wanted to be as a teacher always
tormented me. I simply did not know.
Then I met Mr. Robelvi. I got the opportunity to work with him in his Standard 6
classroom and he opened my eyes to who I could be. I’ve always tried to imitate teachers I have
worked with or observed in the past when I was present in their classroom but that was always so
difficult. My personality has shown at moments otherwise I feel I was always trying to be
someone who I wasn’t. From the composed and quiet Mr. Bruna who has incredible control over
his class to the amazing Mrs. Ebert whose expectations and “teach to their heart” method has let
her have fun but control over her class. I simply could not be these people.
Once I realized this and got the privilege to see Mr. Robelvi teach it started to click. He
did all these things while also having fun with his class. They laughed together and also worked
together. He stopped the class before it got too out of control by simply raising his hand and I
loved this. I could never get into the rhyming or Simon says attention getters. I still used them on
occasion with lower grades but found this one a quick and effective recall. When he would have
fun with his students he would joke with them and laugh with them, and I never really saw
teachers do this that much, but combined with his recall he could. A student would bring
something up and he would turn it into a teaching moment, or they would simply have a laugh as
long as it wasn’t at the expense of another student. They would talk about it for a little, but as
soon as the students started to get louder than him he stopped talking and waiting or raised his
hand. They knew what to expect from him.
I know this all sounds pretty obvious, be firm but fair. This always troubled me as I feel I
can be a pushover and struggle with holding students to expectations as I can be forgetful or just
don’t think of it much at the moment. All that I mentioned in the previous paragraph has taught
me to respect myself more. You can have fun and be yourself, but don’t let the students talk over
you. The more you let this happen the more you lose their respect. Have high expectations for
their learning and show them that you can learn and have fun at the same time but not at the cost
of the respect you should have for yourself. The respect you have for yourself should never
waver and always be constant. This should also be present for the students as well. They should
respect themselves and their classmates.
Having respect in all forms is the main theme of my educational philosophy. Although I
will say my educational philosophy before this trip was very similar to my goals, vague. Coming
out of the trip I realized I had an educational philosophy without realizing it, along with I have
added to it immensely. The main parts of my educational philosophy were reconstructionism,
behaviorism, and existentialism. The parts I have added are progressivism and perennialism. I
know these are all individual philosophies but I take from each of them in my own way.
Reconstructionism and existentialism were always philosophies that were really
important to me. Developing students who can make educated decisions on what would be best
for society. Everyone is always thinking of themselves but I want students who view the bigger
picture and are more conscious of how they, even as individuals, can make an impact. I know
this can be extremely difficult and is a huge task to take on, especially during student teaching,
but I will have a lot of years to improve upon my approach. After having the opportunity to
witness Mr. Robelvis's class and think about my experience, I have concluded that it all comes
down to respect. If the students respect you they will listen to you. And if they respect
themselves and others equally, they will make individual decisions that can make an impact.
Whether this be at home, in the classroom, or in everyday situations.
Behaviorism goes with reconstructionism and existentialism as well. If the students
respect themselves and respect others it will help them handle behaviors. And if they can handle
their behaviors they will also have respect for themselves and others. It goes hand and hand.
Managing behaviors in a class can be one of the most difficult things to master and you are
always learning as no one kid is the same. Using what I have learned on this trip has helped me
to realize that to manage behaviors you have to have patience and respect toward yourself and
your students. Why should I let this student's behavior go unchecked or unrewarded? If I respect
myself and my students I should modify or reward their behavior. If their behavior is bad I
shouldn’t just put up with it and say it’s fine. Find out why they are doing this, read the subtitles,
and modify their behavior. This is simply having respect for yourself and your student and it
took me the two weeks we were on the trip to realize this. I was lacking respect for myself and if
I couldn’t respect myself how can I respect the students? One day it just clicked. To respect
myself and to respect the students enough to modify behaviors when they are being difficult, but
also to reward them when they are being good.
The two philosophies that I didn’t think I would work on throughout this trip were
perennialism and progressivism. I feel like these two are usually pretty obvious as you do this
every day in the classroom. In Belize, it was taken to a whole different level. With perennialism
you had to utilize any book you could. Whether this be a book you already had or going to the
library on your own or with the students and finding a book that aligned with what you were
working on last minute. Researching yourself or having them research using whatever they
found. Utilizing any sort of material to its max extent. There were also no answer keys at all, so
you had to learn by doing as well.
Progressivism was also tested as I previously mentioned you had to figure out the
answers yourself. You learn a lot while teaching but thinking of the answers while the students
worked and questioning which one is right in a multiple-choice question was very new to me. To
think on the spot and learn while doing was taken to a whole new level. Mr. Robelvi and I would
discuss which one we thought was the correct answer on multiple occasions, I would also do this
with the students at times as well. Constantly learning while doing and using your critical
thinking skills, whether this was from the book, or for a science project that went from a 4-day
project to a 2-day. The students had to quickly think about how to collect energy while making
their project. Instead of getting a day to think, a day to work, a day to ask questions, and a day to
present. They got a day to think, and then a day to work and present as the schedule changes last
minute.
Everything I had was tested in Belize. From my patience with being with 7 girls, to my
goals, and my educational philosophy. That being said, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. There
were times I was frustrated, mad, happy, and sad. I had to deal with a variety of emotions, but I
came out as a better person. I am more than thankful I decided to go on this trip and have
improved professionally as a teacher and individually as a person because of this. I learned to
respect myself and respect others because of that, this will allow me to teach my students the
same thing. That if you respect yourself you will respect others. Once you have these two things,
you can make the decisions that will impact yourself, and others in an amazing way. I can’t
thank Mr. Robelvi enough for welcoming me into his classroom and helping me realize who I
wanted to be as a teacher.