In reflecting upon my experience at the Carnegie Mellon Children’s School thus far, I have come to realize that in four short weeks I have become more confident as a pre-professional teacher and a better problem solver. This confidence stems from the variety of activities I have completed, the lessons I have taught as well as my weekly observations of my two outstanding mentor teachers who have guided me through this process.

It is fascinating how much can be learned by watching another expert in the field.

One of the goals that come to mind when I think about my development as a teacher, is to learn how to use quick and effective classroom management techniques. After teaching 8th graders from the inner-city of Pittsburgh this summer as well as Kindergartners at the Carnegie Mellon Children’s school, I have mastered skills such as whispering to get the student’s attention as well as teaching with high energy so that my students won’t have time to misbehave. Nevertheless, I am still unsure as to how I am to respond to a specific child who refuses to listen while everyone else is listening. I suppose that in some ways it is easier to redirect a large group of students who are a little bit too chatty as opposed to redirecting one child who is completely disengaged and is talking out to the teacher.

As discussed with my mentor teacher, there will come a day sometime soon where I am teaching 25 children without an aide or teacher assistant and a child begins to act up in the middle of my lesson. I am unsure as to what I would do in this situation. Thus, my goal is to develop a toolkit of strategies so that if something like this happens, I am able to turn a negative situation into a positive one. I will do this by listening to the techniques discussed in my methods classes, while also designing my own strategies for the student in my current placement who seems to be having a difficult time adjusting to the kindergarten environment. One of the best ways to learn is by applying previously learned knowledge to real-life experiences.

A second goal I have for my development as a teacher, is leaving the University of Pittsburgh with a full time job within Pittsburgh or in another state. Although many individuals are incredibly picky about where they want to get a job, I am not. After traveling through four years of undergrad plus one year of graduate school, I am determined to be able to teach in a school with my own classroom.

In order to achieve this goal, I will continue to do my absolute best in any school that I am placed at as to represent the University of Pittsburgh with honor and respect. In addition, I will continue to build my professional portfolio to make myself more marketable in the education world. I will attend job opportunity fairs this year and study for my certification exams so that I can achieve the best score possible.

The last goal relating to my development as a teacher is to be able to plan lessons that are innovate and inquiry-based with greater speed and proficiency. I sometimes have to remind myself that lesson planning is about the quality and not the quantity. In addition, it is about writing a lesson plan that is clear, succinct and of high quality rather than confusing and unwieldy.

I have found that when I am writing lesson plans, I often create plans that are initially “too much.” In other words, I have many ideas, but it takes me a while to pick one or two that I value and turn them into a lesson plan. I realize that next year when I am placed in a first, second, third or fourth grade classroom and I am also taking classes, I will have to focus on creating excellent lesson plans with more efficiency. In other words, I will need to produce quality work quicker than before. I suppose this will come with experience.