Professional Growth
Collaboration with classmates and professors
“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship”-Dr. James Comer
One of the things that I have found most rewarding about my experiences at Florida Gulf Coast University has been the relationships, discussions, and collaborations with my fellow classmates and professors. I have thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to work with and learn from other teachers. It is possible that most of my learning came from these experiences. Routman (2000) states that “collaboration, collegiality, and community are best taught to our students through our own example. When we teachers are part of a strong professional community, student achievement and engagement are higher. Effective teaching goes hand in hand with teacher collegiality" (Routman, p. 521). These meaningful relationships are ones that I plan to continue to cultivate. I hope to continue collaborating with some of my wonderful classmates long after we have graduated. I’ve become friends with many of them on social networking sites so that we can continue to share ideas and strategies even though we will not be seeing each other every week.
The professors that I have had the pleasure to work with at Florida Gulf Coast University truly seem to have a vested interest in me as a student, teacher, and individual. I value this in an instructor and I have found that it has helped me to reflect upon my own communications with my students. Am I making every communication meaningful? Is my feedback helpful? Often I have stopped short in the middle of typing assignment feedback and started over, thinking to myself, “How can I make the most of this opportunity to connect with my student?”
Contribution
"The Human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live."
-Ethel Percy Andrus
In thinking about how I can contribute to the teaching profession, I can’t help but think how awesome it would be to tell more and more people about the wonderful opportunities at Florida Virtual School. Not only that, but I would enjoy having the opportunity to share what I know about technology through some sort of seminar or workshop. I do hope to become an adjunct at Florida Gulf Coast Universitysometime in the near future as well. I would love to teach undergraduate education courses such as Classroom Management, Reading, or Technology. I feel that I would bring some fresh ideas to the classroom and I would absolutely love to be able to teach future teachers. I’d also be interested in being a guest speaker. This would give me a good opportunity to talk with students about Florida Virtual School and the wonderful option it is for both teachers and students alike.
Professional Reading
I have enjoyed reading a variety of books that were assigned for my courses. Throughout the process I have made a list of books that I would like to purchase and read in the near future.
