Blog 1: PED3150E

Natasha Burford
8290191
January 7th 2020
 To fully acknowledge how I have grown as a teacher candidate so far I have reflected on
what kind of teacher I want to be when I complete this program. I have gained valuable
experience, some positive and some negative, in the past few months and in my time before
entering the program. I have dedicated my time to course work and many readings in order to
truly figure out what kind of teacher I want to become. This has been no easy task, and I am
certain that in the years to come I will change and adapt to the new concepts I learn. 


I have come to realize that many of my previous understandings about teaching have
evolved during my most recent experience. I spent three weeks as a teacher aid at St Pius X
Catholic Elementary School in Brantford, Ontario. I was there to help out one of the most
dedicated and inspiring teachers I have ever met. It was an experience I will never forget. As a
teacher to be, I stepped into her grade five classroom to notice twenty-three bright-eyed students,
all questioning who I was and why I was in their classroom. I introduced myself and the students
were overjoyed that I would be spending three weeks in their classroom. That first day I had
nearly every student approaching me asking if I could help them with their work. I learned very
quickly how much work teachers do each and every day to make sure that they address the needs
of each and every student. I have a new appreciation for my past teachers and wonder if I ever
caused them any struggles without realizing it, or perhaps if I ever made a lasting impression on
a new teachers motivation.

Recent research on the human brain has identified that emotion and cognition operate
seamlessly (Lucas & Claxton, 2010). While some emotions pass quickly, those that
endure (such as shame and powerlessness), have an ongoing impact on motivation and
learning in the face of similar challenges. Overload can also lead to challenge
avoidance (Dumont et al., 2010). On the bright side, the motivation to engage increases
when learners experience positive emotions towards learning activities, and the
activation of positive rather than negative emotions frees up cognitive resources for
learning (Boekaerts, 2010).
 My experience at St Pius showed me how important it is for a teacher candidate to
experience a positive learning environment before being able to reach their fullest potential. If a
teacher is not motivated to learn something they cannot easily be motivated to teach it. A teacher
must be able to develop self-confidence and self-efficacy before they can learn to focus on the
needs of each learner.

The importance of focusing on each learner is highlighted by teachers’ ratings of their

effectiveness in teaching literacy in an evaluation of a Ministry of Education project
(Timperley & Parr, 2005).

I have learned that I want to be a teacher that will address the needs of every student in
the class. My experience in St Pius taught me how challenging of a task this will be when I have
my own classroom. The class consisted of twenty-three students, six of them had modifications
and one had an accommodation. To help the teacher, I would sit at a table with the six modified
students and teach them a math, science or an English lesson provided by the teacher. At first
there was the challenge of getting all six of them to sit down and focus, then one of them would
need to sharpen a pencil, or go to the washroom or any number of little things that one wouldn’t
think to manage time for in a lesson plan. Then I came to realize that I needed to re-learn some of
my math skills that I hadn’t used in years. I was delighted to experience a few days when I
quickly caught on to the math and the students were all able to understand what I was explaining
to them. This was not an everyday situation and I noticed that these students were easily
discouraged when they didn’t understand right away. This is why it is so important for a teacher
to be able to stay motivated themselves, because students need a constant support from their
teacher in order to stay on task and to get their work done.

I learned what kind of teacher I want to be, I want to be a motivator. I want to be the kind
of teacher that is there for each student to make sure they have what they need and know what is
expected of them, to push them to their fullest potential and challenge them. If a student needs a
little push to get their work done I want to be there to motivate them and inspire them to keep
going and reassure them that they are capable of doing it with the right tools. I’d like to share
two separate experiences I shared with students in the grade five class to demonstrate how I
came to this reflection:
Student number 1: From the very first day I could see that this boy was a bit of a
troublemaker. He did not listen to the teacher very well and he did not complete his work without
reminders. He would get out of his chair and run around the room and harass his classmates. I
had been at the school for five days when we had a supply teacher, the students were all familiar
with me by then and I understood how the classroom functioned. On this day, the boy decided he
was going to try to cut his hair off, since they were using scissors for a classroom activity. I
immediately went up to the boy and took away his scissors, informing him that until he could
demonstrate that he was doing his work and sitting quietly at his desk he did not get to use
scissors. He even tried to borrow a friends pair of scissors, but I was firm and let him know he
needed to show me he was responsible enough to use the scissors. After about half an hour of
watching his behaviour and seeing a dramatic change I approached him, letting him know I was
very impressed by his change in behaviour and I hoped he would continue to act responsibly. I
gave him back the scissors, he did not try to cut his hair again and he worked quietly for the rest
of the day. The next day, his homeroom teacher was back, and he listened to the both of us. He
was a changed student. Every day since the scissors incident I would approach his desk when he
was working quietly and I would thank him for being a good student. I could see such a change
in his behaviour, this is not an experience I will ever forget. I can clearly see how important it is
to develop a rapport with students and to give them that positive reinforcement for good
behaviour. All he needed was the proper motivation to stay on task and a bit of guidance to
improve his behaviour.
Student number 2: On the first day I read with two students to help them with their
reading capaticites. One of them struggled immensely to read her text. We worked on it together
and I helped her pronounce words and reminded her to pause at periods etc. The student and I
immediately developed a rapport after day one. The next day, I started to help her with math, she
and a few other students were expected to use an online math game program every morning,
instead of the bell-work. This was a part of their modification. This student in particular
struggled immensely with her math, I realized very quickly that she could not even count to ten.
She kept forgetting the number seven. We got out little blocks and counted them, we drew donuts
and different things on paper to help her remember. Nevertheless, the next day she would come
back for bell-work and would forget the number seven again. We spent an hour every morning
together working on her counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It was
simple math to build her skills and give her that foundation she needed. The student has some
severe motivational issues, she really did not believe that she could learn anything and I believe
it was why she was struggling so much in math. She had no faith in her abilities and she needed
someone to tell her she could do it and give her a bit of guidance. On my last day she asked me
how would she do the math without me, I had already made her up a few papers full of little
reminders to help her when I was gone. I only hope that she will not loose it or forget what it all
means when she goes back to school. I also told her not to give up, that I believed in her. I told
her that she reminded me of myself when I was in school because she tried so very hard to
understand and get her work done. She smiled so much after I told her that, it was just the
motivation she needed to feel like she could succeed. 


I have learned valuable lessons from this amazing experience. I have learned how to
manage my time when many students are asking for help. I have learned to adapt to different
situations and challenges that may present themselves on a day to day basis. I have learned how
to address needs of various students and multi-task. I have learned how important is it to make
sure students know their teacher wants them to succeed, that their teacher is there to support
them and challenge them in their learning. I have learned the importance of motivational
learning.
 References

Boekaerts, M. (2010). The crucial role of motivation and emotion in classroom learning. In H. Dumont,
D. Istance, & F. Benavides (Eds). The Nature of Learning (pp. 91–112). Paris: OECD.
Lucas, B., & Claxton, G. (2010). New kinds of smart: How the science of learnable intelligence is
changing education. Berkshire, England: Open Uni
Timperley, H.S. & Parr, J.M. (2005). Theory competition and the process of change. Journal of
Educational Change, 6(3), 227–252.