As a teacher, I am constantly learning from my successes and failures.   The more I develop my teaching abilities, the more confident I become with them. This helps me to move onto the deeper level of teaching, where I can find out about the new learning and teaching theories, while applying them so my students can benefit. Different professional development activities of my job strengthen the teacher in me, but the conference I attended was the most recent.  This opportunity allowed me to network with people in the same field and learn from them. I attended classes that helped with managing behavioral issues within the classroom and strengthened my understanding of data-based individualism.

Even more notable to my professional growth is the collaboration with my co-teacher.  This is possible the best tool I’ve could access in my career.  This individual is a bouncing board of ideas and continual support.  We can support each other in lesson planning/creating, classroom management ideas, and even emotional support.  Teaching requires a person to give all of themselves, and having an individual who understands exactly what you are going through is needed to grow and change as a teacher. My co-teacher has done this, and helped shape me into the teacher I am.

In this effort to grow and change, I’ve increased the use of difference resources so my students can be successful. In a world where technology is so familiar and images are splashed across it, students have become very visual in their everyday lives. By using this in the classroom by offering paired visuals or videos with lessons, students can learn in a way they have become very customary to.  This helps me set students up for success.

As a teacher, I want to continuing improving my mindset in the classroom. Thus far, improving my mindset has proven to help define how I manage daily challenges in my classroom.  I want to continue doing mindfulness exercises to help with managing the stresses I encounter in my current placement, by building it into my regular routine.  There are many things that will help me in this effort such as different apps that can guide me through exercises.