experience as a teacher essay

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Essay on My Teacher

List of essays on my teacher in english, essay on my teacher – essay 1 (300 words), essay on my teacher – essay 2 (400 words), essay on my teacher – essay 3 (500 words), essay on my teacher – essay 4 (750 words), essay on my teacher – essay 5 (1000 words).

Introduction:

Teachers are the ones who play a very vital role in shaping our future. From the Pre-Kinder Garden to your Post-Doctoral fellowships, they teach, impart knowledge, share ethical values, and imbibe morality, thereby shaping our personality as a strong one.

My Teacher:

Throughout our lives, we will be having many kith and kins who will hold a special place in our hearts. For me, one such person is my teacher. All of us, for sure, will definitely agree to the fact that the kinship between us and our kinder garden teachers could not be well-defined. I like my nursery teacher, so much. There is something very magical about her. Maybe, she was the first teacher in my life or maybe, she was very sweet in talking to all of us, I am unable to portray why she is always my favourite. I relied on her blindly.

Unforgettable Memories:

I have some cherished memories with my teacher. Whenever I think of those memories, it makes me blissful. On the last day of my nursery school, I started crying at the very thought of leaving her and having a new teacher. I had fallen sick due to crying for hours together. I skipped my food. My parents were not able to do anything. They called for her to make me feel better. My teacher travelled a few miles across the city and reached the hospital. She, then, said that she would never forget any of her students and asked me to write to her. I started writing to her every week from then on and she replied to every letter of mine. Till date, I look at my teacher as my second mother and she guides me in all my difficult situations.

Conclusion:

Having a good teacher who can share an amalgamated relationship with the students is a boon. A good teacher should be a good mentor, a philosopher, a guide, a friend and above all a surrogate parent to the children. I am lucky that I had gotten one in my lifetime.

My favorite subject is English and my most favorite teacher is Chitra Ma’am. She teaches us English. She likes me a lot and appreciates my hard work. She joined our school one year ago. Before that, I was not so good at English. But after attending her classes, we have all become much better at this subject.

I like her for many reasons. First of all, she teaches the lessons in a very interesting way. Even when we have doubts or questions, she never gets upset with us. Her best quality is her loving nature. She would come to school daily without missing a day.

Her dressing sense is nice. She wears simple salwar suits. She always speaks to her students softly and respectfully. I eagerly wait for her class and do my English homework on time. Chitra Ma’am puts a lot of effort in explaining every chapter.

There are many activities given at the end of every lesson and she makes us participate in all of them. Not only that, but she also encourages us to take part in drama and poem competitions. Since her first day, she made a rule for us.

All of us has to speak in English during the English period. Every student tries to talk in English even if the sentence sounds improper. She has taught us to never laugh at each other’s mistakes. This has improved our spoken English in a great way. Now, we are able to talk in English with more confidence.

Another great quality of hers is that she treats every child equally. After explaining the lesson to us, she asks each one of us different questions about the chapter. Sometimes, we also love to talk about our personal lives, like what do we like about our lives, how our parents work hard for us, and things like that.

When we get confused or need an emotional support, she is the best person to talk to. Her advice and suggestions are always positive. Last month, on teacher’s day, all the students wished her and brought presents for her. We also sang a song to her.

I made a beautiful greeting card for her and a red rose with it. She accepted it with a smile and thanked us for everything. I feel grateful to have such a gentle and great teacher in my life who supports me in every way.

In school, you tend to interact with a lot of people who can either impact your life positively or negatively. A teacher is one neutral person who will manage to strike a balance between the positive and the negative. Teachers have a huge responsibility that we students may not understand. All in all our teachers try their best to provide an education, guidance and discipline despite the challenges we might impose on them. The life of a student is entirely dependent on a teacher because most of their time is spent in school rather than with parents that is why teachers play a major role in shaping the lives of young children through school.

Who Is my favourite Teacher?

I have several teachers now that I am in high school but there is only one whom I can relate to as “the teacher” because of the impact he has made in my life. The teacher is male, of Indian origin and has a funny accent when he speaks. He is married and has three children. Actually, one of his children is my age and I know him through tennis practice because he comes to train with us sometimes. I like him because his sense of humor gives a good learning experience for the students. He is a math teacher and he is very good at what he does. Students tend to make fun of him because of his accent but he make fun of it himself, which gets even funnier. This teacher has been a great mentor to me and other student ever since we joined high school. I met him on a personal level one day after class when I needed clarification on a topic I had not quite understood. The teacher was kind to me and guided me through it. Since then, he took his own initiative to do follow-ups on me and I became really good in math due to his efforts.

Coincidentally, he also coaches my tennis team and we meet out on the field. We have won several awards as a tennis team under him. I feel connected to the teacher through his mentorship and he has become like a school parent to me because whenever I have an issue, he is free to help me out.

How the teacher has impacted my life in school .

Mentorship goes along way depending on the approach used. When I first joined high school, I did not have much confidence in myself. This teacher mentored me and made me believe in myself. The good thing is the attention he gives t is students because most of the times, he follows up on the performances and ensures that he does everything he can to help students improve academically. He has also been a role model to me through his way of doing things. He is dedicated to his work and he is an achiever. Through following his footsteps, I have been able to dedicate myself into studies and sports, which has helped me to achieve my goals.

In conclusion, good teachers are hard to find but when you find one, make the most out of them.

The word “teacher” depicts a person that teaches. English dictionary defines teacher as “a person who teaches, especially one employed in a school”. A more recent definition of teacher in the linguistics field is “a tutor that interacts with the learners in order to facilitate good learning”.

Types of Teachers

Old method teachers: the teachers found under this method adopt the rigid mode of impartation of knowledge. They control the class the way a king would rule over his subjects. Old method teachers are less concerned about the welfare of their learners, they are syllabus-oriented.

New method teachers: the tutors under this model are student-oriented. They are more concerned about their learners and their various levels of understanding. They accept and promote contributions in class unlike the old method teachers. New method teachers encourage the inquisitiveness of their students.

Attributes of a Teacher:

A standard teacher has all or most of the various characters imbedded in them:

• Compassionate
• Open-minded
• A good counselor
• Friendly and most importantly
• Approachable.

Attributes of My Favorite Teacher:

Personally, I see my teacher as a mini-god because he leaves his mark on me. He influences my life in ways that enables me affect changes wherever I find myself.

He is a perfect example of the new model teachers. Basically, he is student-oriented. In the classroom, he employs the Eclectic mode of teaching (this is the combination of all the modes of teaching “discussion mode, play way mode, role play mode, question mode” so as to facilitate standard learning).

He comes into the classroom; starts the lecture with a recap of what was discussed in the previous class, gives room for the students to ask questions that arose from the last class, answers them and then starts a new topic.

To start a new topic, he starts with a mind-capturing introduction that attracts the attention of all students. Once he is through with introducing the topic, he gauges our reaction in order for him to know if his students are on the same page with him or left behind.

Then, he moves on to the discussion mode of teaching, whereby he throws questions to his students and accommodates both relevant and irrelevant answers, at the end of this model, he sieves through the answers provided, pick the relevant ones and add his own iota to it, he also always applaud the courage of all who answers his questions.

He moves either into the role play method or the play way method, here he selects students to either act out the lessons from the day’s topic or summarizes what he has taught for the day. The use of this particular mode enlightens the students more on the topic being discussed.

Finally, he moves over to the questions and revision mode, where he personally go through all he has taught over the course of the period. During this mode, he entertains questions from students on their personal areas of difficulties. Occasionally, he gives assignments to back up his teachings.

During his teachings, he pays close attention to the expression, mood, sitting posture and carriage of his students. This tells him when his students are lost, sad, worried, hungry, sick, away in dream land or simply tired.

Once he is done processing the information gotten from our faces, he either finds a way of brightening the mood of his students, bringing them back from the dream world, or ending his class without breaking his stride or alerting the whole population of students to what is currently going on.

It is only normal for a human being to reflect his mood whenever he is talking or interacting, but my teacher hardly ever allow his bad, horrible moods interfere with his teachings.

Outside the classroom, my teacher is approachable, fatherly, and jovial. He entertains all and no one is excluded from his open arms, smiles and affections.

He is a good counselor who is always ready to help me out of my tight corners. He gives twenty first century advises in a fatherly way.

Although, due to my teachers lenient ways with students, some students tend to be lazy, disrespectful, stubborn or rude. He has a way of being firm, maintaining class control while teaching.

In conclusion, my teacher has all the attributes and more of a new method teachers. He is capable of combining all modes of teaching, he is compassionate, passionate, and friendly. From my interactions with him, I can confidently say that he is one of the best teachers around.

A teacher plays a very important life in shaping your life as well as career. A good teacher is a blessing for the students in their early years and helps them understand the world; learn moral values along with education. Most importantly, a teacher helps you the art of survival and brings out the best of you.

Why a teacher is so important in a student’s life?

Teachers assume the essential job in our life to end up fruitful invocation and business. A decent teacher encourages us to end up great individual in the general public and great nation of the nation.

Teachers realize that students are the eventual fate of any country. So the future advancement of any country is in the hands of teachers. What we move toward becoming in life is relies upon teachers. Teachers confer the information and data in the mind of understudies to dissect. Investigating in the circumstance what is conceivable is the most essential thing that we gain from teachers. Energy about teachers is imperative since they are the most essential individuals in the nation. What we’re seeing today in business, legislative issues, and society all influenced by teachers. In this way, in India, we commend teacher’s day consistently on 5 September on the event of the birth Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

My Teachers, My Role Models

During my formative years, I have come across many teachers who have influenced my life for the better. Having being studies in a convent school, I got to face a much-disciplined environment during my school years. The teachers, although were very polite in their behaviour, at the same time ensuring that we all followed a disciplined life. We were taught how to inculcate these values in our daily life so as to be better human beings when we grow up and face the world. Although all the teachers were good, there is one teacher whose teachings I just cannot forget. She is Ms Kirti Bhushan. Her teachings have been so powerful and impactful that I can still feel them during my day to day decisions even today.

My Best Teacher

Ms Kirti was my class educator as well and took participation in the daily activities with us as well. She was a strict instructor anyway extremely amusing and mind in nature. At the same time, she was extremely restrained and dependable. She did her work perfectly with the class at a perfect time without getting late. I liked her, particularly as she attempted simple approaches to show us beneficial things. We made the most of her class. She taught us English subject as well. She even made us giggle by telling heaps of jokes in the middle of when she taught. She likewise managed us exceptionally well amid any school or between school rivalry of the move, sports, scholastic, and so on. She instructed us to share things in class among our associates, for example, lunch or other required things.

Her Background

She was from Varanasi and completed her initial studies there itself. She took her higher education degrees from the Banaras Hindu University. She was extremely friendly and kind in nature. She realized well about how to deal with little youngsters in the class. Her one of a kind style of educating is perhaps what I mostly recall her for. I even meet her at times at whatever point I have to explain some intense inquiries of my day to day issues, she advises me so easily and comfortably. She looks extremely savvy with shimmer eyes and fair hair.

Her Smiling Attitude

She generally smiled when she entered the classroom and first got some information about our prosperity. She additionally helped us in the games at whatever point our games instructor was missing. She had a smiling face even during the strict environment during the examination times. She constantly rebuffed to the students who were with fragmented home works. She was acclaimed for making loads of fun amid the class time and ensure there was a positive ambience all around.

She was an instructor with great aptitudes of educating, well-disposed nature, great comical inclination, understanding and nice. I am proud to be one of her favourite students, as she always said good things about me to other teachers. At times she gave us chocolates on doing great in the class tests and exams. She never gave us heaps of assignments at home. She was exceptionally eager and constantly spurred us for doing our best in the examination.

Teacher’s In Today’s Scenario

Today the general population are changing and their reasoning and advancement thoughts are more against nature. Presently for the world, a teacher is only a teacher. Various offices and departments only tend to remember them on teachers day during various events and usually do not remember them otherwise. Individuals also share few posts via web-based networking media with respect to teachers and after that just forget them. Individuals overlook a bigger number of things that they are gaining from teachers. Schools and students also praise the teacher’s day event and value the endeavours teachers are doing. This is incredible if individuals ought to pursue the exercises of teachers also.

The genuine present for teachers is when students turn into a decent individual, effective in their vocation and business. Not all teacher are great in instructing and comparatively, not all students resemble “Shishya and Guru” particularly in the advanced period. A few teachers are incredible and they are dependable in heart of students all life along.

Students admire teachers for counsel and direction. Students are inspired by scholastic exercises as well as they are intrigued to pursue their life exercises. That is the reason it’s exceedingly essential for teachers to motivate students to pursue great propensities not terrible by their own precedent. An instruction is critical in everybody’s life and assumes different jobs in various phases of life. It’s imperative that individuals understand the significance of teachers and pursue their teachers in the right spirit.

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Teacher Interview: Tell me more about your teaching experience – Sample answers & More

Experience. Everybody needs to get it somewhere, in a teaching job. Yet in almost every interview in education, they will ask you about your experience in the field. As if you were born with ten years of teaching experience already , or perhaps worked as a teacher in one of your past lives (should you believe in reincarnation). Regardless of whether this question makes sense or not (and in many cases it does not make sense), you will have to deal with it in your interview. So, what does the school principal, or whoever leads the interview with you want to hear from you?

First of all, that you have some experience. Perhaps you taught as a part of your college studies . Or you gave private classes to younger students , in your favorite subject, a subject you excel in. What I try to convey here is that you do not have to work as a teacher to gain teaching experience. In a true sense of a word, we are all teachers . Thinking about raising children for example. No doubt you try to teach them how to behave, how to act towards the others, how to be happy in life, and many other things (such as how to go the toilet, eat food on their own, etc). Do not hesitate to mention such teaching experience should you miss any other…

And secondly, they want to hear enthusiasm in your voice , feel your love for teaching. No doubt teaching isn’t an easy profession , especially nowadays. And no doubt you had your share of problems, challenges you faced with your students. Nevertheless, the positives outweigh the negatives , and you see a meaningful purpose in your teaching role. Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to this interesting question.

7 sample answers to “Tell me more about your teaching experience” interview question

• I’ve been teaching for seven years . Four years at elementary school, and three years at secondary school. Learned a lot along the way, especially what teaching methods work best with various classes and subjects , but also how to deal with problems with discipline , something every teacher faces in this district. I will be honest with you–it wasn’t always an easy ride, and I experienced a few really bad days, days when I considered quitting teaching . But luckily I’ve never done that, because when I look at the bigger picture, and all the good things that happened with the students, I still see teaching as my mission , and as a dream job to have.
• I’ve worked as a Montessori teacher for a year . It was a great experience, and allowed me to experiment with unorthodox teaching methods, something I’d love to apply also in mainstream education–at least to some extent. Teaching by playing , putting emphasis on communication and creativity, I really feel it is the best we can do for the children , to help them develop their full potential. It is the only experience I have so far, but at the same time I believe my education, and all the courses I went to, prepared me for the role of a teacher at an elementary school.

Special Tip: This is just one question you may face while trying to get a job of a teacher, and to be honest, it isn’t the most difficult one . If you want to learn how to answer the really tricky questions , and actually practice your answers and get immediate feedback from a life-like AI interview coach , check out this practice page on our partner website, Real Mock Interviews . Just enter your email, pick one of the interview questions for teachers, and start practicing FOR FREE . It’s fun and you’ll thank me later :).

• This is my first job application , but it doesn’t mean I have no experience with teaching. Since I have always excelled in Math–something many people struggle with, I was earning some extra cash giving private lessons to my classmates at the college. The most important thing I learned during this teaching experience is that individual approach is the key . And I’d love to benefit from this in my first real teaching job, ideally with your school. I cannot wait to get to know the students, and try to help them reach their full potential, and also to enjoy their time at school!
• It may look like I worked only in retail for the past 12 years, but I want to ensure you that as a mother of three, I have had my share of teaching experience . You love your children, but you also want them to become good citizens, and also to teach them many skills so they can do activities without you. And now I do not talk only about bathroom duties. It is also about preparing basic meals, learning to ride a bicycle, taking care of a dog, and other things. I taught my children all these skills and believe I did a good job as their “teacher”. Now, when I feel I am too old to work in sales, I’d like to finally benefit from my French skills, and become a French teacher . And while I never taught anyone French language before, I had great teachers myself, and can benefit from everything I learned from them , from our lessons.
• My teaching experience is mostly from the corporate sphere . Working as a training specialist, I helped new hires learn how to work with the information system we used in the company , and also to ease into their new role. Over the years I worked with all kinds of personalities , and believe to know how to work with adults, how to teach them, which is one of the main reasons why I apply for this job with you. If I should characterize my teaching experience in three words only, I’d call it extensive and eye-opening .
• The only experience I have comes from the obligatory 180 hours we had to teach in the last year at the University. I was assisting teachers in different classes, mostly in History and Geography. And I learned a few important things during this experience. First of all, that we should not idealize our job . Regardless of how hard we try, some students won’t pay attention, and some students will fail to pass the exams. It is how it is, and we have to focus on effort, instead of on results we achieve with the students. Secondly, that I really love this job , and want to teach for years on end, ideally at a high school level. And last but not least, that students have higher expectations nowadays , and unless we want to face problems with attention and discipline, we have to mix it up with innovative teaching methods, and cannot rely on lecturing only.
• I’ve never taught anywhere , but I’ve studied at so many schools and language institutes, and had so many different teachers in life…. And since I am a great observer, I believe I learned how to teach effectively from a position of a student. I saw what worked, and what didn’t in the classes. How the student reacted, including me, when we learned the most, and when we didn’t learn anything. I know it is a bit unorthodox preparation for the role of a teacher. At the same time though, I am ready to prove my words in the job , and I am sure neither you nor the students will be disappointed with me as a teacher…

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky questions you may face in your teaching interview :

• Tell me about yourself – teacher interview.
• What are your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher?
• Teacher interview – Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
• Why do you want to be a teacher?
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Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

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Introduction to the Article by Andrew Stremmel

Now, more than ever, we need to hear the voices of preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers during this pandemic. How has the pandemic affected them? In what ways has the pandemic enabled them to think about the need to really focus on what matters, what’s important? What were the gains and losses? These are very important questions for our time.  In this essay, Alyssa Smith, a senior studying early childhood education, attempts to address the lessons learned from her junior year, focusing on the positive aspects of her coursework and demonstrating an imaginative, growth mindset. This essay highlights the power of students’ reflection on their own learning. But I think it does so much more meaningful contemplation than we might expect of our students in “normal” times. Alyssa gains a new appreciation for this kind of active reflection—the opportunity to think more critically; to be more thoughtful; to stop, step back, catch her breath, and rethink things. As a teacher educator and her mentor, I believe this essay represents how the gift of time to stop and reflect can open space to digest what has been experienced, and how the gift of reflective writing can create a deeper level of thinking about how experiences integrate with one’s larger narrative as a person.

About the Author

Andrew Stremmel, PhD, is professor in early childhood education at South Dakota State University. His research is in teacher action research and Reggio Emilia-inspired, inquiry-based approaches to early childhood teacher education. He is an executive editor of  Voices of Practitioners .  

I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. I could feel my passion guide my work and lead my heart through my classes. So why did I still feel as if something was missing? During the fall of my junior year, the semester right before student teaching, I began to doubt my ability to be a great teacher, as I did not feel completely satisfied in my work. What I did not expect was a global pandemic that would shut down school and move all coursework online. I broke down. I wanted to do more than simply be a good student. I wanted to learn to be a great teacher. How was I supposed to discover my purpose and find what I was missing when I couldn’t even attend my classes? I began to fret that I would never become the capable and inspirational educator that I strived to be, when I was missing the firsthand experience of being in classrooms, interacting with children, and collaborating with peers.

It wasn’t until my first full semester being an online student that I realized the pandemic wasn’t entirely detrimental to my learning. Two of my early childhood education courses, Play and Inquiry and Pedagogy and Curriculum, allowed limited yet meaningful participation in a university lab school as well as engagement with problems of substance that require more intense thinking, discussion, analysis, and thoughtful action. These problems, which I briefly discuss below, presented challenges, provocations, possibilities, and dilemmas to be pondered, and not necessarily resolved. Specifically, they pushed me to realize that the educational question for our time is not, “What do I need to know about how to teach?” Rather, it is, “What do I need to know about myself in the context of this current pandemic?” I was therefore challenged to think more deeply about who I wanted to be as a teacher and who I was becoming, what I care about and value, and how I will conduct myself in the classroom with my students.

These three foundations of teaching practice (who I want to be, what I value, and how I will conduct myself) were illuminated by a question that was presented to us students in one of the very first classes of the fall 2020 semester: “What’s happening right now in your experience that will help you to learn more about yourself and who you are becoming?” This provocation led me to discover that, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light (and at times magnified) many fears and insecurities I had as a prospective teacher, it also provided me with unique opportunities, time to reflect, and surprising courage that I feel would not otherwise have been afforded and appreciated.

Although I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I had never deliberately pondered the idea of what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I held the core values of being an advocate for children and helping them grow as confident individuals, but I still had no idea what teaching style I was to present. Fortunately, the pandemic enabled me to view my courses on play and curriculum as a big “look into the mirror” to discern what matters and what was important about becoming a teacher.

As I worked through the rest of the course, I realized that this project pushed me to think about my identity as an educator in relation to my students rather than simply helping me understand my students, as I initially thought. Instead, a teacher’s identity is formed in relation to or in relationship with our students: We take what we know about our students and use it to shape ourselves and how we teach. I found that I had to take a step back and evaluate my own perceptions and beliefs about children and who I am in relation to them. Consequently, this motivated me to think about myself as a classroom teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. What did I know about children that would influence the way I would teach them?

I thought about how children were resilient, strong, and adaptable, possessing an innate ability to learn in nearly any setting. While there were so many uncertainties and fear surrounding them, they adapted to mask-wearing, limited children in the classroom, and differentiated tasks to limit cross-contamination. Throughout, the children embodied being an engaged learner. They did not seem to focus on what they were missing; their limitless curiosity could not keep them from learning. Yet, because young children learn primarily through relationships, they need some place of learning that helps them to have a connection with someone who truly knows, understands, and cares about them. Thus, perhaps more than any lesson, I recognized my relationship with children as more crucial. By having more time to think about children from this critical perspective, I felt in my heart the deeper meaning children held to me.

My compassion for children grew, and a greater respect for them took shape, which overall is what pushed me to see my greater purpose for who I want to be as an educator. The pandemic provided time to develop this stronger vision of children, a clearer understanding of how they learn, and how my identity as a teacher is formed in relationship with children. I don’t think I would have been able to develop such a rich picture of how I view children without an in-depth exploration of my identity, beliefs, and values.

In my curriculum course, I was presented a different problem that helped me reflect on who I am becoming as an educator. This was presented as a case study where we as students were asked the question, “Should schools reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?” This was a question that stumped school districts around the nation, making me doubt that I would be able to come up with anything that would be remotely practical. I now was experiencing another significant consequence of the pandemic: a need for new, innovative thinking on how to address state-wide academic issues. My lack of confidence, paired with the unknowns presented by the pandemic, made me feel inadequate to take on this problem of meaning.

To address this problem, I considered more intentionally and reflectively what I knew about how children learn; issues of equity and inequality that have led to a perceived achievement gap; the voices of both teachers and families; a broader notion of what school might look like in the “new normal”; and the role of the community in the education of young children. Suddenly, I was thinking in a more critical way about how to address this problem from the mindset of an actual and more experienced teacher, one who had never faced such a conundrum before. I knew that I had to design a way to allow children to come back into a classroom setting, and ultimately find inspiration for learning in this new normal. I created this graphic (above) to inform families and teachers why it is vital to have students return to school. As a result, I became an educator. I was now thinking, feeling, and acting as a teacher. This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed.

John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Learning may begin in the classroom, but it does not end there. Likewise, teaching is not a role, but a way of being. The ability to connect with children and to engage them meaningfully depends less on the methods we use than on the degree to which we know and trust ourselves and are willing to share that knowledge with them. That comes through continually reflecting on who we are in relation to children and their families, and what we do in the classroom to create more meaningful understanding of our experiences. By embodying the role of being an educator, I grew in ways that classroom curriculum couldn't prepare me for. Had it not been for the pandemic, this might not have been possible.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . New York: MacMillan.

Alyssa Marie Smith  is currently an early childhood education student studying at South Dakota State University. She has been a student teacher in the preschool lab on campus, and now works as a kindergarten out of school time teacher in this same lab school. In the fall, she plans to student teach in an elementary setting, and then go on to teach in her own elementary classroom.

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My Student Teaching Experience

A publish.illinois.edu site.

Goodbye Student Teaching

When reflecting on this semester of student teaching, there have been so many challenges, so many celebrations, and so much that I have learned. I have been pushed beyond my comfort zone, and I have grown as a teacher immensely. It is hard for me to only talk about a few of the takeaways that I have gained from this semester!

First, I have learned the importance of messing up. I know, this sounds crazy, but I have found myself so nervous about screwing something up. I expected to always plan the perfect lesson, explain everything perfectly, and have everything go smoothly and as planned. And let me be the first to say, this is rarely the case. I have learned how important it is to accept that we are not perfect teachers, and neither are our cooperating teachers! We all have things to learn, and my student teaching experience has taught me how to learn from my mistakes rather than letting them eat away at me. I learned something from my cooperating teacher and from the students almost every day, and being open to this and vulnerable allowed me to grow, adapt, and think on my feet! Having these experiences is the true life of a teacher.

With being honest about my mistakes and imperfections, I was able to also form stronger connections with the students. This is another takeaway from the semester. I have always valued forming strong relationships with my students in order to create the best learning environment for them, but I was able to truly see the value of this throughout the semester. Being the first placement where I was able to be with the students every day of the week, I was able to see the growth of my relationships with them from day to day over the course of the semester. I was honestly intimidated working with older, gifted students coming in, but I worked hard to break down their walls and get to know them as individuals. I have loved getting to know each of my students likes, dislike, strengths, and weaknesses. I believe that this has helped me better teach them and has made my classroom a happier place to learn!

Finally, I have learned the importance of having an open mind. You can walk into any classroom and see completely different environments, teaching styles, student personalities, curriculum, resources, etc. It is so easy to have your own ways and your own approaches to teaching, disregarding anything else that you encounter. I have learned that opening up to approaches and styles that I am not particularly used to is beneficial to help me learn more ways that I can help my students and to also learn more about what I like and dislike as a teacher. Rarely does anyone have a perfect student teaching placement. I am fortunate to have enjoyed mine, but I have also learned that there is value in learning about what you do not want to do as a teacher just as much as learn what you do want to do. It is so important to continue being open minded so that you can leave room to grow into a more effective teacher!

I have really enjoyed my student teaching experience despite all of its hardships and challenges. I found myself in very low points but also in very high points throughout the semester, but I can clearly see how it has all grown me as a teacher, and I feel as though I can confidently walk into whatever classroom I will be teaching in next year. I cannot believe that the time has come for my own classroom; I can hardly wait!

Nearing the End

As the semester is winding down, I have been truly experiencing one of the best parts of teaching, the relationships that are formed. I am becoming so sad to be leaving these kids soon, and I am reminded of why I love this job so much. As teachers we spend the majority of the day with our students. While they may drive us crazy many days, it is inevitable that there will be relationships formed and connections made that leave lasting impressions. I will miss these kids and the adventures that they bring to me each day.

I have learned the value of making these connections from day one. My relationships with these kids have been building each day, and it is amazing to see how far they’ve come. I have learned how intentionally forming these relationships plays such an important role in the environment and community of the classroom. Because I was able to form these connections, getting to know my students on an individual level, I was able to see more success, more engagement, and more collaboration in my classroom. I have built mutual respect and rapport within my classroom, and I have seen the benefit of these relationships in several ways. First, I had a student simply tell me how great of a teacher I was and how they want me to stay. This was so incredible to hear, and I was so touched by this comment. Also, I have seen students opening up to me and instinctively coming to me with their comments and questions. I have loved watching this grow with my relationships formed. They truly consider me their teacher and trust me and my abilities enough to come to me rather than my cooperating teacher. I know that this is developed from my relationships with them and the openness that I have tried to instill from the very beginning. For example, we were working on vocabulary words, and each student would come to me with their questions. Whether that be, “Does this definition work?” or “What do you think of my stick figure drawings?” I have loved getting to experience the benefits of forming strong relationships with my students.

As a future teacher, I cannot wait to build these relationships with my own students. I realize the importance of forming this open and loving community, and I intend to begin intentionally forming these relationships and building respect and rapport in my classroom from day one. Although the end of the semester is sad and sentimental, I am happy to see how far I’ve come as a teacher and the development of my relationships with the students.

Sticking to Expectations

Something that I have realized is really difficult is having to stay 100% true to your expectations, especially when you are not a part of establishing the expectations from the beginning of the year. I was able to establish my own behavior procedures and expectations since I have been in the classroom, but I also struggle with breaking the students of old habits in order to follow these expectations. Part of this is a result of my cooperating teacher having different expectations than myself, but I have been working hard to earn my students’ respect throughout this semester, and nothing beats seeing breakthroughs!

One behavior issue that I have noticed from the very beginning is the talking and how they walk in the hallways. I have noticed that when the students are asked to be quiet, they usually take this as instruction to just be “quieter” rather than completely silent. I struggled with this because my cooperating teaching allowed this habit to continue on often, and I knew that this was something that I needed to break coming into full takeover. When I established my points system (where the students or myself gain a point based on their responsiveness to instruction), the students began holding one another accountable because they cared if they didn’t earn a point. I loved seeing the students take ownership of their responsibility, urging others to do the same. While this is still hard to manage at times, I have learned the value of simply waiting. This was hard to do at first knowing the many things we had to get through in a day, but when I stay patient and refuse to start the lesson without them being completely silent, they notice and remind one another to stay quiet. When they see me waiting or walking towards the point chart, the students say to one another, “Shhh. You have to be quiet” or “She’s waiting on us guys!” I have loved seeing this habit of theirs change!

I have also noticed that the students struggle to walk in the hallway in a line and quietly. This began to drive me crazy, so I started using the same approach as I did with their talking. I made sure that they knew the expectation, and then I would just wait. Some students caught on and said, “Get in line!” and “Guys be quiet or we aren’t going!” I once was waiting in the classroom to let them in, and a student noticed that they were not being let in when they normally would be. This student then reminded the others to get in a line and maybe they would be let in. When they did this, I let them in, and they have done a much better line doing this without multiple reminders! I have learned the value of patience and staying true to your expectations. This has helped strengthen the respect between the students and myself!

A Role of Influence

I have always valued the role I play as a teacher in the growth of my students. While the importance of academic growth in students is obvious, I also recognize the importance of each student’s social and emotional growth as well. As a teacher, I have a powerful influence on my students’ growth in each of these areas of their lives, and I was able to see the importance of this influential role during this past week.

There was a case of bullying involving several of my students this week. Apparently, there was an escalation of name calling in the lunchroom involving several of our students and several students from a different classroom. The students in my class refrained from sharing what happened for some time, but they eventually pulled my cooperating teacher aside and let her know. They were obviously upset because of it. When my cooperating teacher filled me in on this situation, she explained that she was going to hold a class meeting at the end of the day. I was curious as to how my cooperating teacher was going to address this situation and how the class/students involved were going to react.

When it came time for my cooperating teacher to begin the meeting, she started by sharing a personal story that occurred earlier that day. She had shared an article on Facebook in appreciation of a multicultural event at a local high school. She explained to the class, in tears, the harsh response that one of her family members left on this post. This interaction was shared with the intention of teaching the kids how to handle a situation where someone is bullying or disrespecting you. She was only able to share this emotional story before the bell rang, but we continued this discussion the following morning. Walking out of class, one of the students was in tears. I was happy to be able to show her that I am there for her and care for her. It was very interesting to both observe and contribute to a conversation with the class the next morning where students shared personal feelings and perspectives involving bullying. When discussing how to handle a situation where someone is being mean to them, one student shared, “You should ignore the person and just walk away.” Another student said, “You should be sarcastic back.” Finally, another student said, “You should be nice to them.” It was very eye-opening to see the various responses and experiences that these students had. This opened an important conversation on how to be an upstander, show kindness to others regardless of your feelings, and how to encourage one another to do this.

I had a mindset lesson planned immediately following this discussion, and I was able to alter the context so that it could relate to this important lesson on bullying that we were learning. I had the students each come up to the board and share a word or phrase of encouragement. They silently watched what each student was writing, and then we reflected on the different types of ways that people are encouraged. By the end of the lesson, I had the students write encouraging letters to “a discouraged person” in general, making sure to include that this person can be themselves. I agreed not to read the letters unless invited to, and I plan to return the letter to the student if they are discouraged throughout the remainder of the year. I was able to see the influence that this discussion and activity had on these students, realizing the important influence that we as teachers have on students’ social and emotional growth. I am thankful to hold this important role.

Managing A Full Plate

This week was anything but calm, and I definitely got to experience what a hectic week looks like as a teacher. This week, I had to balance edTPA, full takeover, and interviews. It was hard and exhausting, but I was able to accomplish a lot. With that being said, I averaged about 2 hours of sleep a night and was definitely thankful for the weekend to come.

I finally turned my edTPA in this week, and I have been working day and night to get everything done just the way I wanted it. It was a good experience going through it, but it took a lot of time and hard work. I learned the value of reflecting on your teaching and purposes for your lessons, and this experience definitely allowed me to think about my teaching in a way that I never had before. I was able to connect my choices and practices as a teacher to my knowledge of the students and to ongoing assessment of their success. Although the edTPA drove me insane at times, I do see the benefit of intentionally planning lessons, reflecting on your teaching, and using assessments to guide further instruction. I was able to learn more about my students through this experience as well. With all that being said, I am very happy that I am done with it!

This past week was my first week of official full takeover. I was very nervous going into this week, but I quickly realized that full takeover is not as intimidating as I thought! It’s crazy how prepared you actually are for it, even more so than you’d expect. I basically was already in full takeover, so it was a smooth transition, and I am thankful for that. I really enjoyed having the class all to myself. Honestly, it is hard sharing responsibilities with my cooperating teacher because its easy be on different pages about some things and to plan days differently. We needed to be in constant communication, which is fine, but it is nice being able to plan my days exactly how I want them to look. I realized though, full takeover means dealing with the hard and not-so-great aspects as well. I have been dealing with behavior management and parents leading up to this week, but it was tough fully taking over those responsibilities. I learned about how to manage poor behavior while still keeping the rest of the class on track. It is definitely hard to handle certain situations while still keeping the rest of the class focused, but having full takeover has been a good way to experience the big picture of what everyday teaching looks like.

Also thrown into this week were two interviews. I had one interview at a local elementary school with a interview team of 8 teachers and a principal. This was intimidating, but it was definitely a good experience. I also had an observation interview for a position at a local school, and I liked this better, but I was also a nervous wreck leading up to it. For the interview with the interview team, I was very nervous about the questions they were going to ask and how I would respond. I prepared as much as I could with practice interview questions and research on the school, but I learned that just relaxing and being yourself is what goes the furthest. To my surprise, I found myself laughing and joking with the interviewers and walked away a lot more comfortable than I started. With the observation interview, I was really nervous planning the lesson. I was overthinking it and trying to make it very elaborate. My cooperating teacher advised me to just do what I normally do. This seems simple, but she was right. My normal teaching is what the principal wanted to see, and he ended up loving it! After the fact, I learned the value of just being myself despite the pressure of an interviewing setting.

The “Not-So-Shiny” Part of Teaching

This past week I was able to experience the challenge of dealing with difficult behavior and difficult parents. This is the not so joyful part of teaching, but it has definitely been teaching me a lot. After having helped complete this trimester’s report cards, I knew that some students were going to be upset and some parents were going to reach out with their concerns. Sure enough, I was faced with some e-mail that I needed to respond to, and I feel as though I had a positive experience learning how to interact with parents in this way. I also had to write up several students for the first time as they were misbehaving during one of my lessons. While this was hard to do, it was a good lesson for both my students and myself on expectations and establishing the respect and rapport in the classroom that is so important.

After sending home the report card grades, there were a few that I knew the parents were not going to be so excited about. These students hold themselves to high expectations, as do their parents. I had a few parents reach out with questions regarding their child’s grade, and my teacher allowed me to send the e-mails in response. I learned how I was able to address the parents’ concerns in a way that was respectful and backed up by data. It was challenging to determine the best possible wording and points to include, but with my cooperating teacher’s help, I was able to successfully send out e-mails that satisfied the parents’ concerns and continued building respect between them and myself. It was very encouraging to see such positive responses from them, and I have learned a lot about how to approach difficult conversations with parents.

Another difficult situation that I was faced with was dealing with misbehavior in the classroom. I had a group of four girls at a table in my classroom who were clearly not focused on the lesson and were writing notes to one another. I noticed this, and gave them a verbal warning to stay on task. Later on in the lesson, I saw them continuing to write notes to one another. So, I collected the sheet of paper they were writing on, and read through it. It was not about the lesson whatsoever, and it even had a part where one of the girls told the others to flip the paper over if I walk by so that they do not get written up. I knew that I had to get them minor slips for this, especially since I had warned them. They know the expectations. At the end of the lesson, I gave them their slips and explained to them why they were receiving them. They argued and were upset, but I stood my ground and respectfully reminded them that they knew the expectations and were warned already. This was a very difficult situation for me because, of course, no one likes disciplining their students. I want to have positive relationships with them. I know that although they were not happy with me at the time, that this will strengthen our classroom environment moving forward and will help with my development of behavior management skills.

Conquering the Interview

As I mentioned in my last entry, I had my first official job interview, aside from the job fair, this past Friday. I was a nervous wreck going into this interview for several reasons. First, I didn’t know what to expect. Second, I was afraid of not knowing how to answer a questions or answering it incorrectly. Third, I was nervous that I was going to show how nervous I was. I just wanted to go in having the confidence and knowledge that I needed to win over the interviewer’s heart, but I realized after the fact that it’s definitely possible to overthink how to approach an interview.

I prepared myself very well for this interview. I met with two principals and a vice principal to seek advice about interviewing, I researched all of the common questions asked and ways to best answer them, I researched information about the district, I went through a mock interview with my principal, I practiced at the job fair and reviewed my conversations there, I made a long list of buzzwords, I practiced my responses, I carefully thought of several lessons that I could specifically bring up, I wrote down tips to keep in mind, and I picked out the perfect interviewing outfit. It was exhausting! While I know that preparing is a good thing to do when you have an upcoming interview, it didn’t take long for me to realize that it’s all about knowing yourself and trusting your experience thus far.

My principal gave me good advice that calmed me down. He said, “just going in, be personable and make small talk. Connect with the interviewer and just be yourself. You know what you know, so don’t pretend like you know something you don’t.” I loved this advice because it is true and realistic. So often, people try to pretend like they’ve have experiences or know information that they don’t. Do your research, of course, but I realized that the key to having a good interview is to reflect. Realizing this made me wonder why I didn’t realize this earlier since being an Elementary Education major means constantly reflecting, but it’s true! After simply reflecting on my experiences, what lessons went well, what did not, relationships I have had with my kids, with staff, with parents, how I have experienced behavior management, etc., I was able to not only more quickly and effectively share personal examples of why I believe the things I believe, but how my perspectives and passions as a teacher have played out. I realized that talking about these experiences naturally brought out my excitement and passion for teaching rather than just speaking hypothetically about how I will run my classroom.

It was such a wonderful experience to realize that I am prepared and I am a teacher. It is easy to slip into the mindset that all we can talk about is what we will do when we are teachers, but we have been trained well and have had so many rich learning experiences, and nothing beats being able to reflect on those and how I’ve grown as a teacher and allowing my potential future employer to see this shine through me as well! Overall, the interview was a success in my eyes!

The Job Hunt

It has been crazy but also exciting beginning the job search process. I have been learning about the characteristics of good resumes and cover letters, how to interview well, and how to fill out the insanely detailed job applications. I will also be attending my first ever job fair tomorrow, so I have been learning about how to prepare for it and what to expect.

I never thought that I would be editing my resume for as long as I have been. I have been changing minor details here and there, but I was shocked to see how many different opinions on resumes there are. I took it to my principal, vice-principal, and then to the principal of another school in my district that I know well. All three of these administrators have very different opinions of what changes to make to my resume, and I found myself in a stressful situation where I didn’t know whose advice to take. I have learned that all administrators will have different opinions and perspectives on what a high quality resume looks like, and that it takes my own judgment to decide which pieces of advice to take and which to leave. I also have been learning a lot about writing cover letters. Writing these have been very time consuming because I am trying to personalize each cover letter to the district that I am applying to. This has been tedious, but I think that it will be beneficial to not only be educated on each district, but to paint a picture of why I am a good candidate for them. It has been difficult keeping both my resume and cover letters brief, but I have been able to reflect on all of my experiences and which points take priority over the others.

I have been so lucky to have administrators at my student teaching placement that want to help me succeed so much. They have been so helpful, and I have already been observed by my principal and we have a mock interview set up. They have given me helpful interview advice, and I feel more prepared entering the process of searching for a job, especially since I will be having my first official interview in less than a week!

Prepping for the job fair has been interesting because I do not really know what to expect. I am kind of imagining it like speed dating for the education world. I know this sounds crazy, but we will get just a few minutes at each district’s booth to impress them and hopefully make a connection with the representatives. I have been preparing by finalizing my resume and cover letters for each district I am interested, packing them nicely in a padfolio, picking out a professional outfit, and determining what I am going to say when I go to each booth. I am excited and nervous all at the same time, but getting my feet wet in this process has taught me a lot about my strengths and weaknesses and the importance of reflecting on my teaching experiences so that I can eloquently share them with potential employers!

The Balance of Friend & Teacher

Something that I’ve been learning throughout student teaching is the importance of connections, and by connections I mean with the kids. While it is important to establish and maintain the role as a teacher in their eyes, it is also so important to connect with them and be their friend to some extent. I have had teachers throughout my life who do a great job at this, and I have also had teachers who have not. The school years that have left the greatest impression on me have been with those teachers who really took the time to get to know me and showed me that they cared. To be honest, I normally feel like I do this well with my students throughout all of the placements I have had thus far. I felt like I had a slightly more difficult time doing this as much as I’d like to this semester. I feel like I came in kind of intimidated by the fact that they were gifted students and were older than any other grade I’ve worked with before, so I think that I subconsciously had this expectation that they were going to be unwilling to connect with me and were going to care more about what I teach them as opposed to our relationship. With tht being said, I am happy to say that I was wrong and that these kids are longing for connections that I’ve been so grateful to give to them.

I have learned that although these students have the label of “gifted” on them, they still need a teacher who will love them and not just worry all of the time about pushing them further academically. Yes, this is important, but I have made it my personal goal this semester to break these kids and relate to them personally. Doing this and reaching out to them individually has been such a wonderful experience. I have learned about the students’ likes and dislikes, what they are nervous about, how they work and what issues they are dealing with. I have loved being able to make them smile by asking about an event they mentioned they have over the weekend or by simply greeting them in the morning and asking how they are doing. As I mentioned earlier on, I started a behavior management system called “Mystery Student” where I can award a mystery student a prize at the end of each day if I believe he or she followed expectations. I have had so much fun with this, but I realized how this has also given me the opportunity to show them that I know them and care for them personally. I have been able to pick out interests of individual students and give them a prize that I know they would love. For instance, I just gave a kid a spatula as a prize yesterday! I know, it sounds crazy, but this kid was ecstatic. He has some obsession with spatulas, so recognizing this and giving him this spatula as his reward was so fun to witness. I have also been able to notice the mutual respect that the students and I share based on our conversations. The students will ask me about my likes, will joke with me, and will even encourage me! I was observed yesterday, and as a student was leaving the classroom to go to him math class he said, “Good luck Miss Salerno. You can do it!” It is moments like these that make me so happy.

In summary, I have loved getting to know these students. I was discouraged at first because I felt like it was taking longer than normal to connect with them, but I feel like we have gotten to a really good place where we have mutual respect and care for each other. Forming these connections is not only personally valuable, but it creates such a positive environment for the entire class. Creating friendly community within the classroom plays such a role in the class’s success, and I have loved learning this throughout my placements.

Teacher Tips

As were quickly approaching the half way point of student teaching, I have learned a lot about planning and organization. I have not always been the most organized person prior to college, but as I prepare to be a teacher, I have learned the importance that planning ahead and being organized holds. I have had my fair share of experiences with teachers who are not organized, and this not only is overwhelming for the teacher, but for the students as well. On the other hand, I have also encountered many teachers who were more organized that I knew was possible. There are so many lessons, data, files, etc. that teachers need to keep track of over time, so being organized is a must. Along with organization comes preparation. Planning is also something that I have had a lot of practice with so far during student teacher, and nothing feels better than feeling like you are in control of your teaching life.

Am I perfect at this? No. I find myself scrambling at the last second to find something I need or will wait a little too long to plan a lesson, but planning and being organized is often an overlooked skill that teachers must practice and get ahold of. I chose to write about this because we are in a time of extreme busyness with lesson planning, edTPA, and classes. I constantly feel overwhelmed with everything that is on our plates and will often let that stress get the best of me, but I have also found ways to tackle this workload head on.

As for organization, I created a binder with tabs for all things that I had to keep track of at the beginning of the semester. This has helped me both physically and mentally separate all of the tasks and assignments that I need to keep track of. Also, I wouldn’t survive without my planner. Having a place where you can write daily notes and reminders as well as keeping a constant to do list from week to week has been very helpful for me and my sanity. These two things, along with also having a place both at school and at home to organize your teacher supplies are ways that I have learned to be organized.

As for planning, I have found it very beneficial to keep a schedule and do my best to stick to it. It is so important to keep constant communication with my cooperating teacher and to make good use out of any plan time that I get. One reason that I wanted to talk about planning is because we had a teacher planning day this past week. As a soon-to-be teacher, I now realize the greatness of extra time to plan. We had a full school day without kids dedicated to planning. It was amazing! I have learned the importance of staying on track and being mindful of how I spend my time. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it.

My Experience as Teacher

This personal essay will explore the author’s experiences and reflections as a teacher. It will cover the challenges, rewards, and valuable lessons learned in the classroom. The piece will discuss the impact of teaching on personal growth and the influence teachers have on their students’ lives and learning. PapersOwl showcases more free essays that are examples of Behavior Modification.

How it works

I am applying for the post of teacher at the Catholic University on the request of Mater on his position. I am graduated in Bachelor of Arts with English Literature and Language from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. I have chosen this degree to fulfil my dream of becoming an English teacher. I found that, I love teaching in my first year of college. At that time, I was a Sunday school teacher, who teaches and serves the girls aged between 10-14 years old.

Since then only, I realized that I had been gifted with the talent of teaching. When I was in primary school, my English teacher inspires me the most towards teaching and loving the English language generally. I want to become an English teacher one day and my dream is fulfilled now.

When I was young, I had seen how amazingly teachers have changed the lives of my friends. I wanted to share the same relationship with the students of new generation. I wanted to love, teach and be a source of inspiration of their lives. Nothing is more joyful than witnessing god’s work within me, helping and supporting our young generation. I believe that god has a plan for me to work for the students by giving me the ability of teaching, loving and caring every student with whom I met daily, as the god says ‘let the little children come to me, do not forbid them in the kingdom of god’.

Hanging out the whole day with children keeps you young and ensures that your vocabulary, fashion and your music tastes becomes latest and relevant. As a teacher we make a massive difference in the lives of young peoples, even don’t realizing it. Teachers don’t know that how many kids are keeping their words in their soul and follow the path shown by the teachers and this teaching goes on transferring from one generation to another.You always learn new skills. You come in this field to learn Mathematics, Science or English and now you run clubs, referee sports days, break up fights, do counseling and learn an impressive array of arts and crafts in those pesky off-timetable days. Days do not remain similar forever. I am an English teacher in Egypt since 5 years. I have good experience in English teaching at private schools and learning centers in Cairo (attached an experience letter from one of my school).

I have good skills to become proficient in my career. I have excellent communication skills that help me to explain the courses in the curriculum in the different ways to students having diverse learning styles and abilities. I have superior interpersonal skills, such as patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations. My collaborative skills enable me to work productively with my colleagues. While planning the topics to motivate students and hold their interest in the class, Creativity and presentation skills are very important. Other than this, I have the ability to adjust and modify the study materials that is fit for meeting the children’s education needs” plus, the variety of teaching strategies and disciplinary techniques. My personal experience as a Sunday school teacher for 5 year has enhanced my personal skills. Working as a teacher aide in Australia for the last 3 years, has a big influence on my skills and abilities. Observing the teachers teaching from prep to grade 6 daily, is gives me the opportunities to expand my repertoire of teaching strategies and learning more about the education system in Australia. Throughout my career, I constantly adjust and adapt my approach as reflect on my past experiences and improve on them.

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Essay on Teaching Experience

Students are often asked to write an essay on Teaching Experience in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Teaching Experience

Introduction.

Teaching is a noble profession that shapes the character and future of individuals. It is a rewarding experience that involves imparting knowledge and values to learners.

The Role of a Teacher

A teacher plays an important role in molding the intellectual and moral values of students. They guide students towards their goals and inspire them to become better individuals.

Challenges in Teaching

Teaching is not without challenges. It requires patience, understanding, and the ability to adapt to different learning styles. A good teacher turns these challenges into opportunities for growth.

In conclusion, teaching is a fulfilling profession. It allows one to make a significant impact on the lives of students.

250 Words Essay on Teaching Experience

The essence of teaching experience, impacting lives.

Teachers have the potential to shape the minds of their students, influencing their thoughts, actions, and futures. This responsibility, while immense, also makes teaching an incredibly rewarding experience. Teachers can witness the fruits of their labor as students grasp new concepts, overcome challenges, and grow as individuals.

The Learning Curve

Teaching is an iterative process. With each class, teachers refine their methods, adapting to the unique needs and capabilities of their students. This constant evolution is a significant part of the teaching experience. It fosters a growth mindset, encouraging teachers to continually learn and adapt.

Building Relationships

The relationships formed in the classroom are another crucial aspect of the teaching experience. Teachers often become mentors, guiding students not just acadically, but emotionally and socially as well. These relationships can have a profound impact on both the teacher and the student, often lasting well beyond the confines of the classroom.

In conclusion, the teaching experience is multifaceted, encompassing the transmission of knowledge, personal growth, and relationship building. It is an enriching journey that leaves an indelible mark on both the teacher and the student. As educators, we should strive to make the most of this experience, using it to shape future generations in the best way possible.

500 Words Essay on Teaching Experience

The significance of teaching experience.

Teaching is a profession that incorporates a multitude of roles. A teacher is not only an instructor, but also a mentor, a guide, a motivator, and a role model. Teaching experience, therefore, is not just about the number of years spent in a classroom, but rather, the depth of understanding and skills a teacher has developed through these years.

Enhancing Pedagogical Skills

Understanding student psychology.

Teaching experience also provides insight into student psychology. Experienced teachers are more adept at identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses, and can tailor their teaching methods to cater to individual needs. They understand the importance of emotional intelligence in teaching, recognizing that a student’s emotional state can significantly impact their learning ability. Hence, experienced teachers are often better at fostering a positive, supportive classroom environment.

Curriculum Development and Adaptation

A teacher’s experience significantly contributes to curriculum development and adaptation. Experienced teachers have a broad understanding of the curriculum and are better equipped to design lessons that align with the curriculum’s objectives. They can also adapt the curriculum to the local context, ensuring that the lessons are relevant and meaningful to the students.

Professional Development

In conclusion, teaching experience is a multifaceted concept that goes beyond the number of years spent in a classroom. It encompasses the development of pedagogical skills, understanding of student psychology, curriculum development and adaptation, and professional growth. Teaching experience, therefore, is a critical factor in the effectiveness of a teacher and the quality of education students receive. It is a journey of continuous learning and growth, shaping not only the teacher’s professional life but also the lives of the students they teach.

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My Student Teaching Experience: Lessons Learned

The student teaching experience allows you to put everything that you’ve learned about education and your subject matter into action. You get to test the waters under the supervision of an experienced teacher who can guide you along and help you become the kind of teacher that you want to be. If you embrace the opportunity, you can learn a lot from the experience. In fact, here are some things that I learned during my time as a student teacher .

Prepare for the Unexpected While Student Teaching

During my student teaching experience, I spent a lot of time preparing each lesson plan . I worked hard to research different ways to present the information for each lesson. I looked for activities that my students would enjoy, and I made sure that I had all of the materials and other things that I needed before class started. Even then, there were always things that would go wrong. Technology would fail. Students would complete activities quicker than planned. Or students would require much more time and explanation than expected.

As such, I realized that I needed to be prepared as much as possible, but, more importantly, I needed to prepare to be flexible. You never know what’s going to come up or what will catch the students’ attention. When creating lessons, remember that you need to be prepared for changes. Figure out alternative activities in order to help your day go as smoothly as possible and allow your students to gain the most from the lessons.

Make Friends

Teaching is difficult. You’re going to have rough days, and you’re going to need help sometimes. Introduce yourself to the librarian, cafeteria staff, administrators, custodians, secretaries, and other teachers. Of course, finding a teaching mentor is always a good idea. As I talked to other teachers about lessons that I was working on, they had plenty of suggestions for activities that I could use. I loved getting ideas for tried and true activities for my students, but I also enjoyed the tips and ideas that they could provide to help me grow as a teacher. They could also help you land a teaching job, too.

Not only can making friends prove to help you as a teacher, but it can also make your day more fun. Rather than eating lunch in your room every day to catch up on work, go to the lunch room and mingle with other teachers. Talk to teachers on the playground. Use the time to get to know others, and you just might end up making a friend for life.

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“dare to disturb the universe:” be fearless as a student teacher.

In high school, I had a teacher who always encouraged us to “dare to disturb the universe” as quoted from T.S. Eliot’s poem, “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock .” To me, this meant that we shouldn’t be afraid to do something different or to think outside of the box. When it came to student teaching, I found that I needed to listen to this advice again. I wanted to excel. I wanted to get great recommendations from my cooperating teacher, and I wanted my students to really learn the concepts.

What I found was that student teaching was the perfect time to think outside of the box and try different things. If they didn’t work, they didn’t work. At least, I got to try them in a safe environment. And in the process, I got to work on vital skills for teaching, such as classroom management. Luckily, I had an awesome cooperating teacher who set me free to try new things. Of course, it was always helpful to have my cooperating teacher review my lesson plans and advise me on things that I could do to improve my ideas to ensure that they were viable in the classroom.

Show Confidence

Confidence is crucial for a great student teaching experience. Students need to see that their teacher knows what he or she is talking about. They need a teacher that demands respect. When I first started as a student teacher, I was awkward and unsure of myself. I wasn’t sure what my cooperating teacher would think, and I worried about how my students would perceive this teacher who didn’t look old enough to teach in the first place.

As I fell into my groove and gained more confidence as a teacher , I found that my students not only respected me but felt more comfortable talking to me, too. Confidence meant I could be myself while still demanding respect from my students and colleagues.

Get Involved

Immersing yourself and taking advantage of every opportunity afforded to you can really enrich your student teaching experience. One of my biggest regrets as a student teacher was that I didn’t get involved more. Sure, I attended all of the meetings and met with parents. With the amount of work I put into creating lessons, I chose not to volunteer in after school activities, for example. I wish that I would have taken the opportunity to get more involved. You can gain more experience, meet more people, and find a new niche within the teaching community.

Seek Feedback on Your Student Teaching

One of the most important lessons that I learned was the importance of feedback. During your student teaching experience, you want to find ways to improve your teaching skills. Don’t be afraid to ask your cooperating teacher for advice. When observing you in action, he or she will notice things that you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe you use too many filler words, look at the floor too often, or stand in one place the entire time. Your cooperating teacher can point out these things to you, so you can make the necessary changes to improve.

More than just asking for feedback, you need to have a good attitude about the information that you receive. What will you do with this information? I found that when I was teachable and willing to hear criticism, I saw greater improvements in my teaching and increases in my confidence.

Student teaching was a great experience. It had its ups and downs, but I became a better teacher by working to make the most of my experience and looking for opportunities to learn.  

A Teacher’s Experience: What I Learned Working in Online Schools

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With increasing participation of both teachers and students in digital learning, opportunities to better educate our youth are at an all-time high.

Technological advancements have transformed the school house into a limitless portal of accessible knowledge. Today more than 1.5 million K-12 students are engaged in some kind of online learning, according to The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Further, in a 2013 report titled “ Keeping Pace With K-12 Online Learning ,” the Evergreen Education Group identified 30 states that offer full-time, multi-district online-school options in their education systems. Such schools accounted for an estimated 310,000 enrolled students receiving a full education regardless of their geographic location—an option that would not have been possible without online-learning technology.

Editors’ note: Earlier this month, Education Week Teacher blogger Anthony Cody published a guest post in which a teacher chronicled the difficulties and frustrations she experienced in working for an online charter school. This article was submitted to us by another former online-teacher, now a university professor, in relation to that piece.

I have over 16 years of experience teaching mathematics in traditional public schools, universities, and online schools. Following several years at traditional schools, I began teaching online through K12 Inc. , a national operator of online and blended schools. I spent eight wonderful years working as an online teacher, primarily through one of K12’s partner schools, California Virtual Academy, working closely with teams of dedicated teachers, educators, and school leaders who shared a passion for meeting the education needs of every child. I held many roles at K12, including high school mathematics teacher, Title I teacher, and a lead teacher. Through my experiences, I came to realize much about the dynamic nature of online education and the potential it has to accelerate individualized learning.

First, it must be said that online schooling is not for everyone. It is not for every student, nor is it for every teacher. Some individuals are not well-suited for online schools, just as others are not well-suited for traditional schools. Both education models have unique characteristics that, depending on the person, can be seen as an advantage or disadvantage.

A Different Mindset

That does not mean, however, that one model is inherently better than the other. Unfortunately, a false narrative exists that traditional and online education models are in conflict with one another. From that narrative springs a number of myths and misconceptions. For example, one of the more common myths about online learning is that teaching online is easier than teaching face-to-face. I disagree. Teaching at an online school does not require any less professionalism, training, or education than are required at a traditional school. In fact, I would argue there is an increased level of diligence, compassion, and understanding required when teaching online. At the end of the day, no matter what your teaching platform, you are still a teacher, responsible for encompassing all that this prestigious title represents. Online teaching isn’t “easier” or “harder"; it is simply different, requiring a different mindset for both teachers and students alike.

On my first day as a teacher at a traditional public high school, I was eager to teach a new and impressionable group of learners. I came prepared with my syllabus and the lesson for the day, and I was able to immediately interact and connect with my students. My first day of online teaching varied little in terms of my excitement and enthusiasm. I prepared my syllabus and the lesson for the day and looked forward to meeting my students. However, I found myself waiting for my students to interact with me.

At first, I was bothered by the silence. Why weren’t they coming to me to seek all of the knowledge I wanted to impart to them? In the past, it required little more than walking into the classroom. The learning environment we shared was tangible; it was set in a single place and time. However, I soon realized my mindset was part of the problem. I couldn’t just expect students to reach out to me. In the online environment, I had to do more than just deliver content and wait for engagement. It was about building the teacher-student relationship in a different and dynamic way.

My interactions with students in online schools took place whenever and wherever the need arose. I met “virtually” with students where they were. This often occurred with the use of newer communication technologies like web-conferencing, email, text and instant messaging, as well as with traditional methods such as phone calls and letters home. I had countless “virtual” interactions with my students, all of which, in many respects, mirrored the interactions I had with students in traditional schools. My students embraced it and took full advantage of such opportunities. More importantly, their increased engagement led to significant improvements in their academic performance.

In the report “ Learning in the 21st Century: 2010 Trends Update ,” Project Tomorrow found that students reported they received more attention from their teachers and were more comfortable asking questions online than in the traditional setting. Why is that? I believe it is because online learning environments provide a rare opportunity for students to learn with constructive anonymity; they are free to journey through their learning experience without the pressures and judgments engendered by differences in academic need, socioeconomic status, or other circumstances. For many students this freedom is exactly what they need to thrive.

And yet it is important to clarify the difference between constructive anonymity and isolation, because they are not the same. While teaching at K12, I would hold live daily sessions open to both students and their parents. My goal was to provide an atmosphere where students would feel comfortable learning mathematics both as individuals and as part of a larger group. This keeps students present and engaged in the learning process. It is no secret that mathematics can be intimidating, and if students isolate themselves from their teachers, they will isolate themselves from the content.

Flexibility and Freedom

Though online students may work independently, they are not isolated learners separated from their peers. Online schools often have lively and robust communities, with clubs, school activities, field trips, service projects, and even proms and graduations. At K12, I was a part of graduation ceremonies honoring hundreds of students each year. I watched kids recount their experiences with each other and rejoice in their collective success, not at all concerned that their educational journey was traveled on a less conventional road.

The appreciation these students had for their teachers made a huge impact on me. I saw graduates honor teachers for the difference they made in their lives, even though they had never met face to face.

When I was with K12, I was given the opportunity to be a part of their National Mathematics Lab, a nationwide initiative designed to assist at-risk students in 5th through 11th grades. These at-risk students came to K12 schools sometimes three or more grade levels below in math after falling behind or dropping out of traditional schools. K12 teachers provided students in this program daily supplemental mathematics instruction both with the peer group at their school and on a national level with a mathematics content expert. This intervention helped many at-risk students achieve better academic gains and improved the chances that they would continue in their education.

It takes a high level of engagement and commitment for students to succeed in online schools, whether the student is at a remedial or advanced level. That is why, as I said earlier, online schooling is not for all children. The same holds true for teachers—online schools are not the right fit for all of them.

I can understand how some teachers, especially those new to online schools, may feel isolated from their students and their colleagues or experience early frustrations. Interactions between colleagues and students in online schools must be purposeful, active, and ongoing. I’ve had the privilege of working with amazing teachers over the years, both in online schools and face-to-face in traditional schools. I am blessed to have benefited from both relationships.

I started teaching online with K12 when my son was three months old and my daughter was two years old. I have continued to teach online ever since. Teaching online gave me flexibility and freedom to be a teacher and a mother and earn my Ph.D. without sacrificing the quality of any endeavor. A healthy work-life balance is important to teachers, and advancements in education technology—including online schools—have enabled many educators to achieve greater career satisfaction.

I’m an advocate for online learning. I’ve seen its successes, believe in its potential, and understand its challenges. I am not alone. Thousands of other teachers and professional educators across the U.S. have similar positive experiences. Having witnessed first-hand how online schools have successfully impacted young lives, I believe it is not a matter of if, but when, online education becomes the new benchmark for normative learning.

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The Biggest Lesson of My First Year Teaching

A veteran teacher shares how she learned the value of prioritizing relationships when she was just starting out in the classroom.

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Overwhelming is the word that best describes my first year of teaching. I wasn’t prepared for the multitude of things on my plate. I didn’t have a handle on classroom management, and I left each day feeling exhausted and defeated.

My time was spent learning new curriculum, developing personalized learning techniques, modifying lessons, and analyzing data. I knew this was important work, but I also knew that something was not working. I felt a disconnect in my classroom and knew I could do better.

I looked around and saw that there were some teachers who seemed to just take everything in stride and really enjoyed what they were doing. Their classrooms ran smoothly, and their students looked happy. To figure out what they were doing that set them apart, I made an effort to study three teachers during my first year.

I asked if I could sit in and observe their classes. Over a few months, I observed these teachers around five to seven times, for approximately 20–30 minutes each time. I usually planned these observations during my prep or lunch, but on occasion I was able to bring in a substitute teacher for my classes to create observation time.

I also watched teachers interact with students outside of the classroom: on the playground, during lunch, in the hallway, and in assemblies. I paid attention to conversations, comments, and attitudes.

Lessons Learned

I started to see that the highest priority for these teachers was forming relationships with students—everything else fell into place after that.

One teacher played basketball with kids every Friday during lunch. Another sat with kids in the lunch room a few times throughout the year. There was the teacher who liked to walk during her lunch and would invite different groups of kids to join her for conversation. I watched a kindergarten teacher meet a different parent in the pickup line after school each day to let them know of something great that happened with their child.

Some of what I noticed was more time intensive. One colleague did 15-minute morning meetings and ended the day with a short reflection, asking kids to share one thing that went well that day and possibly one goal they were working on for the remainder of the week.

One teacher attended their students’ sporting and musical events, while another came early every day to meet a struggling student and preview the math lesson for the day.

I knew I wanted to model myself after these teachers, so I made a gradual, conscious shift—changing my priorities to make my relationships with students my main focus. I started out with a morning meeting. This was something I could implement easily. I started to gather my students in a circle at the beginning of the day. We did different class greetings and then had either a game or a discussion. I used this time to give short announcements and go over the day’s schedule.

Making this shift changed me as a teacher, and it changed the vibe in my classroom. I began to feel happier at school, and I could see that my students were happier too. They were more prepared to tackle the day.

They trusted me and felt more comfortable asking questions and taking risks. They were reaching out for help and clarification more than ever before. The discipline problems I had been having started to decrease, and honestly, the school day was so much more enjoyable for all of us. We were building trust and friendships, and the students knew that I was on their side and willing to help. Parents would reach out more, and I started to hear that kids really enjoyed being in my class. I never abandoned my work on curriculum, data, differentiation, and all of the other things that are essential in a classroom, but I did shift my priorities.

How to Make Time for Relationships

I’ve been teaching for over 15 years now, am National Board certified, and serve as a mentor to other teachers going through the National Board certification process. New teachers often ask me where I find the time to build relationships in the classroom. I always tell them that it should be the first thing they build into their plans. Prioritize it at the beginning of the year and continue it each day. Just as one allocates time to teaching procedures, an equal amount of time should go into building community and getting to know students.

I let teachers know that it’s helpful to spend time at the beginning of the year telling students about themselves. To the level that they’re comfortable with, educators can let students know about their pets, family, and things they like to do outside of school. And vice versa, it’s helpful to find out information about students. Sending home a parent questionnaire enables caregivers to share personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses—valuable insight into students’ lives and how they learn.

Building in a morning meeting each day is a great way to foster relationships and to gauge students’ emotions.

Scheduling fun small group activities so that kids can get to know each other and feel comfortable working with different students is a small commitment with a big payoff.

One of my favorite classroom games is Who Is It? Each student writes two to three unique things about themselves on a Post-it note with their name. I collect the notes and read them to the class, and they have to guess who wrote it.

Trying out one new thing is a great starting point. For new teachers, it’s important not to overcommit. Burnout is too serious of an issue. A simple conversation, a question, a walk, or a game can make the classroom a great place to be.

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How to Talk About Teaching

By  Melissa Dennihy

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Conference presentations, oral examinations and the dissertation defense are all useful opportunities to practice talking about your research before entering the academic job market. But when job seekers apply for positions at teaching institutions, research may not be the primary topic of discussion during an interview.

How should prospective hires prepare to talk about teaching during campus interviews? What types of questions can you expect to be asked about teaching, and how might you answer? Here are a few suggestions.

Help your interviewers imagine you in action. Whether it’s an anecdote about a classroom success or failure, a retelling of a memorable or challenging experience with a student, or a description of what your classroom looks and sounds like on a typical day, it is much more valuable and substantive to enable interviewers to envision your teaching in practice than to cite pedagogical scholarship or talk in vague abstractions about your teaching philosophies.

In describing a course, whether past or prospective, give specifics. Describe texts and assignments you (would) use, learning outcomes you (would) focus on, and so forth. Be prepared to talk in some detail about what goes on (or would go on) in your classes.

In one of my interviews for a faculty position, I was thrown by the question, “It’s the eighth week of the semester. What are you doing in your freshman composition class?” I was silent for more than a few seconds as I desperately tried to visualize the week-by-week schedule on my syllabus, but my mind remained blank. In preparing for an interview, don’t underestimate the importance of doing seemingly simple things like rereading your course syllabi and materials. Refresh your memory about texts you’ve used, topics and units you’ve covered, assignments you’ve, given and the pacing of your courses.

Talk numbers as a way to give a snapshot of the depth and breadth of your teaching experience . Letting interviewers know that you taught a 4/4 load as an adjunct while completing your doctoral work indicates that you can handle the workload of a full-time position. Mentioning that you have worked with over 300 students throughout your time as a teaching assistant leaves a different impression than simply saying you’ve been a TA for a number of courses. Take the time to develop some data on your teaching experience before your interview and work those numbers in at opportune moments.

Know the department’s course offerings, curriculum and objectives. You should be able to show how and why your teaching experience makes you a good fit for the department you hope to join. You should also get a sense of what courses you will be expected to teach and come prepared to talk about all of them. You may be excited to discuss how you would teach an upper-level elective in your area of expertise, but don’t forget also to show interest in and ability to teach introductory and general education courses -- those that may require you to draw upon broader or more general knowledge, or to teach material outside of your own areas of interest.

Be careful not to step on toes as you talk about classes you’d like to teach. Try to find out which instructors regularly teach which courses. You want to avoid mistakes like mentioning that you would love to teach an “updated” version of a certain course, only to find that a search committee member has been teaching the current version of this course for 10 years and now perceives you as a threat to both the course he teaches and the way he teaches it. It might be better to say, “I would welcome the opportunity to teach X course if the need arises, but since I know Professor Y usually teaches this course, I would also look forward to designing an elective course with a specific focus on Z. That could offer something new that also furthers your department’s commitment to X curriculum.”

With each question you are asked, take a second to figuratively step back. Consider the larger pedagogical issues or concerns that may be embedded within that question and addressed within your answer. For example, a question that asks you to talk about what makes an A paper can also be an opportunity to talk more broadly about the role of assessment in your classroom and the tools you use (rubrics, portfolios, peer review) to evaluate student work. Always answer the specific question asked, of course, but also take a moment to consider whether some questions may be tackled from multiple angles or responded to in ways that present a bigger picture.

Think about how you might respond to questions about assessment -- a hot topic now in higher education. How do you evaluate student learning? What kinds of assessment tools do you use? What do you value or prioritize in assessing student work, and why? How do you use assessment of student learning to change or improve your own teaching? Consider including a rubric or a copy of a graded student assignment as part of your teaching portfolio.

If you are interviewing for a teaching position that also has research expectations, try to demonstrate how your teaching and research dovetail or inform one another. For example, you might discuss how your research interests can be transformed into material suitable for and interesting to undergraduate students. Demonstrating a sense of unity or cohesion between your roles as teacher and scholar conveys that you are professionally balanced and capable of fulfilling all of the responsibilities of the position.

Make it clear that you care about students and enjoy working with them. A candidate who speaks passionately about his or her own work but cannot generate much enthusiasm in discussing teaching or working with students is not an ideal candidate for a teaching institution. Avoid talking too much about yourself as a teacher -- your teaching philosophies, your assignments, your accomplishments -- and, instead, keep your comments about teaching student centered: What do students learn and gain from your courses? What role do students play in shaping your courses? How does working with students help you to revise and improve your pedagogy? What have your students taught you about teaching and learning? Talk about past students and prospective students, explaining how the types of students you’ve worked with before will help you work successfully with the student population at this campus.

Be prepared to answer a question about diversity. Spend some time thinking about what diversity in the classroom really means to you. In what ways are the students with whom you have worked diverse? Racially? Academically? Socioeconomically? Linguistically? In what ways are your teaching approaches and assignments suitable for diverse student populations or designed with diverse students in mind? What different types of teaching modalities do you use to help students learn in diverse ways and to accommodate different types of learners? A common interview pitfall is to give a clichéd or superficial response to a question about diversity, missing an opportunity to talk substantively about the different students you’ve taught and what you have learned from these experiences.

Consider the issues surrounding college teaching today and how you might respond to questions on controversial topics. How might you answer a question about student plagiarism and the use of detection tools like Turnitin? How would you respond to a question about dealing with the mental and emotional issues students may bring with them to college classrooms? Talking about controversial topics can be tricky, and it is always best to prepare a well-thought-out answer ahead of time.

Make mention of what you will offer students outside of the classroom. The best instructors provide one-on-one support for students, make themselves available during office hours and by email, and act as mentors who can give guidance on academic and professional matters that may fall beyond the scope of their own courses.

Bring a teaching portfolio. There is no harm in leaving supplemental materials with the committee at the end of your interview -- if they don’t want to look at them, they won’t, but the materials are there if committee members are interested. Your portfolio can and should include more than just your teaching philosophy and a list of the courses you’ve taught. You might include sample syllabi and assignments, student and colleague evaluations of your teaching, records of student accomplishments that reflect positively on your role as instructor, and samples of outstanding student work.

As a concluding point, I would like to remind readers that it is vital to understand the type of job you are applying for. During an interview at an R1 institution, the discussion will focus on your research, but candidates can make the mistake of coming to interviews at teaching institutions unprepared for a very different kind of discussion. A research-focused job and a teaching-focused job differ significantly, and not recognizing or understanding those differences can mean failing to adequately prepare for interviews that require candidates to talk substantively and thoughtfully about teaching.

Acknowledging the Silent Stigma of Student Parents

College students with children can feel out of place on their campuses.

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Way Finding

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Dream Job — What Inspired You to Become a Teacher

What Inspired You to Become a Teacher

• Categories: Dream Job Teacher

About this sample

Words: 726 |

Updated: 12 December, 2023

Words: 726 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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Works Cited

• Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World. Jossey-Bass.
• DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2016). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work. Solution Tree.
• Erickson, L. (2019). Teaching the Tough Stuff: A Guide to Helping Students Through Experiences That Hurt. ASCD.
• Hattie, J. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning. Routledge.
• Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Heflebower, T. (2013). The Highly Engaged Classroom. Marzano Research.
• Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., & Allen, J. P. (2012). Teacher-Student Relationships and Engagement: Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Improving the Capacity of Classroom Interactions. Routledge.
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. Guilford Press.
• Stronge, J. H. (2018). Qualities of Effective Teachers. ASCD.
• Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms. ASCD.
• Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2018). The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Harry K. Wong Publications.

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Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Experiences Essay

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Teachers hold a critical but significantly undervalued purpose in modern society. With the wider availability of information and developing communication technology, the perception and role of teachers are rapidly changing. There are various challenges as well as rewards that are inherent to the job. In order to grow and improve as a teacher and a person, it is essential to reflect on my personal feelings and education practices that define them as a unique instructor.

Being a teacher is a lot of responsibility and accountability. Those with any experience of education realize that the job requires not only the mastery of the subject being taught but also an understanding of human psychology, necessity to maintain self-control, and upkeeping utmost organization. To be honest, it is overwhelming and exhausting at times. However, the job brings incredible satisfaction and tremendous pride in the profession. There is the excitement of planning and executing projects with your class or taking advantage of a new teaching method that a more experienced educator has shared. The most rewarding moment is seeing a student’s eyes light up after comprehending a complicated topic that they have struggled with and finally understanding how a concept works.

I have had a variety of teaching experiences, ranging from working as a tutor to coaching tennis. In each position, there were nuances and learning curves in the teaching process and approach to students. However, once I became accustomed to the job, it became a passion. The famous maxim attributed to Confucius, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” applies to my experience with teaching. The profession fits with my identity of helping people and giving back to the community. Good teaching is more than a simple transfer of information and skill. It is based on empowerment and support for students, as a teacher can provide the opportunity and confidence to apply their knowledge. I believe that teaching fits perfectly with my caring and supportive character that seeks to empower others to achieve their objectives.

Through this course, I have been able to learn about a wide variety of practices for teaching English as a foreign language. Linguistics can be quite difficult, and it requires an approach that would maintain student interest and encourage participation. Some of the sessions in the course that focused on needs analysis and exploiting dialogue are techniques that can be tactically applied in a learning environment. They increase participation and student awareness of the practicality for their knowledge of English. The use of “do-it-yourself” grammar lessons that encourage independent thinking and utilization of learned knowledge is an effective method to support the difficult acquisition of English grammar. Furthermore, I would like to practice certain techniques such as gamification or the “teach-back” approach that would provide some diversification to traditional instruction methods and would be used to reinforce specific concepts.

I believe that there are no wrong teaching methods. In a real-life classroom situation, one can never know what particular approach can be helpful for individual students to understand a concept. However, there are some aspects that I believe would be inappropriate in teaching English as a foreign language. For example, relying on self-learning as the foundation for language learning (as it is commonly done in many college courses) is ineffective since it would discourage the systematic approach necessary in linguistics. Furthermore, I believe that placing students in situations where they would feel forced or uncomfortable to perform dialogues should be done with caution to prevent discouragement. Language acquisition is a long-term process which should occur naturally and supported by the classroom teaching methodology.

Overall, teaching is my passion, and I look forward to being able to practice it on a daily basis. Participation in the Peace Corps teaching program will also provide me with an opportunity to make a difference in the world and empower individuals with knowledge of critical language skills. Despite the possible challenges that come with the position, I remain optimistic as it will help to contribute to my personal growth as well.

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• Teacher Essay for Students in English

Importance of Teachers in Our Lives

Teachers are those who make children knowledgeable and cultured. A teacher is a beautiful gift given by god because god is a creator of the whole world and a teacher is a creator of a whole nation. A teacher is such an important creature in the life of a student, who through his knowledge, patience and love give a strong shape to a student’s whole life. 

A teacher shares academic knowledge, ethical values and assimilates moral values that help us shape our personality as better human beings. They represent an open book and try to share their life experience for a better tomorrow. A teacher has many qualities, they are efficient in their student’s life and success in every aspect. A teacher is very intelligent. They know how the mind of students gets concentrated in studies.

 During teaching, a teacher uses creativity so that students can concentrate on their studies. They are a repository of knowledge and have the patience and confidence to take responsibility for the future of the student. They only want to see their students successful and happy. Teachers are very prestigious people in the society, who through their magic of education, take the responsibilities of raising the lifestyle and mind level of the common people. 

Parents expect a lot from teachers. Teachers are the second parents who help the students balance their lives and spend the maximum childhood time. Just as our parents influence our childhood years, our teachers help shape us into the people we want to become when we grow up, having a huge impact on our lives. Students have complete faith in their teachers. In younger years, Students used to listen to their teachers more than anyone else as they used to spend more time with them than anyone else. 

The role of the teacher varies from class to game. A teacher is an important creature in everyone’s life who appears to do different things in our life. They are the creator of a wonderful future for our nation. 

Importance of a Teacher

A teacher has an important place not only in student life but also in every phase of life. They have all qualities which they distribute in their students. They know that not everyone has the same ability to receive, so a teacher observes all the abilities of each of their students and in the same way, they teach children. A teacher is a great listener of knowledge, prosperity, and light, from which we can benefit greatly throughout our life. Every teacher helps their students in choosing their path. Teachers teach their students how to respect elders. They tell their students the difference between respect and insult and many more. A teacher equips his/her student with the knowledge, skills, and positive behavior honored which the student never feels lost. The teacher makes them aware of how to use time and the restriction of time. A good teacher makes a good impression on his students. When any student makes a mistake, the teacher teaches them a lesson and also makes them realize their mistake. They teach us to wear clean clothes, eat healthy food, stay away from the wrong food, take care of parents, treat others well, and help us in understanding the importance of completing work. 

A teacher has many qualities which hold a special place in every student’s life. Teachers embrace various roles they are our friends when we get sad, our parents when we are hurt, and always good advisers. Teachers reward their students for their good work while sometimes punishing them for realizing the mistake to understand that this is not right for their lives.

Children’s future and present both are made by the teacher. He also enhances a good society by creating a good student throughout his life. Only a teacher knows what kind of association his student lives in and what kind of association he holds.

Teachers are great role models. The teachers influence students’ decidedness. For example, India’s most respectable President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, achieved his position as a great aerospace engineer because of his teacher. Mr. Siva Subramania Iyer’s teachings on how birds fly influenced Dr. Kalam’s contribution to society.

Not only in the education field, but there are also numerous examples in sports too, where teachers played a vital role in shaping the career of the athletes. A notable example is batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who credits his coach and teacher, Mr. Ramakant Achrekar, for success. Like this, there are numerous examples in various fields of dance, music, acting, arts, science where teachers act as a pivotal role in shaping the life of their disciples.

Relation of Student and the Teacher

The relationship between the teacher and the student was very sacred in ancient times as education was so perfect. There are so many stories written in our scriptures that revolve around student and teacher relationships. Out of all those, the supreme sacrifice made by Eklavya is of prime importance and showcases a student’s dedication towards his teacher. 

Alas, This relation is lacking in recent times. Nowadays, it is considered a mere profession. It has become a business or source of income compared to earlier days where it was considered a noble profession. We should be conscious enough not to stain this noble profession and should not create an example that lifts people’s trust in teachers.

In India, we gave great importance to the teacher. According to the Indian concept, the teacher is the spiritual and intellectual father of the teacher. No education is possible without the help of the teacher. He is regarded as the “Guru” – a speculator, a companion, and a guide.

In ancient India, the transmission of knowledge was oral, and the teacher was the sole custodian of knowledge. The relationship between the teacher and the students was amiable and deep in ancient times. 

Hard Work is the Key to be a Teacher

It takes a lot of hard work to be a good teacher. First of all, always respect the elders and also obey them. Concentration should be increased toward society and education. To be a good teacher, one has a sense of unity in the heart, does not discriminate against anyone, everyone should be seen with a glance. They always encourage students, they never criticize their students. Develops a good interpersonal relationship with a student. One should always tell good things to their younger ones and always treat the classmate well, always take inspiration from the teacher.

The teacher has a huge contribution to our life. No one can developmentally, socially, and intellectually in their life without a teacher. Many teachers slap students, many give punishment but in the end, the teacher is never bad. It only depends on the way they teach, which is different for everyone and this creates a different image in the student’s mind. They do whatever just to make our future bright.

Every year, some teachers get honored. Teachers’ day is celebrated every year on 5 September, in memory of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, India’s second President. India is a home ground of some great teachers like Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Premchand, Swami Vivekanand, who have given some great lessons of life which are still in trend. On this day a special ceremony takes place in the school, in which students participate enthusiastically. A nation always honors all those teachers who help in eradicating ignorance of darkness. A teacher is an ocean of knowledge, we should keep acquiring knowledge on a subject for as long as possible.

FAQs on Teacher Essay for Students in English

1. Why are Teachers are Important?

Teacher are building block of the nation. Children’s future and present both are made by the teacher. He also enhances a good society by creating a good student throughout his life.

2. What Makes a Good Teacher?

It takes a lot of hard work to be a good teacher. They always have to study and gain knowledge. To be a teacher good one have a sense of unity in the heart, do not discriminate against anyone, everyone should be seen with a glance.

3. What Should Be the Qualities to Be a Good Teacher?

Given are some qualities to be a good teacher

They always encourage students, they never criticize their students.

Develops a good interpersonal relationship with a student.

Imparts moral values and values of life.

Develop self-confidence in students.

4. When is Teacher’s Day celebrated and after whom?

Every year, teachers’ day is celebrated on 5th September, in memory of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, India’s second President.

5. Give an example reflecting how a teacher shaped the life of their disciple.

One of the prominent examples is of our Ex-President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam achieved his position as a great aerospace engineer because of his teacher, Mr. Siva Subramania Iyer who introduced him to the science behind birds being able to fly.

How My Teaching Experience Shaped My Current Role

Lauren kelly.

Associate Product Marketing Manager • National Geographic Learning | Cengage

• September 18, 2024

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Career Journeys series is aimed to shed light on current career trends as they align to student career clusters. In this series installation, we have interviewed Chris Orr, a High School Principal in the Education & Training career cluster. Chris shares with us the career journey that lead her to his current role with Capital Christian High School. Chris dives what motivated him to pursue this career, milestones that lead to where he’s at today, how she stands out in her field and advice for others looking to pursue this career. This series also offers career outlook data collected from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

As a 15-year veteran high school math teacher turned Associate Product Marketing Manager at National Geographic Learning | Cengage Group, I’ve had the privilege of channeling my passion for education in a new way. Here are some insights into how my teaching experience has shaped my current role:

Q: How has your experience as a K-12 teacher influenced your work at Cengage?

A: As a teacher, I honed my skills in creativity, organization, and communication – all vital components in the world of ed tech marketing. Producing engaging lessons for my students laid the groundwork for creating compelling content and collateral to promote our K–12 math solutions here at NGL | Cengage.

Q: Can you provide an example of how your teaching experience has helped you bring unique insights to your team?

A: One of my favorite aspects of teaching was finding creative ways to connect with my students and make math come alive. My ability to foster engagement seamlessly transitions into my role at Cengage. Whether it’s building sales tools or writing customer-facing content, I draw on my experience in the classroom to tell a compelling product story that resonates with our customers. After all, who better to understand the needs of educators than someone who has been in their shoes?

Q: Which transferable skills from your teaching experience have been the most helpful in your current role?

A: The transferable skills from my teaching experience that have been most helpful in my current role include:

• Communication : As a teacher, effective communication was crucial for explaining complex concepts to students and working with colleagues and parents. In my role at Cengage, I use these communication skills to create engaging marketing materials and work with cross-functional teams to ensure successful product launches. • Organization : My experience as a teacher has sharpened my organizational abilities, allowing me to keep projects on track and deliverables on schedule. • Creativity : Let’s not forget the importance of creativity – whether it’s designing a hands-on classroom activity or writing a compelling marketing message, creativity is key to success in both worlds. • Empathy : My empathy for educators and students enables me to approach marketing strategies with a deep understanding of their needs and challenges, ensuring that our products truly meet their expectations

Q: Can you describe any challenges or obstacles you faced during the transition from teaching to your new career, and how you overcame them?

A: Transitioning from teaching to the ed tech industry presented several challenges, especially amid the shift to remote work. Learning the ins and outs of marketing while mastering digital tools required perseverance. I approached these challenges with the same resilience I instilled in my students.

One major obstacle was adapting to virtual communication. I missed face-to-face interactions and immediate feedback. Weekly check-ins with my manager, Amy Banko, are crucial for maintaining connection and clarity. Our team leader, Jamie Downey, does an incredible job fostering team cohesion with creative solutions like virtual team-building activities and informal check-ins, which help build rapport and a sense of camaraderie.

The challenge of working from home requires a high degree of self-discipline and time management. As a teacher, my schedule was dictated by the school day, but remote work offers flexibility that is both a blessing and a challenge. To maintain productivity, I created a structured daily routine, setting specific goals and deadlines for myself.

My teaching background, emphasizing adaptability and continuous learning, equipped me to tackle these challenges. With team support and a proactive mindset, I successfully navigated the career shift.

Q: What have you learned from your time as a teacher that you believe has had a positive impact on your current career trajectory?

A: My time as a teacher taught me the power of empathy, resilience, and the importance of continuous learning. Whether it’s navigating a classroom of diverse learners or collaborating with colleagues to drive marketing initiatives, these invaluable lessons have shaped my approach to both education and marketing. As a teacher, every day was a new adventure, filled with laughter, learning, and the occasional mishap. Amidst the chaos, I learned valuable lessons that have shaped my journey in the ed tech industry, such as the importance of adaptability, creativity, and above all, the power of making a positive impact on the lives of others.

Transitioning from teaching to the ed tech industry has been an exciting journey filled with growth, learning, and plenty of opportunities to make a difference. I’m grateful for the experiences that have brought me to where I am today, and I’m excited to continue making a difference at Cengage!

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‘Experience is the Best Teacher’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples

Did someone tell you that ‘experience is the best teacher’? What does this mean, and where does the saying come from?

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is an old proverb that was first recorded by Julius Caesar. It means that people learn more and gain more wisdom from actual observation and contact with events or facts rather than hearing about these events or facts secondhand. In short, it means that actually doing a task or having an experience will impart deeper lessons than being taught the same thing in a book or in school.

What Does 'Experience is the Best Teacher' Mean?

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is a proverb that means that most wisdom is gained through actual real-life experience rather than through books or school. The word ‘experience’ can be used as a noun or a verb, with the following primary definitions:

• Noun : Practical observation of and contact with facts or events
• Verb : Undergo or encounter (an occurrence or event)

Essentially, this proverb means that life is a more effective communicator of knowledge and wisdom than studying books or attending school. The implication is also that the lessons that we learn from our actual lived experience are more lasting than the lessons we are taught via second-hand accounts.

There’s a good chance that you have experienced this phenomenon yourself. If you’ve ever tried to learn something from a book and struggled to fully grasp its meaning but then later learned the same lesson from you’re actual life experience, that you have learned firsthand that ‘experience is the best teacher!’

Where Does 'Experience is the Best Teacher' Come From?

This proverb has a very long history. According to the book Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner, the earliest known version of the proverb was recorded by none other than Julius Caesar. Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who served as the dictator of Rome until his infamous assassination in 44 BC.

In his account of the war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate, Caesar wrote (in Latin) that

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”

The Roman author Pliny the Elder also used this phrase more than one hundred years later in ‘Naturalis Historia.’ In this text, he wrote:

“Experience is the most efficient teacher of all things.”

We find the phrase again in the work of Tacitus , a Roman historian who wrote in his ‘Histories’ that:

“Experience teaches.”

In terms of English renderings of this phrase, the first example appears in ‘Proverbs or Adagies,’ a text by Richard Taverner.

In the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman, the meaning of this proverb is given as follows:

“One learns more from experience than from books.”

It claims that the phrase comes from the Latin phrase ‘experiential docent’ and first appears in English in Roger Ascham’s ‘The Schoolmaster.’

Vern Law, a former baseball pitcher that played sixteen seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, once inverted the famous proverb by saying:

“Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.” – Vern Law

Using the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we can see the usage of this proverb over the past two hundred-plus years.

In the publication The Homeopathic Record: Medical, Social, and Scientific from 1856, we find the following passage:

“”Everyone has been told,” says the authoress, “that experience is the best teacher and although in early days this maxim may have been laughed at, as somewhat old-fashioned and meaningless, it contains a truth which time renders more and more manifest.””

We also see an example of this phrase in use in an issue of Mechanics Magazine from 1825.

“Whatever, Sir, may be the claims of Alpha to knowledge of this subject, and by what means he has acquired that knowledge, I am unacquainted; I am inclined, however, to think that he will ever find that experience is the best teacher .”

For a third example, let’s look at a short selection from A Guide to Floriculture, an 1847 publication by Thomas Winter.

“To tell the amateur to take a certain portion of this soil, and a certain portion of another, and so on, only serves to distract the mind of the young beginner, mystifying their culture when there is no mystery about it. The best plan is to encourage the culture of plants; experience is the best teacher on this head, and of more service than all that could be written by the most experienced gardeners.”

Examples of 'Experience is the Best Teacher' In Sentences

How would you use the phrase ‘experience is the best teacher’ in a sentence? Let’s look at some examples:

• “I’ve been reading about raising rabbits for months now in preparation for our new pet, but now that we actually have them in our care, I realize that experience is the best teacher .”
• “Sally found his behavior frustrating, but she knew that nothing she could say would change the way he was acting. Her words would go one ear and out the other– experience is the best teacher , and he would have to learn the consequences of his actions on his own.”
• “When it comes to cooking, experience is the best teacher . There’s nothing wrong with trying to learn some tips ahead of time, but you really should just hop in the kitchen and get started.”
• “His father was always giving him a hard time for not finishing college and would roll his eyes when John would say that experience is the best teacher . The truth, though, is that he learned more in the few years he’d been running his business than in the decades he was in school.”
• “As a freshman , she had been so eager to attend classes and do her homework. By the time she was a senior, she’d realized that experience is the best teacher and couldn’t wait to get out into the real world and start her life.”
• “Our boss believes that experience is the best teacher , so new hires start working with customers right away.”
• “I know you think that experience is the best teacher , but that doesn’t mean you should deliberately ignore any wisdom that comes to you second-hand.”
• “The protagonist in the story is humbled when he enters the workforce after years of study and realizes that experience is the best teacher , not books.”

‘Live and learn’ and ‘learn the hard way’ are two phrases that convey a similar meaning to ‘experience is the best teacher.’ Both of these expressions are commonly used after someone has learned a lesson by making a mistake or dealing with misfortune.

Final Thoughts About ‘Experience is the Best Teacher’

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is an old proverb that succinctly conveys a fact of life. No matter how much we try and prepare and study for something, we often learn so much more when we actually experience it. Even though we can understand things intellectually, there is something about actual lived experience that helps us learn lessons more effectively. Beyond that, the lessons we learn from experience tend to stick with us longer than those that we learn second-hand.

Are you looking to learn more English proverbs? If so, check out our idioms blog for idioms, proverbs, adages, expressions, and more!

Learn More:

• ‘Check In On You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Leading Me On’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Molly Whop Someone’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Jeez Louise’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘This Too Shall Pass’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Glow Up’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Sync Up’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘I Feel You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Friend or Foe’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Runt of the Litter’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Err on the Side of Caution’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Deepest Sympathy’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• 'As of Now': Definition, Meaning, Examples
• ‘Nice Knowing You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples

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