Final Growth Statement
As I reflect on my experience as an education student, I realize that although this may be my last “Final Growth Statement,” but this is not the end of my growth or reflection. As a freshman, I thought writing a final growth statement was a waste of time. I now value and appreciate the ability of self-reflection that I have learned. It is through this that I am able to improve myself and always ask myself what I can do better. I have grown in all aspects of teaching from writing and applying lesson plans, to managing a classroom, to building a community and relationships with those at a school. I feel that I have strengthened many aspects of teaching through my experience, and feel that the true test of my abilities will be putting them altogether as a teacher. I am very confident in my ability to do so because I have grown from the student who thought it was a waste of time to play a game in a college class, to seeing how it makes learning authentic. I have not only improved my abilities as a teacher and a person, but my ability to reflect and improve as well.
I exceeded my expectations in my ability to build an appropriate relationship with my students while maintaining control of behavior management. I feel that one of my strengths is my ability to relate to students even if they are very different from me. I did so by being very genuine with my students. I was not afraid to admit a mistake that I had made, or share an embarrassing story about myself to make another student feel better. I also strive to get to know each student and make them feel appreciated. There was an amazing level of mutual respect that I did not think I would be able to establish with the students in such a short amount of time. As a result, classroom management was very easy. I also learned how to handle many different situations in which a student confided in me and asked me for advice.
I feel that one of my strengths was my organization and preparation. In my second placement I had the opportunity to rearrange the classroom to make room for a new student. I organized all of the shelves and cabinets, I made use of all empty space, and I arranged the classroom that would be conducive to learning. I thoroughly prepared many lessons in every subject. I learned how to differentiate for many different levels of learners and how to appropriately implement manipulatives. I also improved the quality of my lessons by remembering to focus on my objectives of the lesson. Focusing on what I wanted to students to learn helped me become a more concise teacher. I became less focused on explaining each aspect of the lesson and more focused on emphasizing what the students were expected to know. This is a huge improvement because many times I would spend way to long during lessons in explaining something that was not relevant to the objectives of the lesson.
This also helped with my time management and questioning. For example, during reading lessons I would ask too many questions as I read. I wanted to emphasize comprehension, however it ending up doing more harm than good. I would end up wasting time and the students would not learn as effectively the purpose of the lesson. I have learned to ask questions that lead to the objectives and purpose of the lesson. One of my major goals as a teacher is to continue to improve. I feel that when I am aware of the objectives, I am more able to focus on them as I teach, and hope to become more skilled in this area.
Another goal is to improve my ability to effectively utilize manipulates and other forms of differentiation. With this comes the ability to asses each student. I feel that I am very good at assessing general comprehension through questioning and other forms of informal assessment. I wish to improve my ability to assess individuals in each subject and then what to do to enhance that student’s learning. I feel that as I practice and get to know my students I will be able to improve this ability.
In my last four years as an education student at Manhattan College, I have transformed into a well prepared, confident, and young professional. I went from struggling to finish a lesson plan, to being able to design, implement, and differentiate lessons and units in every subject. I am confident that I am well prepared to take all that I have learned and apply them in my classroom. I am passionate about teaching and cannot wait to begin. If I am fortunate enough to become a part of a school like PS 340 with such a great community and supportive staff, I know I will learn and improve everyday.
I exceeded my expectations in my ability to build an appropriate relationship with my students while maintaining control of behavior management. I feel that one of my strengths is my ability to relate to students even if they are very different from me. I did so by being very genuine with my students. I was not afraid to admit a mistake that I had made, or share an embarrassing story about myself to make another student feel better. I also strive to get to know each student and make them feel appreciated. There was an amazing level of mutual respect that I did not think I would be able to establish with the students in such a short amount of time. As a result, classroom management was very easy. I also learned how to handle many different situations in which a student confided in me and asked me for advice.
I feel that one of my strengths was my organization and preparation. In my second placement I had the opportunity to rearrange the classroom to make room for a new student. I organized all of the shelves and cabinets, I made use of all empty space, and I arranged the classroom that would be conducive to learning. I thoroughly prepared many lessons in every subject. I learned how to differentiate for many different levels of learners and how to appropriately implement manipulatives. I also improved the quality of my lessons by remembering to focus on my objectives of the lesson. Focusing on what I wanted to students to learn helped me become a more concise teacher. I became less focused on explaining each aspect of the lesson and more focused on emphasizing what the students were expected to know. This is a huge improvement because many times I would spend way to long during lessons in explaining something that was not relevant to the objectives of the lesson.
This also helped with my time management and questioning. For example, during reading lessons I would ask too many questions as I read. I wanted to emphasize comprehension, however it ending up doing more harm than good. I would end up wasting time and the students would not learn as effectively the purpose of the lesson. I have learned to ask questions that lead to the objectives and purpose of the lesson. One of my major goals as a teacher is to continue to improve. I feel that when I am aware of the objectives, I am more able to focus on them as I teach, and hope to become more skilled in this area.
Another goal is to improve my ability to effectively utilize manipulates and other forms of differentiation. With this comes the ability to asses each student. I feel that I am very good at assessing general comprehension through questioning and other forms of informal assessment. I wish to improve my ability to assess individuals in each subject and then what to do to enhance that student’s learning. I feel that as I practice and get to know my students I will be able to improve this ability.
In my last four years as an education student at Manhattan College, I have transformed into a well prepared, confident, and young professional. I went from struggling to finish a lesson plan, to being able to design, implement, and differentiate lessons and units in every subject. I am confident that I am well prepared to take all that I have learned and apply them in my classroom. I am passionate about teaching and cannot wait to begin. If I am fortunate enough to become a part of a school like PS 340 with such a great community and supportive staff, I know I will learn and improve everyday.