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The teacher I aspire to be is authentic. This is one of my largest takeaways from both my classes this year and my field experience. One of the most important things for building quality relationships in the classroom (both student-student and teacher-student) is the mutual understanding of the humanity of all people. When students know that their teachers understand who they are and respect their unique identities, they feel safe and ready to learn. In Textured Teaching, Germán writes, “To teach for social justice, you have to believe that students are worthy of love and respect; my practices should respect your humanity, and by doing so, treat you with love” (7). I think a core prerequisite for a teacher to know their students well enough to support their individual needs is a willingness to be known by their students for who they really are. A teacher who refuses to admit mistakes communicates that they don’t wish for their students to know their flaws. If a teacher doesn’t recognize and model their need for growth, then their students will adopt the same behavior. Furthermore, they will be more opposed to approaching their teacher about their mistakes and need for help. The authenticity of a good teacher welcomes all of their students to share their true selves–mistakes and flaws included–by modeling humility and courage. When students pick up these traits, they are eager to know each other more and know more about the world. An authentic teacher is a role model; an inauthentic teacher is an authority. Students want to follow their role models; they are forced to follow authorities. The learning that comes from curiosity and intrinsic motivation is greater than the learning that comes from fear.

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Teaching Philosophy 2: Lifelong Learning

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Teaching Philosophy 2: Lifelong Learning

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The teacher I aspire to be is a life-long learner. Similar to authenticity, this pillar of my teaching philosophy is all about modeling the behavior I expect out of my students. If I expect my students to read independently and work hard on their assignments, I need to be reading independently and working hard on creating good assignments. One practical way that my mentor teacher did this was by having a daily time set aside for independent reading and low-stakes writing. This allowed the students to have time to practice their reading and writing in a way that did not have intense pressure to succeed or conform. They got to have a choice in what they read and what they wrote. This communicates to students that their personal interactions with literacy are practically important and can benefit them in every area of their lives. The key to this practice was that when the students were reading or writing, my mentor teacher did his own personal reading and his own writing. After the timer ran out, he would share what he read or wrote, and then ask if any students wanted to share. This models how we can share with each other what we are interested in and what we are learning. Additionally, if a teacher is not a consistent reader/writer, they will not grow in their ability to teach. As in any career, teachers should strive to become wise in their field and brilliant at what they do. This requires a learner’s mindset. This is especially pertinent when it comes to culturally relevant pedagogy. Kimberley Parker writes in Literacy is Liberation, “We also need to be thinking about our students, what we know, and what we need to know about them and their communities as we develop our fluency about their experiences, too.” The core of culturally relevant pedagogy is knowing about your students and their communities/experiences in order to best cater instruction equitably. In order to know your students, you must first be eager to learn about them.

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The teacher I aspire to be is clear and confident. This leg of my teaching philosophy is very much focused on the practical. To put it simply, if my students cannot understand what I am trying to communicate, then they won’t be able to learn the content I present. If my wording and planning lead my students to be confused, then my job will be much harder trying to undo the confusion I create. Management in the Active Classroom prescribes, “Practice a confident presence. Be slow, clear, and deliberate in your movements and facial expressions.” An anxious presence will communicate to my students that I may not know much about what I am teaching them–or at the very least that I did not prepare well. If my students assume that I don’t know the content, my credibility as a teacher will be damaged–at least for the day–and my instruction will be less impactful. A “confident presence” on the other hand, communicates that I am well-planned and prepared to share with my students something that I know well. In my field experience, I have noticed that students enjoy learning from people who are passionate and knowledgeable about what they teach. They are much more willing to ask follow-up questions and feel more comfortable asking for help. A “confident presence” makes lectures much more effective too. A bold lecturer demands attention and gives good reasons for students to listen. A grow for me here is my planning. I am very confident in my ability to teach the content and my ability to know specifically what my students need to succeed. Preparing a good lesson/unit in advance, on the other hand, is something I struggle more with. Good planning can make a teacher confident, so I wish to practice my planning more–especially in coming up with ideas for activities.

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Trying to compress my takeaways from my field into 250 words is a difficult task. Rather than list the countless points of application, I will focus here on what I learned from my CP about modeling character. From my first day, my CP spoke extensively on authenticity. His stance was that if your students see you as a shallow person pretending to be their teacher, they will not care to learn anything from you. What reason would they have to follow your leadership if they don’t know if they can trust you? If your care is just an act? In my last week, he suggested that building character and interpersonal skills would be the most important factor in being a truly impactful teacher. The goal is to become someone who your students want to be–someone who is respectful, confident, driven, and loving. Practically speaking, this plays out in a few ways. First, a teacher should be a frequent reader of many genres. They should read to learn about every topic they are interested in and every topic that will be valuable for their life (ie. reading books about public speaking to increase the effectiveness of lectures or reading more fantasy books that could be recommended to fantasy-loving students). This models a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to pursue it. Additionally, some literature is about character-related topics (empathy, boldness, etc.). After learning of what it takes to have good character, teachers need to practice it in the classroom. If students are having bad days, if current events are creating stress, or if the course literature is heart-wrenching, teachers should be on the front line seeking to understand how their students are feeling and expressing genuine care for them. They should rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Similar to how Textured Teaching points out that love is the key to an inclusive classroom and how Management in the Active Classroom points out that a teacher should model expected behaviors at the beginning of the year, being a teacher with good character goes a long way in developing students who are eager to engage, challenge themselves, and learn (both in the classroom and outside of it).

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Hi, I’m Connor. I chose to be an English teacher because I have found recently how important literacy and communication skills are for living happy and productive lives. I never had an English teacher whom I could relate with, and therefore assumed it wasn’t a subject for me. After finding my interest in the subject, I decided that teaching it in a way that engages my whole class would be an excellent goal. I now want to work toward becoming a teacher who is skilled in teaching English to all my students.

I really enjoy nature (as shown in the picture), sports, reading, and spending time with friends.

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"Thank You Ma'am" Lesson Plan (with Maddison Lowery)

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"Thank You Ma'am" Lesson Plan (with Maddison Lowery)

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"Thank You Ma'am" Worksheet (With Maddison Lowery)

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"Thank You Ma'am" Worksheet (With Maddison Lowery)

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"Rules of the Game" Unit Plan (With Maddison Lowery)

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"Rules of the Game" Unit Plan (With Maddison Lowery)

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"Thank You Ma'am" Unit Plan (With Maddison Lowery)

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"Thank You Ma'am" Unit Plan (With Maddison Lowery)