Ximena Gmez Peralta

STRATEGIES TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER

Many choose to be teachers, in my case teaching choose me. I started as a paraprofessional,
because I could not find a job right out of college. I have to admit that I did not expect to like it
as much as I did. The biggest reward has been seeing how students learn and grow during the
year. For years I have worked with kinder and first grade so the growth that you see in the little
ones from not knowing letters, numbers or even know how to hold a pencil to being readers and
writers at the end of the year its an amazing feeling. I believe that teachers should keep
educating them selves over the years. I worked thirteen years as paraprofessional and while the
job is rewarding it was time for me to move forward keep educating myself and finally become a
teacher. Teaching has many rewards but also many challenges and as teacher we need to be well
prepared to face every challenge and be humble enough to recognize when we need help to better
our selves. Teachers must be willing to embrace student diversity, schools more than ever are
becoming more multicultural than ever before, we a great range of levels and abilities. Teachers
must leave biases and stereotypes behind and embrace the diversity of students in the classroom.
Teachers must create and maintaining a positive class culture and climate and participate actively
in the school to improve and maintain the schools climate. We must help students to set up
realistic goals so that can take ownership of their learning, their errors and successes. Lessons
must be engaging for all students, one way is to integrate technology as part of your instruction.
Above all we must reflect on our own practice to become better teachers, always striving to be
better and listening to feedback and adjusting our teaching when necessary.
In order successfully embrace student diversity in the classroom is important to be a aware of our
own their strengths and biases. As teachers we are the roles models, our students will imitate
with their friends our demeanor towards other students and school personnel, therefore we must

Ximena Gmez Peralta

set a good example of acceptance, and be respectful of others. The InTASC standard 2(j) states
that The teacher understands that learners bring assets for learning based on their individual
experiences, abilities, talents, prior learning, and peer and social group interactions, as well as
language, culture, family, and community values. Teachers should be open to other cultures,
languages and religions different from our own. Now 37% of school-age children fall into the
category of minority population and this figure is projected to increase significantly in the next
few years. (Lynch, 2014) especially in areas such as Texas, Florida, California and New York in
the next couple of decades. It is important in multicultural classes to create a sense of unity and
to validate our differences. Schools must recognize not only the diversity evident between broad
ethnic groups but also the diversity within this groups (Lynch, 2014) Even in a classroom that
is mostly Hispanic/Latino or even Mexican there are differences depending in what part of
Mexico or what ethic group you belong to. This year I had an opportunity with two students to
have more in depth conversations during teacher parent conferences. One student told me that
she had live in Japan from new born to the age of four and she discussed how she missed the
food from over there. Another student is already bilingual in English and Chinese but was so
eager to learn Spanish that he self-thought a few phrases using youtube classes. He is one of the
most attentive set of eyes in our Spanish Class. In the future I plan to do student interest surveys
and bring them up during the teacher parent conferences to talk more in depth of other possible
interest or culture and language background my students might have.
Creating a positive learning environment starts with the teachers attitude. Teachers have to be
enthusiastic about their class, being in school and about teaching. Enthusiasm is contagious if
you appear bored to the students, that boredom will ripple through the classroom but the same
goes for being excited about what you are teaching. (Lynch 2014, p. 269-270)

Ximena Gmez Peralta

To create a positive class culture and climate is important to have areas in which students can
feel comfortable in their learning environment. Physical spaces that according to Lynch should
have action areas in front and the middle of the class for students that need support or get easily
distracted. Learning areas that allow students to participate in activities related to the
curriculum, as well as interactive bulletin boards where students can display their work and what
they are currently learning. (Lynch, 2014, p. 274 - 275)
In order for students to cooperate with the teacher and one another, rules and consequences must
be established apply them consistently. Routines and transitions should be followed as much as
possible and teachers should be well prepared so lessons run smoothly with no interruptions,
content should be challenging but without frustrating students so that the stress and anxiety
levels are low. When students know what is expected of them is easier for them to achieve to
their fullest potential. (Lynch, 2014)
Creating and maintaining a positive school and class culture and climate is an ongoing effort.
We might have better days or weeks than others, but as a professional is important to remember
to leave personal problems at home that can affect our mood and quality of our class or lesson
delivery and in return also affect the mood and receptiveness of the classroom.
As a teacher is important to know about students progress. Teachers can do formative
assessments through the lesson. Formative assessments provide valuable feedback about
students communication skills, social skills and level of achievement in the moment and provides
necessary information to adjust teaching or the pacing of your lessons as well as needed support.
(Lynch, 2014, p. 248)

Ximena Gmez Peralta

At the end of lessons or unit teachers can perform summative assessments to determine if
students have mastered the materials or skills. Both types are important, equally important is to
inform the student of their achievements and teach them how to set reasonable goals.
When students themselves identify, analyze, and use data from their learning, they become
active agents in their own growth. They set personal goals informed by data they understand, and
they own those goals. (Berger, Rugen and Woodfin, 2014)
In the future I plan to use the data chats with students in which we look and analyze their writing
and math assessments and use their errors and success to set up new goals. This will help
students understand what they need to work on to improve and which elements they have
achieved. (Berger, Rugen and Woodfin, 2014)
Most kids today are digital natives, they know how to work computers, tablets, cellphones it is
up to the teacher to find new and engaging ways to use technology in the classroom and make
connections to the real world. There are various web programs that align with the Common Core
standards and make learning more interactive and individualize. programs like SuccessMaker
(language arts and math), Imagine (Spanish literacy) can be used by students at school. In class
I use and let my students use the Promethium board as much as I can. I have used the
Promethean board as whiteboard, to watch videos for brain breaks, I have developed learning
games that are aligned to what we are learning in class, we play them as a class or as a center
where they are in charge of them selves. I will continue to create new lessons that involve
technology.
When developing lesson plans is important to keep in mind how students learn and develop.
While some students might be able to work independently another student or group of students
might need more scaffolding and teacher guided practices, therefore is important to differentiate

Ximena Gmez Peralta

among students to help them achieve their full potential. Teachers need to be prepared for every
lesson so they can make the content accessible to all students, they do so by having a fund of
strategies to help students understand the concepts and how those components relate to other
areas of study. Built into the lesson plans there should be formative and/or summative
assessments that should guide the teaching and lesson plans and adapt them as necessary.
Teachers should inform students of their errors and success and make realistic goals that will
encourage the student to take ownership of their own education and improvement.
It is important for every teacher to reflect on their teaching practice as whole including lesson
plans, strategies and teaching goals and strive for development in all areas. Just as students
teachers must learn from the feedback that we get from students and their families, colleges, and
supervisors.
As a first year teacher I tend to be very hard on myself, even after my peers tell me that I am
doing a good job. In my mind I know how a good lesson should look like, and I always try to
strive for that, but in practice it does not always comes out the way. I know that I have a lot of
growing to do and this will inevitably will come with time and practice. In the future I would
like to do self video assessments because as Ms. Wessling said there is no way to refute that
but it is also a reminder and it helps you get back to good practice. I think that video self
assessment would be helpful because it forces you to be self reflective of your practices but
also you can show it to a peer and discuss and examine what are the things that worked for your
class.
Teaching is very rewarding career, that is filled with challenges that we must overcome by being
prepared not only with engaging lessons but with strategies to help our students. Being a
successful teacher takes time, knowledge and lots of practice, just as students must be reflective

Ximena Gmez Peralta

of their learning, we need to be reflective of our teaching and improve in the areas that we lack
and continue educating our selves. It is important to learn from the feedback that we receive
from student, student families, mentors, peers and administrators so that we continue to improve
our teaching practice. All students are different, they all have different backgrounds, abilities
interest and learning styles and we must be ready to embrace them all to help them achieve their
full potential.

Ximena Gmez Peralta

REFERENCES
Assessment, I. T., & Support Consortium. (2011). InTASC model core teaching standards: A
resource for state dialogue. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School
Officers.
Berger, Rugen and Woodfin (2014) Making students partners in data-driven approaches to
learning Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/09/08/how-students-canbe-partners-in-data-driven-approaches-to-learning/
Lynch, M. (2014). The call to teach: An introduction to teaching (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson
Using Video to Improve Practice: Do It Yourself! (2013)
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/improve-teaching-with-video