Saturday, January 24, 2009

Skillful teachers are made, not born.


In the process of my teaching reflection while reviewing my last entry (Entry 3) for my National Board I went through each of my past entries again and looked at my teaching practices in the past.

I actually have a choice on what last entry should I retake - Entry 1, Assessment Informs Instruction or Entry 3, Enhancing Social Development. My colleagues told me to retake Entry 1 since it would be easier for me because I already have documentations that I am doing what is right with the better scores of my students in their benchmark assessments. But I insisted to retake Entry 3 which has been my problem ever since I came to teach in DCPS, it has been difficult for me to manage the behavior of my students.

I am so brave to retake Entry 3 when I know that this is my weakness. I told my colleagues that I would like to get better in this area. Doing a lot of reflection and researching for more effective behavior management strategies will help me become a better teacher and I believe this is what the National Board Certification is about. What helped me the most in becoming a more effective teacher is not the documentation (stressful for me) of how my students are becoming better but the reflection (insightful for me) of why they are becoming better.

Yes, I agree that "skillful teachers are made, not born". If not for the National Board Certification and the professional development trainings and conferences that I have attended over the years I would still be a struggling teacher.

Here are the list of Entries for Exceptional Needs Specialist content area that I will be reviewing and updating this week for those of you who may stumble upon this blog:
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