My teacher professional growth plan
Creating an open classroom that harvests originality, innovation and diversity is my long-term goal as a teacher. I hope to use my gift of empathy in order to create a comfortable environment in which my students may feel at ease with their peers and instructors in order to facilitate group learning and socialization at school.
I realize that, in order to attain this goal, I will be required to epitomize my role as a lifelong learner and acquire newfound insight into the teaching of various cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. In the future, I hope to implement this sense of open-mindedness and acceptance into my classroom, especially in regards to cultivating an affinity for the French culture within my bilingual classroom.
Support
To attain these goals, I am hoping to seek mentorship from the teachers I have observed as successfully implementing open-minded classrooms. I shall mention these teachers below.
Coming from small town Saskatchewan, I was raised in a primarily Caucasian society and school system; I therefore seek to gain more knowledge of Middle-Eastern cultures and religions. I hope to seek support through works such as Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader, which we have used in our Diversity in Learning course. I believe that an understanding and curiosity of other cultures cultivates an open mind to different ethnic backgrounds and religions. Through participation in events like World Hijab Day (during which I had to sport the traditional Muslim headdress for a day in support of religious diversity), I shall gain insight into the cultural diversity of my students.
Expected Results
Creating an open classroom environment requires continual passion and diligence; with each new class, one must “start from scratch”. Through use of my empathy and honesty, I hope to continually learn from my students by making them comfortable with speaking from an unaltered, raw perspective. I want students to think for themselves, and in order to achieve a deep sense of community, I need to personally model the acceptance, honesty and trust I hope to inspire within my students. The results are dependent on the particular students and their engagement.
Specific Objectives for my Future Teaching Path:
Objective #1 – The Importance of Classroom Introductions
For my first week of classes, I hope to leave the curriculum aside in lieu of developing interpersonal relationships between my students, their classmates, and myself. In high school, a teacher of mine sacrificed the first class to have each student respond to a sixty-part questionnaire so that he might learn more about the students, but I believe it is crucial for all students to get to know one another. I realize that most teachers agonize over having enough time to complete the curriculum, but I believe that effective time management can be implemented throughout the semester in order to make it so that each students can achieve the following in the first week of classes:
1. A gained sense of self – Students will spend time on individual projects associated with their personal preferences, aptitudes and hobbies, allowing them to relish in their talents and give an opportunity for them to discuss themselves with others (many children have problems communicating their true selves).
2. A gained sense of community – Students will spend time doing “Icebreaker” activities in order to better know their classmates. Various pairings, groupings, discussions and activities will be implemented throughout the week to give students the opportunity to talk individually with each classmate.
3. A lack of school-associated stress that could diminish the aforementioned development.
Final Outcome
Students will have gained crucial insight into their own uniqueness as well as that of their peers, allowing them to develop close relations that will facilitate learning at a later level. If students are more comfortable with one another, they are more open to classroom sharing, group work and asking questions.
Objective #2 – Implementing Random Acts of Kindness
My second objective is to recreate my adolescent experience with U.R.O.C.K. (yoU Reaching Out to Create Kindness)—a volunteer organization within my high school whose mission was to implement random acts of kindness into their daily lives. The program was developed by two of my favourite teachers in high school who embodied the gifts of patience and generosity. Children within the group would meet for one lunch hour every second week in order to plan events to encourage happiness, whether it be by paying for someone’s Tim Horton’s, baking cookies for other classmates’ birthdays, or creating a community compliment board on which students can write public compliments and thank-yous to their peers.
When students work for one another, they create social bonds and a sense of community that fosters positivity, acceptance and open-mindedness.
Support needed
I would require the support of my principal and colleagues in order to organize this kind of group; I believe student organizations should be “team-taught” to discourage personal bias and agendas. I would also require the participation and support of students.
Timeline
I will use student discussion and sharing in order to evaluated the group’s objectives and their outcomes. The program shall be adjusted as needed, and as innovated by the students.
Objective #3 – Creative Sharing and Differentiated Learning
I hope to integrate differentiated instruction within my classroom programming in order to harvest students’ sense of creativity, discovery and innovation. In high school, my French teacher allowed us to give a book report using any kind of medium; as a result, I sung a song to the class and my friend created a six-level Super Mario-esque video game.
I believe students should be given open-ended questions and options in order to facilitate “thinking outside the box” and cultivate each student’s unique gifts.
Overall, I believe that the above objectives compose a philosophy encouraging a strong sense of originality, innovation and diversity within my future classroom. I hope to aspire children to seek discovery, while simultaneously learning about themselves, about each other, and about the world around them. I must
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward[1]
Respectfully submitted,
Renée Digout
University of Calgary
Faculty of Education – Bachelor of Education/Arts Student
[1] Extracted from http://www.quotegarden.com/teachers.html
I realize that, in order to attain this goal, I will be required to epitomize my role as a lifelong learner and acquire newfound insight into the teaching of various cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. In the future, I hope to implement this sense of open-mindedness and acceptance into my classroom, especially in regards to cultivating an affinity for the French culture within my bilingual classroom.
Support
To attain these goals, I am hoping to seek mentorship from the teachers I have observed as successfully implementing open-minded classrooms. I shall mention these teachers below.
Coming from small town Saskatchewan, I was raised in a primarily Caucasian society and school system; I therefore seek to gain more knowledge of Middle-Eastern cultures and religions. I hope to seek support through works such as Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader, which we have used in our Diversity in Learning course. I believe that an understanding and curiosity of other cultures cultivates an open mind to different ethnic backgrounds and religions. Through participation in events like World Hijab Day (during which I had to sport the traditional Muslim headdress for a day in support of religious diversity), I shall gain insight into the cultural diversity of my students.
Expected Results
Creating an open classroom environment requires continual passion and diligence; with each new class, one must “start from scratch”. Through use of my empathy and honesty, I hope to continually learn from my students by making them comfortable with speaking from an unaltered, raw perspective. I want students to think for themselves, and in order to achieve a deep sense of community, I need to personally model the acceptance, honesty and trust I hope to inspire within my students. The results are dependent on the particular students and their engagement.
Specific Objectives for my Future Teaching Path:
Objective #1 – The Importance of Classroom Introductions
For my first week of classes, I hope to leave the curriculum aside in lieu of developing interpersonal relationships between my students, their classmates, and myself. In high school, a teacher of mine sacrificed the first class to have each student respond to a sixty-part questionnaire so that he might learn more about the students, but I believe it is crucial for all students to get to know one another. I realize that most teachers agonize over having enough time to complete the curriculum, but I believe that effective time management can be implemented throughout the semester in order to make it so that each students can achieve the following in the first week of classes:
1. A gained sense of self – Students will spend time on individual projects associated with their personal preferences, aptitudes and hobbies, allowing them to relish in their talents and give an opportunity for them to discuss themselves with others (many children have problems communicating their true selves).
2. A gained sense of community – Students will spend time doing “Icebreaker” activities in order to better know their classmates. Various pairings, groupings, discussions and activities will be implemented throughout the week to give students the opportunity to talk individually with each classmate.
3. A lack of school-associated stress that could diminish the aforementioned development.
Final Outcome
Students will have gained crucial insight into their own uniqueness as well as that of their peers, allowing them to develop close relations that will facilitate learning at a later level. If students are more comfortable with one another, they are more open to classroom sharing, group work and asking questions.
Objective #2 – Implementing Random Acts of Kindness
My second objective is to recreate my adolescent experience with U.R.O.C.K. (yoU Reaching Out to Create Kindness)—a volunteer organization within my high school whose mission was to implement random acts of kindness into their daily lives. The program was developed by two of my favourite teachers in high school who embodied the gifts of patience and generosity. Children within the group would meet for one lunch hour every second week in order to plan events to encourage happiness, whether it be by paying for someone’s Tim Horton’s, baking cookies for other classmates’ birthdays, or creating a community compliment board on which students can write public compliments and thank-yous to their peers.
When students work for one another, they create social bonds and a sense of community that fosters positivity, acceptance and open-mindedness.
Support needed
I would require the support of my principal and colleagues in order to organize this kind of group; I believe student organizations should be “team-taught” to discourage personal bias and agendas. I would also require the participation and support of students.
Timeline
I will use student discussion and sharing in order to evaluated the group’s objectives and their outcomes. The program shall be adjusted as needed, and as innovated by the students.
Objective #3 – Creative Sharing and Differentiated Learning
I hope to integrate differentiated instruction within my classroom programming in order to harvest students’ sense of creativity, discovery and innovation. In high school, my French teacher allowed us to give a book report using any kind of medium; as a result, I sung a song to the class and my friend created a six-level Super Mario-esque video game.
I believe students should be given open-ended questions and options in order to facilitate “thinking outside the box” and cultivate each student’s unique gifts.
Overall, I believe that the above objectives compose a philosophy encouraging a strong sense of originality, innovation and diversity within my future classroom. I hope to aspire children to seek discovery, while simultaneously learning about themselves, about each other, and about the world around them. I must
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward[1]
Respectfully submitted,
Renée Digout
University of Calgary
Faculty of Education – Bachelor of Education/Arts Student
[1] Extracted from http://www.quotegarden.com/teachers.html