My professional goal is to become an exemplary teacher that creates a collaborative environment that is both engaging and challenging. I want to optimize student outcomes for success in the general education setting for my special education students.
I believe that it is my responsibility and privilege to bring enthusiasm, consistency, and high expectations into the classroom each day. It is important to bring positivity and excitement into the classroom so students are willing to learn new and challenging things. As a special education teacher, I know the importance consistency has on my students’ day-to-day life and that still rings true in the classroom. Providing daily visual schedules and routines helps to alleviate any stress and nervousness about the day so that students can focus on what they are learning rather than the unknown of the day. It creates stability in the classroom necessary to build a calm and trusting environment.
High expectations are also vital in student success. It is important to challenge students using higher order thinking questions from Bloom’s Taxonomy. The University of North Carolina states, “Bloom’s Taxonomy helps us move beyond remembering and recalling information and move deeper into application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation” (University of North Carolina, 2020). This is a goal I have for my special education students. To move from remembering facts to understand them deeply to then applying to real life situations. From there I would like my students to be able to analyze and evaluate information to make informed decisions to then create their own products that better our society and world.
Awareness of Self
I will seek to encourage greater self-awareness, self-regulation, self-determination, and confidence in my students. These are very important goals students need to develop to become independent thinkers and contributing members of our world. To encourage self-awareness I will model self-reflection. After an activity or difficult lesson I will show my students how I reflect. I will voice what was successful and what areas I could improve on. I will then allow my students to practice that with their own work. This will show that students can make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.
I will give my students the tools to regulate and monitor their behaviors. This will be done with behavior charts, mood meters, and journaling after each day. Self-regulation fits well with self-reflection. It allows students the ability to think about their behavior and situations they are facing and decide the best action to take.
I will motivate students with positive praise and show how proud I am of them for all the hard work they put into their work, whether it is right or wrong. This feedback will help build the self-determination characteristics within my students as they strive to become better learners and participants in their own educational career.
By building up the characteristics of self-awareness, self-regulation and self-determination my students will become more confident as learners and individuals in and out of the classroom. They will be able to contribute to society the necessary input to make the world a better place. My intention is, in part, to step back and allow students to take a more prominent role as self-directed learners.
I will incorporate comprehensive assessments using summative and formative approaches. This will ensure I am receptive to student needs and accountable to student progression. Formative assessments are great to check student understanding and comprehension quickly. It helps me to know if I need to adapt my next lesson to focus on reteaching content or if I can build upon it due to mastery. Summative assessments are helpful to see whether or not students understand all the material in one unit. Summative assessments give a comprehensive understanding of the students’ knowledge, but they should not be the only assessments used to gauge student growth. Daily classroom observations are also helpful when evaluating whether a student is understanding material or not. I will know my students well and can see when circumstances are impeding on their educational experiences.
I will seek to adapt and evolve my instruction using data-based decision making with heavy emphasis placed on procedural fidelity. As a special educator, it is my responsibility and honor to help my students meet their individual education needs through their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). I will use strategies that collect useful data such as the aimswebPlusprogress monitoring system or the Dolch sight word lists to monitor growth and consistency with those IEP goals.
I will aim to familiarize myself with the needs of every student as an individual in order to teach how students learn. I believe in differentiating my instruction according to student needs in order to help each student reach his or her full potential. This differentiation can be seen through accommodations on tests and assignments or through modifications of curriculum.
Why Do I Teach?
I teach because it is my calling in life. I grew up with a triplet brother who has Autism. I know the trials and tribulations these students and families go through not only at school, but in their personal lives as well. I want to be an advocate for students who need extra support. I want to be their voice in making sure they get what they need and meet their goals. I want to make a difference in the lives of those who need it the most. I teach to be a model for the younger generation and to be a positive light in a world where there could be so much darkness.
Conclusion
I will continue to deepen the effectiveness of my teaching by finding ways to encourage my students to use higher order thinking skills and demonstrate learning in new ways. I will attend professional development and trainings that will enhance my instruction and best meet my students’ needs. I will support self-reflection and self-advocacy in my classroom. I will assess and monitor student growth on a daily basis. These are challenging, but exciting goals that I have for myself and they speak to my commitment for personal excellence as a teacher.