Haejin Park

MAT / Credential, UCI 17

-To struggle or to ask for help-

I always struggled to ask for help. To me, to my culture, in my upbringing, asking for help meant that you
were weak or incapable. I have learned over the years that asking for help does not show weakness, but shows
humility and, yes, some sort of vulnerability. Not being able to ask for help, although helpful in my learning to
persevere, left me feeling alone and confused at times, afraid to ask and afraid to take chances. It is my
passion to empower students to be unafraid to ask for help, unafraid to ask clarifying questions, unafraid to
admit that they do not understand. Unfortunately, this kind of safe environment cannot be created solely by the
teacher, but also involves the actions and perspectives of each and every student in class. This is my challenge
to myself to discover how to create a place where all of my students, who come into my classroom with various
personal assets, cultures, and backgrounds, agree that our classroom is a safe place to ask for help without
being judged or classified as a specific type of student.

-Integration and Connections-

So many ideas and concepts nowadays are being integrated together not only in schools but even in
the work field. The Next Generation Science Standards introduces a clear outline of inquiry-based science that
makes room for students to discover concepts through guided instruction, and these concepts can also be
integrated into other subjects. UCI MAT students are learning to integrate History - Social Science (HSS)
standards with English Language Arts (ELA) standards to help students delve deeper into HSS concepts using
ELA strategies. I believe it will benefit students to learn about the interconnectedness of these concepts that
we have separated into different subjects, especially in this digital age where information is easy to find.
As a teacher, my purpose is to create opportunities for students to be engaged with the content they
are learning. I believe that seeing connections inspires interest and perseverance in learning. My goal is not for
students to fill their minds with information that means nothing to them, but to learn how what they are learning
in school applies to other parts of their lives and to their futures. My desire is to cultivate a love for learning, to
be inspired to find how to solve a problem or how a scientific phenomena may cause another one.

-Giving students attention based on the fact that they are my students-
I want my students to know that they are all worthy of my attention and help, and it is my delight to get
to know them and have a relationship with them. There may be some who do not like me, and there will be
some who do. But no matter what I do, students will look up to me. It is up to me, as a teacher, to show them
that my interest in them and their learning is not dependent on their behavior in my class. I would love to foster
this relationship with my students by having special Lunch with Ms. Park every day either individually or with
pairs of students a couple times over the course of the school year.

-Explicit expectations-
I believe that students are capable in doing a task when given proper modeling and guidance. As a
teacher, I have found myself at times not wanting to model or give explicit instructions to make sure that my
students are learning. While implicit instruction in different subjects may help deepen conceptual
understanding for my students, there are still many tasks in class that require explicit expectations being
spoken, written, and modeled. I hope to be a teacher who is clear in my expectations from my students, not
having assumptions about their knowledge of certain tasks.
I also believe in allowing students to choose their own goals and expectations. I have found through my
years of working with various ages (preschool - college) that when an expectation is given and expected,
human beings are able to meet those standards. When it is expected from them and taught to them explicitly,
they are able to reach it.