Chapter 13: Your Teaching Career

After completing a teaching program and requirements, the next step is to apply for a teaching position. It is recommended to have a portfolio in place that way the school's administration can see the educational background and other activities. It is important for first year teachers to be prepared if selected. Preparations can be made by knowing the school, students, families, and the communities. Beginning teachers should organize the classroom and ask other teachers for advice. Throughout the first year, the teacher can benefit in attending developmental programs, learning from a mentor teacher, and getting involved with the community. It is also important to display and address that beginning teachers can work collaboratively and be able to accept advice and constructive criticism. By asking for help, being a teachable person, willing to take responsibilities, participate in professional activities, being friendly, and developing trusting relationships are some keys to help achieve goals. Teaching for the first time can be intimidating. However, if there is teacher efficacy and the belief in a philosophy of education, then INTASC standard 9 is something to keep in mind:

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects
of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other
professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out
opportunities to grow professionally.



Good luck future educators!

Chapter 12: Technology, Teaching, and Learning

Technology is now a part of education reform. The ever-changing curricula must adapt to the changing world. The use of email and Internet are just a few ways that had made life a little easier. In order for teachers to make use of technology, they must possess technology literacy which is knowing the use of technology and the ability to access, operate, and apply learning to students. Since technology has arrived in schools, standards have been created for students. These standards are called the National Educational Technology Standards for Students which is available online at www.iste.org.
It is also important that the use of assistive technology is available for students with disabilities. Devices such as touch-screen computers, enlarged keyboards, voice synthesizers, and closed caption television are some tools that can be utilized.
Technology can be harmful to students if not properly educated about its uses. Teachers and students need to be aware of cyberbullying, plagiarism and other negative uses that may harm themselves and others. Working collaboratively with other teachers, school administration, and most especially parents of students with regard to technology use will promote responsibility. Therefore, INTASC standard 10 should be adopted by teachers:

The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies
in the larger community to support students' learning and well-bring.

Chapter 11: Teaching the Curriculum

Teachers are bound by a school's established curricula. Before explicit curriculum was established in what is now a contemporary currulum, teachers had to create their own curricula. The contemporary curriculum involves reading, language arts, science, mathematics, health, physical education, and the arts. However, schools today continue to be reformed for overall improvement.
Teaching the curricula is not enough if there are no goals and objectives. Outcome-based education can be useful in obtaining results for mastery of certain aspects of curricula. Direct instruction can also be useful for teachers. They determine what students will learn and how will they learn by the use of lecture and demonstration. Another technique that may be benefitial is the nondirect instruction where students learn through their own experimentation, learning from other students, and cooperative learning through discovery and scaffolding.
Because curriculum varies from teacher to teacher, it is important to know what works in the classroom by applying knowledge to students in multiple lessons, integrating test preparation into instruction, by making connections across instruction, curriculum, and life; providing strategies to students, assist them to be critical thinkers, and lastly by engaging students to work collaboratively not only with their own peers but also with their teachers. With these features it is important to remember INTASC standard 4:

The teacher uses various instructional strategies to encourage students'
development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

Chapter 10: Standards and Assessment: Their Impact on Teaching and Learning and Chapter

The standards for education is a tool for curriculum and to make sure what is taught matches the standards. The standards are the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should know at each grade level. The impact on learning due to the standards affect teaching because of accountability. Everyone is accountable for the students learning including parents. I believe that parents play a big role whether or not the child chooses to or chooses not to learn. The administration of the school including teachers are tools to enhance the child's learning experience and hopefully the children will be able to reach their full potential at every grade level. Testing is part of accountability, however, that standard assessment is not catered to minority groups which actually affects the overall scores. However, teachers should not give up in achieving high scores for their students. Continue to expose children to other things by using different teaching techniques. I know it will take a tremendous amount of effort. This is why it is important to keep INTASC standard 8 in mind:

The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies
to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical
development of the learner.

Chapter 9: Historical and Philosophical Influence on Teaching and Learning in America

America's education has changed over the years since colonial times. Although religion has greatly influenced the early colonial schools, education has been granted to all races, women, to every child with a disability and without. And lately, the NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act) assures that all children regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, English language learners, and learning ability are entitled to education. Due to this act, the INTASC standard 3 applies to all teachers:

The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning
and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.


In today's educational practice, there are six major educational philosophies that teachers need to be aware of. They are perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, social reconstructivism, humanism, and existentialism. These philosophies are useful to teachers who are still searching for their own philosophies of teaching. I believe that I can be an effective teacher, however, I am not able to limit myself with one philosophy. I believe that as time goes by, there will be a need to implement all six philosophies. Children change rapidly, be it attitude, way of thinking, interests, understanding, and values. Therefore, as a future teacher I need to bear in mind INTASC standard 2:

The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning
opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.

Chapter 7 and 8: The Politics of American Education and Education and School Law

The federal government, state government, intermediate agencies, and the local government play various roles in education. These governments play a vital role as far as governance and finance is concerned. Then the individual schools are governed by principals, assistant principals, administration, and the board of education who are responsible for implementing state regulations and policies, as well as implementing local policies. The principals and assistant principals are responsible for resources as well as supporting teachers and students. Then there are the teachers who manage the students and classroom. Teachers will continue to work collaboratively with the management of the principals and assistant principles in efforts to promote a better learning environment for the students, and to be able to adapt and accommodate as needed as it states in the INTASC standard 9:

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects
of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals
in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow
professionally.

It is also important for current and future teachers to be aware of the legal rights and responsibilities as a teacher, know students' legal rights, and know parents' legal rights and responsibilities. The four sources of law are also important to know because of issues that may relate to freedom of speech, religion, desegregation, and discriminatory practices. These are the U.S. Constitution, Federal Laws, State Constitution and Laws, and Federal and State Court Decisions. Today's schools are integrated with different races and ethnic groups, it is important for teachers to know students are diverse in culture and in learning. Therefore, the teacher must be aware of INTASC standard 3:

The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning
and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.

Chapter 6: Partners in Learning: Parents, Families, and the Community

Parents, families, and the community are partners in learning and the ever-changing family structure influences parent involvement. To continue to have parents involved in their children's education, the federal government continues to enforce the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and family-centered programs have been established to help strengthen family units. Parent involvement establishes a better relationship with teachers. As it states in the INTASC standard 10:

The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents,
and agencies in the larger community to support students' learning
and well-being.

Teachers who know their student's family structure and continue to encourage their involvment in their education will most likely have the student improve in academics.
The community can be greatly involved with schools as collaborators, advocates, volunteers, and communicators to further address the need of parental involvement.

Chapters 4 and 5: Teaching Diverse Learners (Multiculturalism and Academics)

Schools are becoming increasingly diverse in the United States. As future teachers, we need to be aware of the differences of students. These differences can be gender, sexual orientation, racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic status. As it states in the INTASC standard 3:

The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to

learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to

diverse learners.

To be able to follow this standard, teachers will need to understand how students' cultural background influences thier learning process, thus making educational changes by being culturally responsive to the learner's needs. The standard also applies to students whose first language is not English. Programs such as ESL (English as second language) and ELL (English Language Learners) have been developed to assist students into a transitional way of learning and to be able to adapt to the school environment without loosing their native language.

It is also important for teachers to focus on students with disabilities. The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) of 1990 is a federal act that children with disabilities have access to free and appropriate education between ages 3 and 21. To ensure that there is equal access to education, depending on the student's needs, are mainstreamed into the natural classroom setting where students with disabilities are with the nondisabled students. Therefore, for teachers to be effective and supportive of students with learning and other disabilities, will need to have knowledge of the students and their needs, develop and modify instruction, have leadership and classroom management skills, and professional collaboration skills.

Chapter 3: How Schools are Organized and Connected to Their Communities

There are different types of schools: public, private, charter, alternative, and after-school programs. These schools are located everywhere in the United States in the rural areas, urban, and suburban. The purpose of schooling is to educate all students in spite of race, color, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status.

Public schools are organized by district level in which a student is assigned to attend a school dependent upon the location in where they live. Then there is the grade-level organization which uses the age-graded approach. This approach assigns the grade level of a student according to their age which begins at Kindergarten through 12th grade. But today, children attend school as early as 3 years old which is known as the Preschool, pre-k, or even Headstart; the organization proceeds to primary and elementary, middle and junior high schools, and high schools.

The schools are connected with the community through activities, politics, businesses,issues and concerns, collaboration and cooperation, and others. Teachers are involved within their communities as part of the INTASC standard 10 which states:

The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and

agencies in the larger community to support students' learning and

well-being.

Chapters 1 and 2: What it means to be a teacher and as a profession.

Chapters 1 and 2 discusses what it means to be a teacher and teaching as a profession. The INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) standards were introduced as a guide on what teachers should know and be able to do.

What I have learned from these chapters is that it takes a lot of dedication to be a good teacher and this certainly applies to the standards. For example, INTASC standard 1 states:

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures

of the subject being taught and can create learning experiences that make these

aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.

By expanding the knowledge base, a teacher will be able to achieve this standard by knowing what to teach, how to teach, knowing about the students, and being creative in passing knowledge on to the students which is mentioned in INTASC standard 3:

The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning

and creates instructional opporturnities that are adapted to diverse learners.

Teaching as a profession is considered a helping profession. It takes committment and dedication to keep teaching. Teaching is not just helping students, the helping hand extends to their parents, the families, and the community. According to the INTASC standard 9 it states:

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects

of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other pro-

fessionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities

to grow professionally.

A teacher never stops learning. Keeping updated with new research, technology, as well as

what goes on globally is one way of being informed.

Movie: The Ron Clark Story

The film portrays Ron Clark's experiences teaching in an inner city school. His search for fulfilment led him to a school in Harlem. There he chose to take over a "problem" class where he dealt with the students' hostility. In the end, he was able to make a difference by helping his students achieve higher test scores and most of all for making them realize that they have the potential to succeed. He was able to know his students at some personal level and a sense of belonging was felt by his students.

The piece serves an inspirational tool for teachers and for those who aspire to become teachers. Although Ron Clark had violated some protocols such as walking out of a job (which to some employers is a just cause for termination) and shaking a student's desk in anger, he realized through a friend that he can't give up on his students. It shows his strengths and weaknesses in every situation. It shows that like every other teacher, he is not perfect. He strive to have meaning in his teaching by taking upon a challenging class. However, it is those same situations where a teacher can be faulted. Teachers need to be aware of protocols, procedures, and regulations of a school to avoid being the "bad guy" although it may work at some point.

Will this film be enough for teachers to keep teaching? I think not. Deciding to teach and to continue to teach is a personal decision. It sure is a motivator and a glimpse of what lies ahead.

Teacher Standards

Great presentations today!  It was good practice for future presentations.

The discussion of the teacher standards were very informative especially when the different kinds of standards were presented such SOE, NCATE, GPTS, and so on.  It is important to be familiar with the standards because this will guide and assist us in our teaching profession.  It's good to have rules and guidelines.  Rules keep things in order.  Of course, there are some rules that don't help with order.  However, it is never easy to make the best decisions.  Because as humans, we think we always make the best decisions.  Let's strive to continue to be effective teachers with the help of these standards.  In the long run, it will be beneficial.

Why I Want to Become a Teacher

      No one knows for sure what one wants to be and what will become of one. My decision to become a teacher was a discovery of myself. When I decided to pursue a higher degree of learning, I was unsure what field to take. At first I was very interested in the field of Accounting and so I declared this major. Not to long, I became interested in Computer Science and changed my major. I have taken most of the required classes and I was not feeling satisfied. Another semester had begun. I decided to take an introductory class in early childhood education as an elective at Guam Community College. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the class and I decided to register for additional education classes in the upcoming semesters and declared my major in Early Childhood Education and soon I found myself close to attaining my Associate’s Degree.
     The true test of becoming a teacher came into play when I had Practicum. A period in educational studies where one sets foot in the real world: the classroom. For the next thirty days, I became “their” additional teacher. The first day I entered Room 5 the children were already seated in their seats. I received a strange look from them followed by a sharp stare after I was introduced by their teacher. This kindergarten class was informed that I was their teacher as well. Some of the children became accepting and others felt “invaded”. I could sense it, and this made me so uneasy that my heart started to palpitate faster than the normal heart rate.
     The children had to adapt to change because they were simply comfortable with the teacher they started since the beginning of the school year. Applying what I have learned so far from my education classes has helped me overcome my nervousness. The thirty days I spent with the children was adventurous. Each child in the classroom is unique. There are the quiet ones, the loud ones, the social ones, the one who always volunteers, and others with different characters they bring into the classroom. There were days that it was enjoyable and days that it was difficult. Working with the children was the ultimate test whether or not I would become a teacher. And I have come to a conclusion.
     I want to become a teacher because I know in some little way; I can make a difference in their young minds by being an effective and consistent teacher. From what I have experienced in Room 5 during my Practicum, I have never thought I would be more interested in becoming a teacher. The children, in such a short time, had made me become more aware of my self through patience, tolerance, understanding, and more open-minded. And I at the same time acknowledged their different characters, personalities, and openness. My aim is to have a positive impact in their lives and hoping my teaching abilities are enough to guide, assist, and contribute towards their future as productive citizens.