Jessica Wewers

Scott Lawrence

ED 201

30 November 2015

I Have What It Takes

Imagine kids running up to a lady and staring at her chirping phrases like Shes so tall!

and Shes like a giant! This may seem like an insult to some people but since I am over 6 ft.

tall, I can understand where they are coming from. Children base their initial likes or dislikes of a

person based on their appearance and how approachable they seem. For me, I already have a neat

lead in by answering questions like How tall are you? and Is that your real hair color? Of

course, not all children are as open about expressing themselves and sometimes a child will

initially be afraid of me because I seem imposing. This, however, I have found can be quickly

remedied by a smile, a joke, and a shared laugh. In a classroom setting, this is how I have found

best for most students to bond with me and eventually trust me. Trust is a huge part of the

student and teacher relationship because without trust they wont follow directions well and

situations become more complicated after that. Although teachers will evolve how they interact

with students over time, my strengths at this moment are my positivity, relativity, listening skills,

and student cooperation opportunities.

From the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure, there are ten

standards listed for teachers to measure their growth on. Of course, these dont embody every

specific of being a teacher but they definitely have a solid guide as to what one should behave

like. For each standard there are dispositions listed of what the teacher would be doing to
exemplify it in the classroom. From these standards, my current strengths align with a disposition

from one and six and two dispositions from number five. As I continue on my journey to become

an educator I will be able to embody more of these dispositions but at this point in time, these

four come to mind as being specific to my growth and progress this semester.

Standard number one states The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of

inquiry, and structures of the disciplines he or she teaches and can create learning experiences

that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. This means that an educator

should take the information that s/he will be imparting to their students and share it in a way that

makes them want to learn and discover more about the topic. The disposition from this standard

that I distinctly grew into this semester is The teacher has enthusiasm for the disciplines s/he

teaches and sees connections to everyday life. I try to live my life as a passionate person

because living halfheartedly is a waste of time but this is especially true when I am teaching

students. The way that I see it is if I am not interested in the topic and I dont want to learn it or

even teach it then what are the children going to do with the information? They are likely to

ignore, forget, or fight against learning the subject topic in itself.

As a teacher I have to train my students in certain skill areas and one area that I chose to

focus on this semester in my observed lesson is summarizing a story. One thing that I was

grateful for is that even though I had to teach the skill, I was given freedom on how I taught the

skill and to me that was very important. This meant that I could choose to teach this skill in a

way that not only would engage my students in the lesson, but I would be engaged as well. I

passionately believe that bullying is wrong in any way, shape, or form and because I knew that

the students I would be teaching were all very well behaved children that cooperated well with

each other I knew that they would feel the same way. I read the book to them in as real a
storyteller voice as I could muster and to my enjoyment the students all began to chime in and

interact with me and with the story itself. None of them shared a bullying story, but they did

connect to the soccer aspect of the tale. Many children play soccer when they are little and

teamwork is a huge part of playing a sport so relating to the story was simple for them. The more

energy I seemed to put into the story, the more energy they seemed to put forth as well.

My dog and my cat are the best memories that I have growing up. I loved playing with

them and because of this I can strongly relate to anything with animals. I read a story about a dog

that was trying to make friends with other animals on a farm. Making friends is an essential life

skill that many children learn early on in their life. I figured that since most of the students were

friends with each other that they could all relate to trying to make a new friend. Sure enough, as I

was reading them the story my students pointed out things left and right and asked questions and

were very engaged with the book. Another thing that I noticed with the enthusiastic approach to

learning is that when children are excited to learn the lesson flows smoother and they respond

better to the skills that are being taught to them. The more relative the subject seems to their life,

the more interested the student will be in learning the content.

In my classroom there are reading centers and one of the options for the reading centers is

read to a buddy. If I am not preoccupied, sometimes a student will come up to me and ask to

with me. This one boy in particular named Daniel wanted to read about snakes. He and I walked

over to the corner and sat on the reading mat and because he has trouble with reading words

properly, he always wants me to read to him instead of him reading to me. I always strike a deal

with him that if he reads one page then I will read the other. While he was reading he didnt say

much else, but after I finished reading a passage he became quite excited. He asked me questions

like What kind of snake is this? and Is it poisonous? From my own personal experiences I
could answer some of the questions and I discovered that relating the story to something real that

happened in my life seemed to spark more questions inside of him. When I told him that the

snake in the picture was a garter snake and I knew because my third grade class kept one as a pet

in our classroom, he sprang many more questions on me. This made him want to actually read

more of the words and at one point he read two pages in a row without asking me to read the

words to him instead.

They say that the first step to being a good communicator is to be a good listener.

Standard number six states The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and

media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive

interaction in the classroom. This means that a teacher uses his/her well rounded

communication skills to create meaningful interactions and situations with their students. One of

the dispositions stated for this standard is The teacher is a thoughtful and responsive listener. It

is well know that teachers must speak in order to effectively convey information to their students

but teachers are always learning about their students so they must listen to them as well.

One of the students in my class, Azul, loves to read to me during their reading centers.

She is a fairly fluent reader so when she pauses it is rarely to ask me about a tough word in the

story, it is usually to tell me about something that she can relate to in her life. I love to hear her

talk about her connections because then I can help her relate other things to the story. This

happens often with the students in the second grade class that I interacted with this semester. I

take this to mean that the students not only feel comfortable with speaking with me, but they also

want to hear what I have to say about their connections. This bond helps them feel more

comfortable asking me questions. I can remember a few years ago when I was teaching summer

school the students were timid about coming up to me because I came off as unapproachable.
That worried me but because these students this semester came up to me often to tell me things,

it gives me a peace of mind about being approachable.

When reading a book to students I find that it is always beneficial to not only you but to

the students as well. I can understand that too many interruptions can turn the reading into a

discussion but a healthy amount of input from the students during the story can turn into a deeper

understanding of the topic. During my observed and video lesson every so often the students that

I was working with would interrupt the story to relate something or ask a question and I would

pause to hear them out. By the end of the lesson, the students seemed to trust me enough to all

want to join in the discussions. As soon as one of the boys peeped up during the story and

discovered that I was okay with them talking here and there, they all decided that it was okay to

jump in and relate with the story. I loved when they did this because it gave me assurance that

students want to talk with me but when I tried to bring them back to reading the story they

allowed me to continue without a fuss.

In the morning every child in the classroom that I interacted with this semester would eat

breakfast before class began at 8:15am. During this time the students were allowed to have light

conversation so often they would invite me over to their table and engage me in their

discussions. They would show me a story that they wrote, a picture that they colored, or

something that they did the other day with their friends. I believe that when a student opens up to

you in this fashion in such a relaxed situation that does not force them to communicate with me

means that they trust me. When I would respond to them I would always try to continue the

conversation and I did my best to ask meaningful questions when they had finished their

sentence and they always ended up smiling at me which makes me more comfortable in the

classroom.
 As I was growing up I was given the opportunities to hang out with my teachers outside

of class time. I was that kid that didnt fit in with the rest of the class but I distinctly remember

my teachers always being there for me. After school would end I would have to hang around the

school building because my mother was the secretary at my elementary school and she was my

ride home. Instead of just sitting alone in the office my teachers would take me with them and let

me help decorate their rooms or clean up or feed our pets. They would sometimes give me old

books or coloring pages. When it was time for summer my teachers would let me help them take

down their classroom decorations and if they were moving rooms they let me pack up their

books and craft supplies. The same was true when they were setting up their classrooms for the

school year. My teachers would let me pick out colors and themes and would let me decorate

their bulletin boards by myself. I loved helping my teachers and they made me feel more

comfortable in the classroom because I had such a strong bond with them.

The time that I spent this semester in my cooperating teachers classroom reminds me of

the bond that I formed with my teachers as I was growing up. Of course, the bonds were not as

strong as my bonds with my teachers but some of the situations were similar. The trust that I

could feel the students place in me and my teaching and when they would ask me so confidently

about spelling. Even the quiet students would open up to me and ask me for help just like I did

with my students. I believe that I can become a teacher that my students will be able to trust and

openly interact with. I am becoming increasingly more comfortable with my version of friendly

authority and I believe that over the next couple of years I will become so prepared to run my

own classroom. I am excited to keep growing as a prospective teacher and am anticipating who I

shall become as an educator. I have what it takes because I am already strong with my positivity,

relativity, listening skills, and cooperation with students. My journey will be like Howard
Gardners theory of multiple intelligences An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to

create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings. I still have a lot to learn but

the more I grow, the more I realize, I have what it takes.