Karen Visted Priftis

EDUC 612

Belief Statement
All students can learn; it is my role as the teacher to figure out how to make that happen,

for every child, in every lesson, every day. This isnt always easy. Students come to school with

their own strengths and weaknesses, just like teachers do. They have their own preferences

about what they want to do and how they want to do it. It is my job to try to first try to find the

way that reaches the majority of my students, using time and resources efficiently. Next, I need

to determine who did not master the material the first time. These students may all have

different reasons for strugglingit is my job to figure out how best to reach each and every one

of them.

Before I can be an effective teacher to my students, I need to understand my beliefs and

why I hold them. I am the first child of five, born into a home with two very high achievers. My

father, a real life rocket scientist, who also happened to have a Masters in Business

Administration, to go with his Masters in Aerospace Engineering, was raised by a mother that

was a housekeeper to the wealthy in the Hamptons. My mother was the child of a truck

driver/firefighter; she became an intensive care nurse, not afraid to ride a helicopter to a crash

site, to pull people out of car wrecks to try to save their lives, even on the side of a road. I was

raised to believe that we all can make a difference if we work hard. Nothing was given in my

house, outside of birthdays and Christmas, and even those could be affected by poor choices.

Consequently, hard work was rewardedusually by goals reached, rather than by my parents.

Expectations were high and hard truths were told. We were held responsible for all of our

decisions, the good, the bad, and the ugly. My parents raised five children who are all
successful; a teacher, a career Marine officer, the general manager of a health club, an FBI agent,

and the general manager of a car dealership. Their way seemed to work for us.

As a teacher, I have found that I have a lot of different roles, some expected, others a surprise.

Role #1: Detective

Understanding where I came from helps me to understand why I operate the way I do;

understanding where my students come from helps me understand how they may best operate.

Every person who walks into my classroom comes with their own struggles. Some are obvious--

those just learning to speak English or those with learning challenges may be on a list at the

beginning of the year. Others are much harder to see--those who are hungry due to

socioeconomic challenges, those exhausted from listening to last nights parental arguments, or

those suffering through the painful process of divorce may be quietly hidden behind forced

smiles. I need to get to know my students so that I can determine how best to help them on their

learning path; it may have nothing to do with learning to read or write.

Role #2: Motivational Speaker

All students can learn. It is the job of the teacher to figure out how best to reach each

child. I dont think that we can over-estimate the role of motivation in helping kids learn. I

believe that my first role is that of motivator. I work hard to make sure that my students want to

be in my classroom every day. We try to have fun, but we also strive to accomplish a lot. We

have clear cut expectations that we establish at the beginning of the year and we review them

each morning, reminding ourselves about why we are together. They are:

1. We learn best when we try best

2. We will be proud of what we have accomplished every day
3. Working hard is its own reward
 4. We will all learn something new today
5. We are a team; we each have individual goals to reach that will help make our team
successful
These precepts remind me of John Deweys writing, the purpose of education was the

intellectual, moral, and emotional growth of the individual and, consequently, the evolution of a

democratic society (1916/1944, p. 845, as cited by Rodgers, 2002). I need to do more than

make sure that they can read, write, and solve math problems. They need to learn to think and to

exist as part of a larger community. They need to contribute to this society in order to be

successfuland feel successful.

Role #3: Inspector:

It would be wonderful if every student came in to my classroom at exactly the same

place, ready for the same instruction, sharing the same needs and strengths, but it doesnt happen

that way. I spend a good amount of time every day trying to determine what each student knows

and what they dont. I need to find the right starting point for each one in every component of

our learning. Assessment is a teachers best friendit lets you know who understands a topic

and who is struggling. Careful examination can provide a great deal of information about

student knowledge and misconceptions, allowing the teacher to develop an appropriate plan that

will make sure that every student is on the path toward reaching their full potential.

Role #4: Instructor

Instruction can take many forms in my classroom. It is usually messy and loud,

no matter how much I would like it to be neat and quiet. I realize that kids learn best when they

are talking about their learning, but it sure would be nice if it happened in a whisper voice every

once in a while. Some instruction comes directly from me telling the students something that

they need to know or modeling a skill. Other times it can come from books, videos, websites, or
guests. The best learning seems to occur when the students are immersed in what they are doing;

this happens when learning situations are hands-on or very experiential. Often math, science,

and social studies provide students with great opportunities to step in to whatever it is that they

are learning, using tools and manipulatives that help them learn like the experts learnby doing.

In fourth grade we always spend a very long day in Jamestown and Williamsburg as we are

learning about Virginia history. That trip is worth its weight in gold; we often refer back to that

powerful experience as we continue to learn about Virginias role in Americas growth.

I have seen hands-on experiences change kids attitudes in my classes. While I was

teaching advanced math to my fourth graders, a couple of kids were concerned with the idea of

algebra, which we began in earnest during the third quarter. I spoke with our Advanced

Academics teacher and she recommended a program called Hands-On Equations. It was

amazing. I had never seen a hands-on method to explicitly teach kids how to solve algebraic

equations like this. It was fun and engagingthe kids loved it. By the time the year was over,

they were confident mathematicians, even solving for x and y. It was truly a learning experience

for all of us. I have used that program now multiple times, including with kids that I tutor who

are struggling with math. I am constantly amazed at the power of the hands and brain together.

As John Dewey points out in Democracy and Education, An ounce of experience is better than

a ton of theory simply because it is only in experience that any theory has vital and verifiable

significance (1916/1944, p. 144). It is also important to remember that learners occasionally

need to be pushed out of their comfort zone so that they can rise to a challenge and broaden the

range of learning styles with which they are comfortable (Brookfield, 1995). Being intimidated

by something gives away your powerwe give it our best try and see what we can accomplish.
 I also am constantly working with differing groups of children, rather than just the whole

group. Some things are fine to teach to everyone at once, but it is incredibly important to work

with smaller groups for some things. Reading groups change often, as some kids take off and

need more challenges, or hit a speed bump and need more time. The same is true in math

working with smaller groups let me, see up close and personal, what they can do on their own

and how they are doing it. There isnt always one way, so it is important to see all of the

methods being used; it is equally important to be able to clear up misconceptions. Sometimes

the kids think that because it worked once, it will always work. It is important that they

understand why it was perfect one time, and then didnt work the next three times.

Role #5: Coach

A lot of one-on-one instruction and discussion is necessary when writing is being taught.

No two writers are ever in the same place at the same time. Every student needs to work on

different skills as they become necessary to their writing. Writers need to be reminded about

what they are doing well and what they need to improve in order to make their writing more

interesting and clear to their audience. Modeling writing is always a good starting point, but it is

probably the first and last time that all of the students were in the same place at the same time.

As soon as they put pencil to paper, they need individual coaching to help them improve their

performance.

Coaching is also very prevalent as students work through how to make good choices in

school. Choices that are fun are not always the best path to lead to success in the classroom.

Taking a moment to talk to a student, one-on-one, about things that went well, things that went

poorly, and changes that could be made in the future, is probably one of the most important jobs
each day. It is the same questions I ask at the end of each quarter, as I draft progress reports,

asking the students to reflect and commit to changes for the next marking period.

Role #6: Philosopher

At the end of each day, I find myself wondering what I forgot.did I pull the student up

that was struggling with multiplication, did I sit down and listen to my ELL read her first book

out loud, did I compliment a hesitant writer on the detail she included in her story? This type of

reflection is useful, and common among teachers. It usually ends with me realizing that I forgot

to do something that was important. I also try to take time to reflect more critically on what

occurred that day. This kind of reflection is about growing and changing as a teacher, in order to

best serve our individual students. This critical reflection is harder to do; it requires a really

honest appraisal of what I did during the day, why I did it, if it was valuable, should it be

repeated, or should it be changedand how. It is often hard to embrace change in the

classroom; other teachers want to keep it the way that they have always done it, the

administration wants us all to be on the same page at the same time, using pacing and planning

guides that dont always fit our students, and changing lessons requires a lot of energy and effort

that is often in short supply. Sometimes teachers choose not to change; this is a waste of

everyones time. We need to make the time to find effective ways to best reach all of our

students, with every precious minute that we have available to us during the school year. We

need to be their champion and push them to be the very best people that they can beeven if it

means fighting the system, even though we are just teachers. Brookfield reminds us that we

need to listen to that little voice in our heads, our authentic voice, to empower ourselves to

make difficult decisions that are best for our individual students (1995, p. 47), relying on the

wisdom accumulated through knowledge and experience, and sharing those ideas with those we
work with and for. This critical reflection is at the heart of becoming truly great teachers; it

allows us to show our students that every day is an opportunity to work hard, examine our

choices, and adapt as necessary in order to reach the goals that we set for ourselves.

References

Brookfield, S. (1995). Learning to know ourselves: The value of autobiography. Becoming a

critically reflective teacher (pp. 49-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Dewey, J. (1944). Experience in thinking. Democracy in education (pp. 139-151). New York,
NY: The Free Press.

Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining reflection: Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking.
Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866