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I never ever want to give up on a student. Ever. As a freshman in college, I have a vivid memory of a time when I gave up on myself as a student. When my professor privately called me out on it, I felt something change in me. I knew he saw me and the potential I had, even at 18, when I didn't see it in myself. He didn't give up on me and from that moment on, every time I took a class with him, I gave it my 110% - to the point where he's my favorite professor of all time and we have an excellent rapport. I can definitely call him a mentor and a friend. I'm not saying that my students and I need to have our kind of relationship, but since I know what it's like to give up on myself, I don't want my students to do that. And if they do, I'll be sure to help them see all the potential they hold and encourage them to keep trying.

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Aiden's response to this question was so insightful because it was the same response I received from a teacher who'd been teaching for 30 years. She told me that as soon as you yell at a student or the class, you're going to lose the kids. I'm not someone who gets angry quickly anyway, but knowing how fragile and impressionable my students are, as well as the power I wield in the classroom, yelling or shouting simply isn't an option. I have to leave the classroom if my emotions get too hot to handle in the moment or speak to a student outside 1:1 if they're being too much. I'm very aware that the students who are "acting out" are the ones who need the most attention and love, so yelling at them is not going solve their personal situation. Hopefully, establish classroom expectations will minimize these types of scenarios, but I still know that there will simply be days when we're all just feeling extreme. If I ever get to that point, I owe it to my students to communicate that to them so that if I do have a moment, they'll know it's not directed towards them, it's simply due to something that I've got going on. I think the kids will respect that.

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I'm really in love with the graphic Rahma chose to include on her slide. I think people spend their entire lives trying to find the thing that makes them excited to wake up in the morning, whether that's a profession, person, or experience. I think I'm fortunate enough to have realized that teaching is the thing that I'm excited to devote my life to and when days get hard, I'll try to remember that it's just one day, or maybe even one week. The hard times will pass but how we treat our students, especially if it's negatively, won't. Students remember, and because they remember, I will be as conscientious of my presence in the classroom as much as possible because ultimately, we should be working in the best interest of our students.

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In high school, students are still very much trying to establish their identities and find confidence in themselves. This is a lifelong journey. Helping students find their confidence to answer questions out loud and take responsibility for their learning will be my mission, especially working with ninth grade students. I'll be candid with my students and admit when I'm nervous, which could be either good or bad (hopefully students don't take advantage of that), but I think it could also show that it's okay to be nervous as long as you're taking a chance and being brave enough to participate in life.

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Just like Megan's response, Aiden wanted the teacher to be engaging and not only rely on textbook and lecture-style teaching. He also wanted the teacher to be able to sympathize with their students, which is something that has become important to me since being in this class. I've developed somewhat of a teaching philosophy that students are humans before they're students and therefore, we need to remember that they make mistakes and that our relationship with them, just like any other relationship, should be founded on trust.

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At the beginning of the school year, I will hand out forms to see what kinds of topics and reading material my students might be interested in. In the middle of the school year, I will ask the same question, in addition to asking how students feel about the class and provide suggestions for change. At the end of the year, students can continue to provide suggestions and give constructive criticism about how the class was implemented.

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I don’t necessarily have to celebrate birthdays, but I will simply take some time at the beginning of class to allow my students to discuss highs and lows. Giving space to talk about their personal lives may allow students to process the big, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, things they’re dealing with.

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I will strive to implement experiential learning in my classroom as much as possible, especially with my African American history course. If I'm not as informed on a topic as I should be to teach it, I feel as though I have an obligation to bring in someone to speak to the class that can provide them with the knowledge and expertise that I couldn't. In this way, we all get to experience learning in a new and engaging way.

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From Megan's response, I was really inspired by her point about teachers being the masters of their content areas. When I'm in the classroom, I will strive to better my teaching by continuing to learn about different texts that I can promote to my students, different theories I can apply to my curriculum, and overall, continue to better my skills as an English and African American history professional.

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Rahma insisted on having teachers that were creative and allow their students to be creative. As someone who would consider themselves a creative individual, this is something I will emphasize in my classroom. I'm very willing to try something new, even if it crashes and burns. I think my students will be more appreciative of trying to teach outside the box and potentially failing rather than continuing to teach the way all of their past and present teachers do. I will implement different modes of technology and differentiate as much as possible to provide my students with a multitude of avenues to get to the correct answer and make sure it fits with their style of learning.