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In the first paragraph, I was surprised and relieved to read that those who seek teaching, must have observed other teachers. For me this is true. I did not go to college to be a teacher. Working as a behavior management aide, allowed me to work with phenomenal teachers everyday. This experience convinced me to pursue a career in teaching even if I had to take all the tests from the CBEST to CSETs since I am psychology major.

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For me, personal experiences had led me to special education. I do have a younger brother with Down Syndrome. I first worked as a substitute instructional aide at his school and at times in his classroom. He had great teachers and I use the same token economy system that my brother's teacher used.

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I also got into working in special education due to personal experiences. My mom has been a special education teacher aid for 10 years now so I grew up seeing her love for the job and her students. It inspired me to become a SpEd teacher myself. My mom and I actually got to be in the same classroom for part of this summer. I bet working in the classroom with your brother was just as rewarding as working in the classroom with my mom was :)

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I definitely have recognized the influence my own teachers have had on my own teaching style. I think I have taken bits and pieces of every one of my teachers into my own teaching without even realizing it. Being a younger teacher, I believe it will take some time before I truly develop my own unique style of teaching that is fully in alignment with my beliefs.

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I really do agree with you. Other teachers, especially devoted teachers, play a vital role in how we develop our own teaching style. Teaching definitely takes time especially developing a specific style. As we work with other great teachers, we will be greatly influenced in enjoying this profession.

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A teacher's beliefs on what knowledge is important can affect what knowledge they feel is important to teach their students. This means that teachers need to be aware of how they own belief system affects their teaching and how to not let it get in the way of getting the right information to their students. Having content standards helps make sure every teacher has a guide to teach their students the essential information regardless of their beliefs. Nonetheless, a teacher's personal beliefs still affect the way they teach.

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I believe a teacher's beliefs affect the way they teach a classroom which can be a negative and positive thing. When teachers feel a connection to the content they are teaching, they are more likely to be passionate about making sure the students are able to grasp the material. However, if a teacher feels that the information/content does not align with their beliefs and therefore believes it is unimportant to teach it, this can be harmful to the students. Students can be left without the opportunity to make up their own opinion on the information based on their own beliefs. Teachers need to make sure they keep their teaching neutral when they don't agree with the material because the students deserve the opportunity to learn it regardless of their beliefs.

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Teachers beliefs about students abilities can affect the achievement outcomes of those students. I've had a teacher who started the semester by saying "Lower your expectations now because people rarely get an A in my class". After hearing this on the first day of class, I made it a point to try to get an A. I took it as a reason to try even harder to get an A. The teacher took her experience with other students and applied it to her new class by saying we wouldn't be able to get an A. However, I was able to get an A along with other students in the class.

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Teachers really do play a major influence in creating high expectations for their students. If a teacher comes off intimidating, the students will feel the same. Hearing that quote on the first day of class really is intimidating. If it was not for my hard working mentality, I probably would have given up during my undergrad. I feel this may cause students to be afraid of asking for help to succeed. Nothing against this teacher because I had professors like this, but I know I performed better when I professor less intimidating but maintained expectations high. A lot of positive feedback and reinforcement helped with the dwelling of work that had to be completed.

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Being the middle child in my family, I had many teachers who also had my older siblings. I believe each teacher held different expectations of me depending on which sibling they knew before me. At times it was very frustrating to hear things like "Cmon, your sister could have done it". I understand that teachers are humans just like everyone else, but now that I am a teacher I try my best not to make those comparisons between siblings. I believe every individual is capable of different things and should be supported in their unique strengths and needs.

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I have to say I feel the same way because I am a middle child as well, and I had the same experience as you. It does make me more mindful as well now to not do the same. We are each an individual person, and we like to hear our own accomplishments and successes. Nothing against our amazing siblings because I do enjoy hearing how great they are, but we do deserve to be noticed for our individuality as well.

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Teachers need to me mindful of the explicit and implicit messages they send to their students in order to avoid creating self fulfilling prophecies about student ability. Teachers often make assumptions about what students are capable of based on their background (cultural, financial, etc). This can be very harmful to the students as it puts a limit on them before the teacher truly knows what they are capable of. To avoid this, teachers need to be warm and welcoming to every student and give them the tools they need to succeed.

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Teachers should not be afraid of being themselves in the professional setting. They cannot help that they believe what they believe. However, they must know when to separate their beliefs and what their job calls for. For example, even though they might not feel like a topic is worth teaching, they should be able to recognize that it can be extremely important to another group of individuals and therefore should give it the same effort and attention in the classroom. A teacher can bring a lot of unique positive things to a classroom based on their beliefs, but they must ensure that they do not take away from their students learning opportunities even if it is unintentional.

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I do agree with Lortie that beliefs and knowledge are similar. I know for me my beliefs have helped me with components that help me with classroom management and being consistent with my classroom management. My belief in being held accountable for actions is important because it teaches students to be responsible for their actions which leads to having self-control of their own emotions.

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I agree with Lortie that one my beliefs are to push my students to be the best they can be. I want my students to be productive members of society but also become lifelong learners. I will do this by holding my students accountable and motivating them to push themselves to learn.

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I also strive to make my students productive members of society as well as lifelong learners. I think I strive to do this because of my own experience with teachers and what my parents taught me growing up. My parents taught me that school is made to prepare me to participate in the real world one day which is what I want my students to be able to do.

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Lortie mention something that reminded me of Patch Adams. The book tells us teachers we need to be professional with our students which makes it challenging to build proper rapport with our students. Patch Adams went above and beyond when it came to learning about his patients, and I see myself doing the same with my students in going above and beyond to get to know them and build a relationship with them. I do have secret handshakes with each of my students and all the handshakes are different.

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This quote, " What educators need to be encouraged to do is honestly face their beliefs in their entirety, evaluating which beliefs serve them, their content, and their students and which do not," reminded me of the assignment of self-reflection. I feel in order for this quote to come to life, I have to be true to myself when I am self-reflecting. I need to really evaluate which of my beliefs are important for me to keep and model in the classroom and which beliefs I need to keep at home for my personal life.

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First and foremost, I feel it is important for us teachers and educators to have an open mind and be willing to be vulnerable to see what is needed to change. This will allow us to always self-reflect to see what kind of growth is needed for the classroom so students can thrive and learn. Every student is indeed different and as a teacher I cannot be complacent and try the same thing with every student. I need to be willing to put in the effort to connect with each individual student to meet each of their own needs.

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I completely agree with this. As teachers it is easier to repeat habits each year regardless of whether or not it is meeting each students needs or not. We can say things to ourselves like "Its worked in the past, so I'm sure it'll be fine". This is a mindset that will not allow each student to have access to the tools to succeed. Us teachers need to be willing to break habits to make sure every student it capable of succeeding.