As

a teacher my goal is to exude my passion to teach. My objective is to increase my

ability to be energetic when speaking on topics to students before my first turn to
lead discussion. For my students, my goal is to have them become more interested
in the topics that surround our course. My objective for them is to increase
tremendously their knowledge on the subject before the end of the end of the
semester. So far, I have become a little more enthusiastic when teaching my
assigned topic to the students. It appears that the students have become more
interested in the topic based on their willingness to discuss the issues that the class
focuses on. During my specific lecture, we spent almost 20 minutes discussing issues
of interracial marriages in the United States.

To meet my goal and objective as a teacher, I will practice my lecture with my
friends and in solidarity to become comfortable with the subject matter. To
accomplish my goal/objective for my students, I will mold my lesson plan in a way
that demands their attention and makes it fun for them to learn the subject. Prior to
my lecture, I made sure I knew the information enough to talk about it without
having to refer to the slides. I do not agree with memorizing lectures because it
comes off too rehearsed, which could lead to students losing interest. When creating
my lesson plan, I tried my best to frequently include questions throughout the
lecture, so that it engaged the students as opposed to presenting constant
information.

I will assess student understanding through their participation in discussion after
my lectures. If they are easily answering the questions I pose, it will be an indicator
that they grasped what I spoke about. If they are having trouble participating that
means that they didnt learn from what I had to say, but sometimes this isnt true. It
could be that some students are just shy to speak out in a classroom setting. During
my presentation, I gave students several different forms of participation where I
was able to gauge how much they learned without them having to publicly speak.

I will improve my teaching by being open to criticism. During my lectures, Naliyah
will be taking notes and I definitely would love to hear her comments on what I
should do to improve my technique. Because I am inexperienced, I can use any form
of advice available. I will also improve my teaching by paying attention to other
teachers strategies. I plan on observing the students reactions to certain
techniques and if there is a positive reception, I will mimic such behavior.

Teaching is important to me because it is the only way we can convey the things we
believe in a professional manner. Teaching also allows individuals to learn from
each other. As a teaching assistant, I have learned not only from Naliyah, but also
from the students. Each student brings his and her own life experience that I may
not have gone through myself. Because not all knowledge comes from education, I
gain valuable life lessons through the stories that our students share in class. Each
story relates back to the courses content in a way that couldnt be provided by the
authors of our textbooks.

I collaborate with others by first expressing my ideas, and then getting their input.
From there we are able to come to an understanding of what both parties think and
want. I experienced this through brainstorming with the class on the event they
wanted to host for Mixed Madness Month. I broke the class up into groups and had
each of them come up with an event and from there they presented them to the
entire class for approval. I also was able to come up with ideas and collaborate with
each group to suggest events that I would like to attend. This was amazing because
at the end of the class about 20 people agreed on one idea that we all liked.

The belief that peers teaching peers is effective marks my success as a teacher
because I can understand how the students learn and what they think. As a senior, I
have been through several great classes and several terrible classes. My evaluation
of the class didnt rest on the subject matter, but more on the teachers ability to
teach. With my past experiences, I am able to refrain from teaching my students in a
way that I despised being taught. For example, hearing a teacher talk for an hour
straight gets very repetitive. So I try to allow others to speak to give students a
diverse experience in the classroom.

I maintain positive relationships with my colleagues by being friendly and always
willing to be there for support. I am willing to support Naliyah in any way that she
needs to ensure she has a smooth experience while teaching. I maintain positive
relationships with my students by being understanding and always open to help.
When students reach out to me with questions, I try my best to respond
immediately. Even if I do not have the answers for them, I make sure to use my
resources in order to assist them.