Teacher Thoughts

            I am eternally grateful for my student internship. I have been able to experience the highs and lows in the classroom while also having some sort of impact on each of my students. As I’m nearing the end, my students tell me every day how they don’t want me to leave. It’s bittersweet as I’m excited to have my own classroom next year, but I will miss seeing them every day. I’ve even had a few success stories along the way and the “lightbulb moment” is what I live for in the classroom. I feel at my best when I am able to provide analogies for a difficult topic and having my students say, “wow, I get it now!” My action research project has paved the way for me as it focused on analogy-based teaching and I have seen the positive impact it has made on my students.             I have worked with many students one-on-one during my lunch or after school th...

Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is a framework that rests on three notions: academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness (Escudero, 2019). To be a culturally relevant educator, you must acknowledge that all three notions work together and that it’s something that just can’t be added to instruction. Gloria Ladson-Billings is the voice of CRP, and I had to conduct further research to fully understand what CRP embodies. Thankfully, Barbara Escudero broke it down in an article on Teach for America. Barbara (2019) states that academic achievement rests on student learning and academic rigor while cultural competence is the knowledgebase of one’s culture and the culture of others, and lastly, sociopolitical consciousness deals with current events and individual empowerment to make change happen. CRP is a framework that encompasses a way of being and thinking that then changes to a way of doing.        ...

Carol Dweck and her theory of Growth Mindset has played a major role in my teaching philosophy and my role as a student. When I first started the MAT program at Stevenson University Online, I did not know what to expect. Furthermore, I didn’t know what to expect with my classroom field experience and I was worried that I would be a bad teacher. I mean, I had zero teaching experience and just 1 year down of graduate school so could you blame me for being worried? However, practicing a growth mindset and believing the idea that with time and through trial and error, I will be a good teacher. The affective domain is important in taking into account how students learn and coupling that with a growth mindset enables students to flourish in the classroom by putting forth effort. As I’m ending my internship, I feel absolutely confident in my abilities to effectively educate students in STEM pedagogy and figure out ways that will enhance their learning.    ...