1. A teacher must create an encouraging and engaging learning environment for her students.

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In order for students to try their best each day and be committed to lifelong learning, they must become enthusiastic about coming to school. To do this, I will make it my responsibility to create a classroom atmosphere that is encouraging and engaging for my students. I will do this by keeping it organized, yet decorative, through displays that are relevant to classroom lessons and will motivate them to learn. The displays will showcase student work so that they will be eager to learn and will be proud of what they produce. I have practiced this in some of my own experiences thus far. For example, I composed a language arts unit on a book about Antarctica and invited parents into the classroom to watch their child present research projects. Not only were students passionate about the topic they were presenting about, but they were enthusiastic about other works they created. They grabbed their parents’ hands and dragged them into the hallway to show them the narratives they wrote from the perspectives of emperor penguins. My classroom will also be a place where students feel encouraged by not only their teacher, but by their peers. I will do this by creating an atmosphere where students are comfortable contributing their ideas and embracing the ideas of others, allowing students to feel supported. This goal will be addressed each day through a morning meeting where students will be given the opportunity to welcome all their peers to school and have consistent practice of social skills, like listening and communicating with peers. 

2. The teacher must intellectually engage her students by creating organized lesson structures and flow, as well as rich and challenging learning tasks. 

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Lesson structure and flow allow for and support intellectual engagement and productive struggle. I will allow students time to think, develop ideas, and reflect on their learning. The learning tasks that students are participating in during these lessons should be designed to engage students in higher-order thinking, with differentiation to accommodate different student abilities. All students need this sense of structure in order to be successful and every student is entitled to accommodations and differentiation. I have and will continue to address this by scaffolding each lesson plan and providing alternatives for students that have different academic or behavioral needs. For example, I allow flexible seating for students that may struggle to remain attentive to tasks at their desks, offer additional technology or support for struggling learners, and provide alternate challenging assignments for accelerated learners.  Despite these freedoms and privileges, it is also my responsibility to set clear behavioral and academic expectations to set the foundation for student success. For example, I may arrange students in appropriate learning groups according to the lesson, like in pairs or groups for collaborative learning or in a larger group for a class discussion. Collaboration is a strong way to ensure student engagement while challenging them to improve upon their ideas, as well as the ideas of others. 

3. A teacher must create a strong link between her classroom, student home life, and the community. 

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As an educator, I will be better able to reach students and teach them if I am aware of my their cultures, interests, extracurricular activities, personalities, and learning styles. I can learn this information by talking to them, having them complete interest inventories or surveys, or even attending extracurricular events to show support. For example, by having a student complete an interest inventory, I can direct them in making more appropriate book choices so they can become interested in reading from a young age. Showing students that I care about them as individuals and not just as students in a classroom will also instill a sense of trust and will motivate them to do their best in my classroom. I also feel that it is vital for parents to be active participants of the developmental process so that student learning can go beyond the four walls of my classroom. To do this, I believe a teacher should provide appropriate and constructive feedback to students and parents and establish regular communication with families. I have practiced this through sending out newsletters and inviting parents into the classroom to see student progress and projects.