Chapter 1 Assignment

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Toronto Metropolitan University *

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ENG4U

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Chemistry

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Feb 20, 2024

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Ch 1 Written Assignment: Effective Teacher Qualities 📝Effective Teacher Qualities Overview: In this chapter, you read about the myriad of tasks and roles that teachers take on both inside and outside the classroom. Using what you learned in the reading and your own opinion, answer all five questions below. 1. Define what it means to be a professional teacher. Write between 50-100 words. To be a professional teacher first and foremost means to understand why it is that you are choosing the career path of becoming a teacher and implementing that reason or motivation into your teaching methods to not only have a successful teaching experience for yourself, but also a successful learning experience for both your students and yourself. The reason I say that both the teacher and the student are involved in the learning aspect is because a professional teacher is not one that simply regurgitates information to the students and then removes themselves from the process. A professional teacher is always trying to engage in the learning process seeing as this represents the steps that are taken in order to reach the product of teaching. In other words, a professional teacher is more concerned with the procedure of teaching as opposed to the end result and therefore they choose to be actively involved in this procedure, rather than removing themselves from it and leaving it up to the students to “figure it out,” only to involve themselves with the end results of the teaching. For example, a professional teacher would present their teaching lesson to the class, and then work on the material together with the students in order to collectively reach the product, or end result. An unprofessional teacher would simply present the lesson, and sit back waiting for the students to come up with the product themselves. The reason that being involved in the process of teaching is what defines a professional teacher is because teaching is not static, but rather it always makes room for improvement, and by being involved in the process, this helps the teacher to improve as well, which helps them in their professional growth. 2. Describe 2-3 things you would do on the first day of class and how they will help to establish your teacher presence . Explain why you would do those tasks. Reference the chapter reading in your response. Write between 100-250 words. In no particular order, one of the first things that I would do on the first day of class in order to establish my teacher presence is to come to class dressed professionally, in business-casual attire. I believe this is very important because, when making a first impression upon your

students, I would want them to visually see me dressed the part of a professional as well as an academic. This visual first impression asserts teacher presence in the sense that students will be much more likely to take me seriously as a teacher if I were dressed professionally, as opposed to if I were to come dressed wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. Dressing professionally also presents an impression of authority, which would most likely garner more respect from the students as well. Dressing professionally also helps me to be more confident in myself, which will help with the next thing I would do on the first day of class. Upon arrival, I would like to set a tone of confidence, as well as approachability to the students when introducing myself and going over the expectations of behaviour in the classroom, and all other introductory components of the first day (including reviewing the syllabus, going through ice-breakers, etc.). I would do this because I feel that even if I am a little nervous, if I am able to come in to the class confidently, then this too will help the students to take me more seriously as a professional, and therefore this would set the academic tone of the classroom. Understandably, it is alright to convey to students that I am a little nervous seeing as this is my first time teaching English in a foreign country, and if anything this may even help the students to relate to me seeing as they too are most likely going to be nervous on their first day. This would already create a more comfortable atmosphere and help put the students at ease. Though, when I say I would come in to class confidently, this includes not only the introduction but also coming in to class prepared and well-organized. While dressing professionally establishes teacher presence visually, being confident and vocal when addressing the classroom establishes teacher presence through action. In the same way, this first impression will most likely garner respect from the students, because if they see that I am confident, organized, prepared, and well-dressed, they will take me more seriously as their teacher. 3. Describe 1-2 ways you might work to build community in your classroom. Provide rationale for your choices. Write between 100-250 words. One way that I would build community in my classroom, speaking from previous experience, is first and foremost by having an environment that encourages open dialogue and discourse amongst the students themselves, while I act more as a facilitator to the discussion. In my experience, this not only provides students with the opportunity to engage with each other, but also to feel as though they can speak openly and freely, which encourages participation amongst the class as a collective. This encourages everybody in the classroom, students and teacher alike, to know more about each other by helping students to familiarize amongst themselves (such as knowing one another’s names), which contrasts with a classroom in which the teacher speaks for most of the duration of the class, while the students remain silent and only speak when the teacher calls on them. For me, this does not promote community engagement because it is a very one-sided approach to teaching, and it creates division

between students since they do not have the opportunity to get to know each other, and they are almost there only to learn for themselves, and not with each other. Essentially, I would limit teacher talk time so that students are given the opportunity to communicate with one another, thereby establishing relations amongst everybody in the classroom which is an essential component for building community. Another thing I would personally do (without taking up too much classroom time), is try to relate course material to real-life situations and have students speak about how they would like to, or how they already, apply this material to their daily lives, in an attempt for the students to find common ground amongst one another, aside from the main reason of them being there to learn English. I too would share the ways in which I apply certain course material in my daily life, and the reason behind this is because I find that the more students can relate to one another, as well as to their teacher, the stronger the communal foundation is in the classroom. More so, the more that students can communicate with one another and learn about each other, the stronger the community will be, which is why intertwining teaching the English language with exercises that include getting to know one another on a more personal level is a great way to build community. One potential exercise I could think of as an example is pairing students together and having them ask each other questions such as what their favourite hobbies are, their life goals, their favourite animal even, or anything about them. When they are finished, the pair of students would present to the class what they’ve learned about their partner, so that they too can learn more about their peers. 4. Explain 1-2 ways you will maintain professional relationships with students, peers, and/or parents. Provide rationale for your choices. Write between 100-250 words. The most important thing for a teacher to understand when maintaining a professional relationship with students, peers, and/or parents is that they are not just a teacher in the classroom, but they are a teacher all the time. This means that, as a teacher, even outside of the classroom or outside of work hours, you must conduct yourself accordingly in every situation. Whether it is on social media, or anywhere in public, it is important to remain professional in the sense that you are not doing anything that would be considered gross misconduct. Of course, teachers are still humans and are allowed to have fun, but you must remember that you are representing your students as well as the institution at which you are teaching. To maintain professional relationships with the aforementioned groups of people, you must uphold your reputation as a professional teacher. The reason behind this is because if a student, peer, or parent were to see you behaving in an inappropriate way outside of the classroom, this would give off a bad impression, having them believe that you are not qualified or suitable to teach their children or to teach at the institution. It is not only about getting “caught” behaving inappropriately, because even if a student, peer, or parent does not see you acting in such a way, that does not take away from the fact that as a teacher, you are in a

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position of authority, meaning that you are also given the responsibility to help shape and mold the minds of other human beings. In a sense, you are supposed to be a role model for others, especially those who you are teaching and the people surrounding them as well. By always conducting yourself appropriately and responsibly, you can maintain professional relationships because when others see this, they will respect you and may also want to model their own behaviour according to yours. Teachers are meant to set a good example for their students, and by setting a good example through your words and actions, this can inspire students as well to be their best selves. 5. Considering your persona, identify 1-2 ideas that could help you balance work responsibilities and non-work/leisure time . Provide rationale for your choices. Write between 100-250 words. As a former student who had to commute to university, one of the ways that I was able to balance my schoolwork during this one hour leisure time was to review my school work or readings on the commute before class. This would be one of the ways that I would apply to the responsibilities of being a teacher (such as planning lessons, grading assignments, etc.), in helping to balance my work responsibilities and non-work/leisure time. The rationale behind this is that, even though I would allocate a certain time-frame within my day to doing these work responsibilities at home, where it is much easier to concentrate, it is still important to make room for non-work/leisure activities so that I don’t burnout quickly or lose my motivation. For me, when I am commuting, I usually am doing nothing but staring out the window or at the floor, so instead of doing something unproductive, I could take this opportunity to get some work done and this could help relieve some time later in the day for me to do something that I enjoy. I would also have a well-organized calendar in which I can plan out days and times that I would dedicate to work responsibilities and days and times I would dedicate to personal activities, such as going to the gym, reading, watching TV, or going out for dinner. By keeping a well-organized calendar and overall weekly schedule, I have a solid structure for my day-to-day tasks and activities which would give me a peace of mind knowing that after a 5 day work week, I have a night out planned to explore the city and go eat dinner at a restaurant that I have really wanted to try. This helps to maintain motivation, seeing as it serves not only as a reward system, but in planning ahead and giving yourself something to look forward to, it will alleviate symptoms of burnout and keep the motivation going to get through my work coherently, knowing that I have something to look forward to enjoying for myself.