Final Reflection

As you transition from being a preservice teacher to a classroom teacher, what are your biggest aspirations or goals?

I have seen what happens when you hold students to high expectations and believe that they can and will meet them. I aspire to be a teacher that holds students accountable to these expectations, while still nurturing a loving classroom environment. Significant learning happens when there is significant relationship. I hope to be a teacher that has a classroom that kids are excited to show up in every day. To me that means routines and rhythms, with fun a part of it all. I hope that every day, just one kid goes home knowing how important they are to me and their learning is valuable.

What subjects or areas do you wish were covered more extensively or in greater detail during your teacher preparation program?

Something that I think would be beneficial to preservice teachers is spending some time understanding exactly how the education system works. Public education is a right to everyone, yet hardly anyone understands the inner workings. We often say it's a broken system but the problem is, as long as we have people not understanding how it works, there are less people aware of how we can be part of the change. A course, or even a unit, on education in the US, covering things from school boards to mill levy overrides, would benefit the people whose day to day is most impacted by these pivotal parts of education. As Paulo Freire said, education is a political act. Teachers must understand this and the repercussions that come when we lack knowledge on exactly how to be an advocate.