ACEI 5.1: Professional Growth, Reflection, and Evaluation

 

Throughout the Block B experience, we were all expected to demonstrate the College of Education’s core values of Integrity and Responsibility. As students model our behaviors, I have been very conscious of the behaviors and attitude I portray every day. Due to this awareness, I worked towards becoming the teacher I would look up to as a student. I desired to be the exemplary teacher my students would feel comfortable around and enjoy learning from. I strived to gain respect from my students and colleagues by showing them that I was dependable and trustworthy. My experiences teaching in the classroom have given me opportunities to become comfortable teaching small and large groups of students. I always held myself to the high standards the classroom teachers and my Butler professors were holding me to.

Enthusiasm and a passionate attitude are strengths I have brought to the Block B experience. I have particularly shown this when working with all of the students I had the pleasure of teaching at Central Elementary. The environment in the classrooms can sometimes be stressful, so I try to make my time with the students as exciting as I can, even when the subject is something they know they are struggling. An enthusiastic and passionate approach will automatically increase the level of engagement seen in the students. For example, one of the students in our enrichment group was not very excited to learn about Joe Louis because “boxing is for boys”. By reading the biography about Joe Louis with inflection and asking  guiding questions with fervor, she was instantly intrigued and her eyes were glued to the book. One of the goals I have for next semester is using more classroom management skills in my teaching to decrease student “burn out” throughout the day. Some days I found it difficult to keep my third grade math group focused on a lesson because they were distracted with issues that arose earlier in the day. I tried to make my lessons entertaining with the use of games, but I need to figure out how to revive my students’ energy at the end of the school day.

Having diverse experiences within Block B has been an enormous factor in my professional growth. I have worked in classrooms full of third and fifth grade students at Central Elementary, second grade students at IPS 105, various children in the Indianapolis community at the Children’s Museum and the STEAM! convention at Connor Prairie. Working with students from different schools in different settings has made me become more flexible in my teaching strategies. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities we have encountered in Block B.