I Still Believe: A Reflection On My Personal Growth

 Looking Back: Where I Started

These past 9 weeks you all have watched me learn and grow through the posts I’ve made on this blog, my blog. Time has gone by so fast, my first post was only a few short months ago, yet in that seemingly minute amount of time, there’s been a shift in me. I have a stronger sense of self, because of the challenges,  coursework,  th. Inincluded my “I Believe” statement, a declaration of my core beliefs as a [future] teacher, as I reflect on what I wrote I realize that, on some level, my ideas themselves have not changed over the course of this semester, but why I believe the things I stated, the weight and true meaning behind my words, have. In my initial statement I wrote, “I believe every student has what it takes to succeed when they enter my classroom and it is my job to give them the support, resources, and guidance they need in order to reach their goals”, and this still stands true, but knowing what I do now, what I learned over these past 9 weeks, has given me a new understanding of my own words. 

As this semester comes to a close and I look back on who I was when my courses first started, only a few months ago, and see how far I’ve come, I think it is only fitting that in this post, my last one of this semester, we revisit my first: Getting to Know Me. 

Main content (2 paragraphs) 

“I believe every student has what it takes to succeed when they enter my classroom and it is my job to give them the support, resources, and guidance they need in order to reach their goals”

As educators, we must believe that every student has what it takes to succeed when they enter our classrooms or we are doing a disservice to the children we work with every day, that is a fact. Moreover, in order for our students to succeed, they need the right amount of support and guidance, and access to the appropriate resources. I still, and believe any person considering a teaching career should, stand by these statements, but when I wrote them, when I said students need support, the proper resources, and guidance, I had no idea what the actions behind my words would look like in a classroom setting. I was, and still am, very passionate about, and committed to, my major, but I didn’t have any 

What does it mean to support and guide my future students? What are the appropriate resources?  And, Why are these 

Moving Forward: Where I Hope To Go

ry child’s potential to grow. Whenever I see a student I see not only who they are in that moment, but also the person they could be in the future. I believe children are the most innocent things on this planet, they come into classroom’s with bright eyes and open minds. I believe that it is my responsibility as an Educator to foster every child’s desire to grow and learn. I believe it is my job to make sure I have done everything I can to help my students before they leave my classroom each day, week, and school year. Most importantly, I believe every child has the potential to be a star. It doesn't matter where a student is from, what they look like, what level of knowledge they have upon entering my class, every single one of them has the capacity to learn, grow, and be successful. As Educators we are not defined by our own success, but by the success of our students. I believe every student has what it takes to succeed when they enter my classroom and it is my

I Will Always Believe: The Kind of Teacher I Aspire to Be

• Discuss this semester, how you have grown with your classmates through the content we have covered. 

• Supporting quote TWO - BOOK choices matter - explain how it supports

“As natural learners, young readers are drawn to books that give information about something or explain something they've always wondered about. With a little help and guidance about reading nonfiction, you can feel good about introducing your child to a new world of information.”

(Reading Rockets, 2011)

• Supporting quote ONE - classroom environment matters  - explain how it supports 

“The focus should not be taming students but on creating classrooms where they can learn and grow, classrooms that respect their needs and preferences as human beings” (Souto-Manning, Martell, & Ladson-Billings, 2016, pg. 42)

Final 

• Discuss your growth & apply it to revised belief statement - state what you said vs. what it should’ve said based on what I’ve learned

• Provide an example of what new belief statement looks like in a classroom

Conclusion

• Sum it all up, discuss who you were at the beginning of the semester vs. now. Talk about how you will be a better teacher because of what you believe now. 

• Rewrite belief statement 

• Thank readers for going on this journey with you