Running Head: REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE

Reflective Discourse EDU 695, Taylor University of New England Jessica Ralynn Steele

REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE When I left University five years ago to embark on my journey as a classroom teacher, I remember thinking that I was ready; Ready to be a great teacher and ready to guide my students to learning. That first year was hard. I do not mean to say that I did not enjoy it or that I think I was a bad teacher, but simply that I learned a lot of lessons in that year. Each year, I learned more about my teaching practice and further established my teaching philosophy. Four years later as I embarked on yet another journey, to complete my Masters of Science at the University of New England, yet again, I was ready. This time I wanted to be able to say that I am reflective, current, pedagogically sound, engaging, inspiring and a true model of life-long learning. My courses at UNE have taught me to harness the reflectivity I had experienced in the previous years and use it to further my classroom practice. Teaching classroom procedures, effectively, was perhaps one of the hardest lessons I learned as a new teacher; Wong (n.d.) taught me to explain, rehearse and reinforce (p.6) so that my students would see the value and the procedure could become not just routine, but meaningful. Reflecting back, I see that I tried to do too much too soon or too much at once when it came to establishing routines in my classroom. What I learned was that in order for things to run smoothly, I needed to take more time in the beginning and reinforce our classroom routines in order for my students to truly develop the independence I hoped to garner in them. Establishing classroom routines is a small, albeit valuable piece of the puzzle, but perhaps the most vital element in a classroom today is motivation. When I was young, motivation seemed black and white, extrinsic or intrinsic, and even then my main motive to succeed was a combination of saving my own skin and wanting to prove I could do

REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE something, so that my mom would not ground me or be disappointed. Lack of motivation and the need for extrinsic motivation appears to be rising in our children; however, Anderman and Anderman (2010) believe that teachers can and do impact student motivation. I believe this too. By understanding motivational theories and knowing who my students are as individuals, then catering for that through differentiation in teaching and assessment strategies, and making learning an engaging process instead of a top-down authoritative model, I am equipping my students to think for themselves and to believe they can achieve. Each day when I am planning instruction I try to ask myself, what other ways are there to accomplish this? How do my students learn best? By incorporating their learning styles and providing opportunities for my students to make choices in the way they attain or prove their information, I hope to build a solid foundation that will lead them on a life-long inquisitive path as motivated learners. The University of New England has helped me to harness the passion that I had when I left my undergrad years behind and combine it with strengthened pedagogical practices and understanding, so that I may be a more effective and engaging teacher to the students entrusted into my care. I firmly believe that teachers must be models of lifelong learning if we are to instill those values in the students we teach. UNE has taught me many lessons on how to use classroom management, motivational theories and differentiation to be a more effective teacher, but perhaps most importantly UNE has taught me that I am not alone. I am a member of a professional learning community that spans continents and this ability to collaborate and be reflective on practice and theory has strengthened my resolve to be the best teacher I can be.

REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE References

Anderman, E.M., & Anderman, L.H. (2010). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Wong, H.K. (n.d.). The well-managed classroom. Retrieved from http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/gen/HSTPR034.PDF