Personal Statement Analysis

After a pivotal moment with my grade nine math teacher, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in teaching. Throughout eighth grade, I struggled to understand addition and subtraction of negative numbers. I felt such frustration that I vowed to give up on math as soon as it wasn't a mandatory course. Within my first week of grade nine math, my teacher recognized that I was having difficulty and rather than using the same methodology as my prior teacher, she explained it using a thermometer. It instantly clicked, as she recognized I needed a different strategy to learn. Throughout the rest of my education I was fortunate enough to be able to utilize this experience to teach students who have felt like I once had. As a result, I have begun creating

During my first placement at St. James Catholic High School in Guelph, I was paired with a Special Education Resource Teacher. She allowed me to shadow her meetings with parents, Educational Assistants, other teachers and special education services such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech and language services. Exposure to these meetings allowed me to understand how essential collaboration is among parents, external services and other educators for the development and success of any student, at any level. This experience also taught me how to communicate with other members of a team, and learn the value of teamwork with regards to a child’s learning. This insight is extremely important to carry into today’s schools, as it will help me to better support learners as a team and advocate for their needs. Additionally, I was able to plan and implement lessons for my supervisor’s k-coded grade nine math class, as well as work one-on-one with students. I was able to strategize, adjust to students needs and consider the effectiveness of my own teaching style. As I work towards becoming an educator, this insight is very important, as I have learned how best practices are achieved when constantly reflecting and evaluating teaching methods. Finally, this

As previously mentioned, I completed a practicum placement in a grade two classroom. One month into the semester we received a new student who had recently emigrated from Syria. English was not her first language, she was significantly taller than all of her classmates, she had a slight accent, and she was exceptionally smart. My supervisor and I mutually decided it might be a good idea to ask one of the girls in the class to show her around and to play with her at recess, so that she felt welcome. Unfortunately, a week later I discovered the Syrian student crying during recess because her classmate began making fun of her height and accent, since she wouldn't let her copy her work anymore. I immediately brought it to the attention of my supervisor and we decided to incorporate it into my social studies lesson plan on traditions. I asked the new student if she would help me make my example worksheet, using her families’ traditions. In doing so, we discussed her family, culture, as well as similarities and differences. Together we decided to use this as a teachable moment for the entire class. As a class, we focused on how differences make us special, but that we must also be respectful and take the time to learn about other cultures. Cultural diversity is extremely important, especially in a classroom setting. From this,