I. Lifelong impact through relationships

Some of the most impactful teachers that I can remember still impact me to this day. I remember how my fourth grade teacher was able to spark my love for writing and reading, even when I did not consider these my strengths in the past. In this same way, I hope to be able to build relationships with my students and impact them in the same way, even if they don't realize it in the moment.

II. Learning of identity

I want students to be able to realize that my classroom is a safe space for them to explore themselves and learn more about the world around them. Just as my teachers allowed me to learn about other cultures and explore my own self-interests, I hope to be able to spark the same for my students. This includes getting exposure to diverse curriculum and being allowed to make mistakes along the way!

III. Joy of technology

As a graduated computer science major, I want to be able to spark a love of technology in my students! Ed-tech is something that is growing in the education industry (which I will go into more detail later). Just as I remember learning how my love of typing and coding started in a classroom, I hope to be able to shape that love for students in some shape or form.

Students will be allowed (and encouraged!) to make mistakes and will not be confined to allow them to grow. Students will also be encouraged to learn more about their own identities and will have responsibilities within the classroom to encourage accountability within the classroom. Lastly, they should come to the classroom ready to learn and have an open mind!

Parents will be encouraged to be ambassadors of their own students! This includes frequent communication between parents, teachers, and staff. Parents will also provide aid in classroom setup and is expected to provide the teacher with feedback and knowledge of their own child.

The teacher will serve as the main ambassador between the parents, students, and staff. It is my job to ensure that communication is handled swiftly and effectively between all parties. In addition, I will work to maintain a positive classroom environment, building relationships with all parties and working to support the needs of each party, as necessary.

Administrators will work to provide feedback as necessary and will work alongside the teacher in any aid regarding students or parents.

Because of this, I want to encourage the same for my students, making it clear that it is a safe space and that they will have the opportunity to grow immensely. Additionally, however, as I have gained experience with children over the years, I have also understood the importance of making expectations clear through consistent communication, as prior experiences with children where I was too nice have led to the downfall of such expectations.

In this way, when selecting curriculum and materials, I will focus on ones that encourage a diverse array of topics, including ones based around identity. Additionally, I will focus on integrating technology into the classroom without overloading students. At a young age, students should still have exposure to technology because it is our world -- that's just the truth. But students should also have exposure to other things too! When considering expectations, evaluation, and community, I want to have communication at the forefront between me and the students and will work to make expectations clear and direct from the start of the school year. I also will work to encourage students and challenge them, working themselves to be their best selves and to grow!

One way I hope to achieve this is by actively working to build student relationships early. On the first week, I hope to give students a survey to learn more about themselves. Additionally, activities where students bring in items from home or talk about themselves will be used so that other students can learn about themselves. This way, talking points can be created as we learn more about the students.

I will also aim to make myself available. If students wish to talk to me after school, I will be available as much as I can. I also encourage students and parents to tell me about outside activities that they are participating in, so that I can cheer them on whenever possible to create a sense of community and support!

At the end of any activity:

1. Students will be expected to clear their desk and clean the area around them.

2. One classroom job will be a teacher assistant, at which point, this assistant would go up to the front of the classroom.

3. The teacher's assistant will call rows (or individual students) to line up if their area is cleaned up.

4. Students will push in their chairs and line up in number order by the door (based on alphabetical last name).

5. The teacher will dismiss all students once they are lined up and quiet.

Students will be allowed to sit wherever they wish on the carpet, but may be required to talk to partners during a time called "Partner Pop!".

If the teacher does a signal or says "pop!", students will be required to turn to a partner near them and conversate about the required topic or complete the required task.

At this point, students may iterate through multiple partners if multiple "pops" are initiated. This establishes consistent communication and will allow students to conversate with new students, since the carpet has free seating. This continues until the teacher calls all students back.

Questions of the day may include silly questions like "What superpower would you have?", but may also include more encouraging ones such as "Say a compliment about the person to your right". Students will then go around the circle and complete the task.

Some affirmations may include "I am strong" or "I am hard-working."

At the completion of this, students will line up by the door and will perform their customized handshake with the teacher before exiting.

1. It appeases to students. Students love technology and will be able to enjoy their education by using something they are used to using at home.

2. It is useful! Building technological literacy for our students such as typing, creating documents, etc. are quite important and builds lifelong skills.

3. It can be more useful than traditional ways. Moving away from the traditional model of whole-group instruction, technology has the rare opportunity to be able to work with all children, as everybody has their own screen and set of instructions. Thus, we can include challenges that are unique for each learner based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Alternatively, if time permits, I want to allow students to learn how to code! This is how I got my start into computer science, and by using programs such as Scratch or Scratch Jr, students can learn how to code video games in a student-friendly way.

In addition, we can allow students, just like with literacy, to learn at their own pace. The beauty of technology is that curriculum can be sped up or slowed based on the technological literacy of the student.

Technology can also build connection by encouraging students to work together at times on the computer and can also build general excitement in the classroom. In my experience, students are always more than happy to work with technology and it can only be beneficial to bring it into the classroom as technology gets introduced to students at such a young age!