Chapter 14: Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program--and Beyond

1. My concerns about becoming a teacher include whether I will be effective enough and able to explain the material to my students in a way that will engage them, and give them an interest in learning. I also worry if I will be able to get the students to respect me as a teacher, and if I will be able to manage and organize the classroom well. Lastly, I am concerned that I will be too ambitious and that I will not be able to fit in all the material in the limited amount of time I have with the students.

2. My concerns mainly fall under the “Task” category.  Most of my concerns were grounded in the physical act of teaching, as well as time management. Some of my concerns were “Impact” concerns, but I feel as though as a whole, they could be traced back to questioning whether I could teach and do the job well. The stage of “Management” was most present in my list of concerns. I am concerned with efficiency, time management, as well as organizing and managing in the classroom.

Chapter 13: Improving Teachers and Schools, and School Reform

            After reading this chapter, there are a few things that I would like to add to my resume to make it stronger. Before I graduate, I would like to attend a teacher-training workshop or volunteer in a classroom to learn more about effective methods of managing and organizing a classroom. I would want to do this before I graduated so that I could apply the learned and observed methods during my student teaching to learn what methods worked for me, and I believe it would look good on my resume, as I would have hands on experience. I would also like to attend a seminar or workshop based upon integrating technology into the classroom, to show that I am capable of intertwining different methods and styles of teaching to address all of my students’ needs.

            Following graduation, I would want to take advantage of professional development opportunities, to give me other perspectives and ideas about teaching, while keeping me learning at all times. I would also like to pursue a National Board Certification, as it would push me to continue to become a better teacher, even after I got a job and as doing well. Lastly, I would like to encourage and perhaps attempt to integrate a site-based decision making process into the school I work at, as it brings decisions and actions closer to the students and away from government officials.