Short-Term Transformations
I constantly reflect on my teaching practices to find ways to improve the performance of my students. By reflecting on student performance, I improve the way I teach the content throughout the day. I also appreciate and consider feedback from observers. MTC assigns professionals to come to our school and observe us throughout the two years. They provide suggestions on how to improve the problems that they observe, and by implementing their ideas within a couple of days I see improvements in the student performance.
Long-Term Transformations
Throughout my teaching experience, I have constantly looked for ways to improve my communication and organization skills. The graduate courses have provided an in-depth understanding of the education system and best teaching practices. I am always looking for new ways to attack problems that arise in the classroom. To give you a visual representation of how I do this, I will explain the transformation of my process of assigning seats. (Please be assured that my main focus for student improvement is on academic achievement). With my first classes, I printed a seating chart and taped it on the wall. Then when students rushed into the classroom on the first day, I had over thirty excited students trying to look at one paper on the wall. To make matters worse, the seating chart was confusing and students didn't understand it. In the next semester, I projected the chart on the board and labeled some more items in the classroom, but students assigning seats still wasn't as easy as I expected it to be.
For the first day of my second year, I wanted to eliminate all confusion from assigning seats. I created and projected a seating chart with images of my desks, the tree, posters, and the door to match where they were located in the classroom. Students had no problem finding their assigned seats.