My Baggage Claim

Allo Kristen, Kiana and Alicia,

This wooden box is what I call my baggage claim. While the word, “baggage” can invoke negative connotation, it can also be viewed in a positive and endearing light when seen almost as a suitcase that I, as a teacher candidate, have carried along throughout my journey of becoming an educator.

When the chest is opened, you’ll see inside a flower made out of pieces of tracing paper. The flower has been made to symbolize my growth - that each petal needs to be cared for with patience when developing its form. I wanted to use the flower to represent my development as a teacher, which also takes time and process.

Each tracing paper that makes up the petal of the flower symbolizes my key learning from the second semester of my education program. There are three petals to this flower: relationship, ownership, and assessment.

RELATIONSHIP. From the very beginning of our program, having a healthy and positive relationship with our students and colleagues was emphasized as being one of the crucial aspects of teaching. I am coming to understand this concept more in-depth with added layers as I go through my teaching journey.

Self-efficacy. It is interesting to see a change in our students. One student, in particular, throughout my time at the practicum school has shown a little shift in his attitude towards taking on an academic challenge. He used to be the one to say, "I don't understand this work. I don't care about this work". However, now, with the relationship I have built up with him I can see a glimpse of him saying "I don't know how to do this - but I think I can do it if I can get your help to get started".

This change I see in my classroom reminds me of what I have read in chapter 12 from Developing Self-Regulated Learners: "Self-efficacy reflects an individual belief in their capacity to achieve outcomes in a particular situation" (pg. 183). What is fascinating is that I can see the different layers that can help students become confident of who they are and take on challenges they usually would not have considered.

Summary: I am realizing that relationships can be the channel in which students come to believe in themselves, which in return, helps them to further their learning with a conviction that they have the capacity to learn.

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OWNERSHIP. I remember that one of my teaching stances from the first semester revolved around self-regulated learning (SRL). However, now I am seeing the bigger arching theme of student ownership of their social-emotional and intellectual development. What I also have observed is that for students to take ownership of their learning, they need to be internally motivated - to have the drive to learn and inquire.

Growth Mindset. While it is not a motivation factor, I have come to learn about a powerful tool that can stir the learning energy in our students. This foundation/tool is called growth mindset. Chapter 11 from the Developing Self-Regulated Learners quote that "when students adopt a growth mindset, they view some aspects of their ability, competencies or personality as something that can be collaborated and developed" (pg.169). I have noticed this phenomenon in my own practicum experience and from my course work that growth mindset is the foundation that empowers students internally to want to learn - to continually work on themselves to become a better version of themselves, both intellectually and social-emotionally.

Assessment. Assessment, unlike the growth mindset, is a motivation factor for students to learn. In the past, assessment often induced fear and anxiety ("If I do not get an A, my parents may become disappointed"). However, I would like to bring a change to this attitude so that students are motivated to do well in their assessment pieces for themselves - for them to see where they are at academically and come up with a plan to achieve their goals. I believe that it is extremely important for educators to frame assessment so that students have a positive attitude towards any type (for, as, of) of assessment. Some ways to establish a healthy relationship with assessment is to be transparent what the assessment is measured to do, and how it can further their learning as lifelong learners.