Reflection On Teaching Practice

 I began my official teaching career in 2004, when I was hired as a Physical and Heath Education Teacher at an elementary charter school in Brooklyn, New York.  At the time, I was nervous and excited to be finally teaching something that I felt so passionately about which was and still is the health and wellness of young people.  While I was confident in the fact that I had made the correct career choice (I transitioned from a full time career in corporate fitness), I was worried that I did not have all of the tools needed to make a meaningful impact on the young people I was working with.  Granted I had done a lot of learning and growing as an educator, it wasn’t until I had gotten many years under my belt and gone through my first graduate program in childhood education that I began to really see a change in my teaching practice.  However it wasn’t until I moved into an administrator’s role outside of the classroom that I realized that my place in the education universe was back in the classroom instructing young people in the various ways that they can manage their health through physical and health education.  Despite all of the education and professional develop opportunities I had until this point, I recognized that in order to truly become a Physical and Health Educator, I needed proper training in health education.  So I enrolled in the Health Teacher graduate program at Lehman College.

            Over the course of the program, I have done a lot of work developing my skills as a Health Educator.  While I know and understand that there are always going to be different types of learners in the classroom, the difference between presenting material in the gymnasium and in the health classroom is very different.  During my time as a graduate student, I have come to better understand how individuals learn information, process this information, and the best ways to present and deliver information through a variety of teaching techniques and strategies.  Some of these techniques I am very familiar with however there are some that I am not very familiar with and I am very excited to return to the classroom to master these techniques to ensure student success in my health education class.

            This school year, I have been given the opportunity as an emerging Health Educator to work with the fifth graders in my school.  As an advocate of health, I felt that it was important for these students to receive some sort of health education as they would be leaving our school and moving on to Middle School.  Up to this point, these students had not been exposed to direct health education.  Any health related education they may have had was delivered to them in small increments in physical education and in their science classes.  To be very honest I was very nervous to begin this instruction with these students.  You see at my current school, I have not been in the role of teacher but as school administrator in the form of dean.  So you see while these students know me as an adult in the building to support them in their day to day activities, they haven’t until this year worked with me as their educator.  Additionally, I felt “rusty” in that I hadn’t been in the classroom as an educator on a consistent basis for over 3 years.  However once I began to see students on a consistent basis, “my nerves fell away”, and the work that I have been doing with these students has become more natural. 

During my time in the Health Teacher program at Lehman College, I have had the opportunity to increase my base knowledge of health education in addition to learning new teaching strategies and techniques.  I have been given the opportunity to practice and use some of these unique teaching techniques with and on my peers.  This practice definitely helped relieve some of the anxiety I had about using these techniques and strategies when I returned to the health classroom; it also provided me with the opportunity to grow in that I could try new ideas with my peers, receive constructive feedback,  and share ideas off of each other.  Teaching to my peers also helped me gain confidence in my abilities as an improving health educator; I recognized early on that regardless of my earlier experience of teaching physical education, I had never really taught in a classroom setting.  This was and still is despite my 10 plus years as an educator. 

Something that I believe to be a great strength of mine is my ability to collect and use data to drive my instruction.  Since all lessons should be tied to measurable goals, I believe it is important to assess on a consistent basis and in a variety of ways.  I recognize my role as an improving Health Educator is not only to educate my students in health concepts but to also contribute to their overall growth as an individual.  I also take pride in my ability to research health concepts, the current ways that they are being taught, and create lessons that are accurate and engaging.  It goes without saying that health in itself is ever changing and that a professional health educator is able to keep up with these changes to the best of their abilities.  Throughout my graduate program, I have had to spend a tremendous amount of time on research projects and papers.  I know where to look for information about a variety of health topics and concepts should the need arise.

So far in the classroom my experiences have been challenging but joyful.  I get excited when students ask if we will be meeting for health today and if so what will we be working on or learning about.  This energy inspires me to create lesson plans and activities that are challenging and fun while meeting the goals of this very new program.  Regardless, I know that I still have a lot to master as an improving Health Educator.  There a number of teaching techniques and strategies that I have yet to try and while I am excited to attempt them in my classes, I also do not want to destroy learning opportunities for my students by doing them incorrectly.  I am looking forward to possible future professional development opportunities with more experienced health educators.  Moving forward, I am looking to creating and developing appropriate elementary health education programs for the future.  I know that at the moment this is something that I need guidance on but I also recognize that regardless of what is put down on paper, I will need to be aware of the needs of the students that I will be working with.  Health Education should be a meaningful experience for young people and should reflect their needs.  This is something that I am anxiously waiting to dig into full time in the near future.