Bryan Beck

Final Reflection
Portfolio Item 13
3/1/16
Final Reflection on Becoming a Professional Educator
I first became interested in teaching a couple years after completing my undergraduate degree
in psychology at Dallas Baptist University. I was working for an international foster care agency that
served refugee, asylee, and victim of trafficking minors from all over the world. These youth were placed
in American foster homes and attended local schools. Part of my role was to train foster parents and
facilitate their home licensure process. Another role was to teach life-skills classes to the youth we
served with a focus on American schools, culture, and personal care. Training foster parents and
teaching life-skills to our clients was very rewarding to me and that is when my desire to teach began.
Some time after that I began researching universities to complete my masters in education. It
was very important for me to find a program that had a strong bilingual education department as I
hoped to teach in a bilingual elementary grade. I was recommended by a school administrator to
research Texas Womans University because of its strong reputation and an excellent bilingual education
department. After completing my research I knew TWU and the Master of Arts in Teaching was the right
direction for me to take.
The following portion of this reflection contains the five Texas teacher proficiencies as adopted
by the State Board of Education in February 1994 that guide preservice preparation, professional
development, and teacher appraisal practices for teachers in Texas. My progress towards these
proficiencies has been developed through the completion of MAT courses and my experience in
observations, volunteering, and teaching in the classroom.

Learner-centered knowledge
The teacher possesses and draws on a rich knowledge base of content, pedagogy and technology to
provide relevant and meaningful learning experiences for all students.
During my internship I have been fortunate enough to work at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school
which places a high value on student-centered learning, inquiry, and a global mindset. I have come to understand
that learning is not compartmentalized by content area, but rather the content areas need to be integrated within
each other and useful for the students personal lives. Learning about the rainforest, adding and subtracting
fractions, and the composition process for an expository essay are great things for students to learn. But when
they apply it to their personal lives and the students have the opportunity to make a real change in their
community they will grow in maturity as well as academically. As a teacher, when I draw upon my personal
experiences and model them to the classroom it helps students to become more metacognitive and have the
desire to be engaged in their learning. Students in a learner-centered classroom will be prepared with the skills
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needed throughout their lives, rather than just the skills to advance to the 5 grade.

Learner-centered instruction
To create a learner-centered community, the teacher collaboratively identifies needs and plans,
implements, and assesses instruction using technology and other resources.
By using pre-assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments I have learned to teach to
the needs of each specific student. The standards put in place by the state of Texas through the TEKS can be
daunting to a teacher because of the extensive content that is required to be taught and understood by students.
It is understandable that students will not fully grasp each concept after learning it the first time. This is why the
different types of assessments are useful in providing data on each child with information on their individual
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strengths and weaknesses. My 4 grade team meets on a regular basis to review report card, benchmark, and
common assessments in order to adequately plan upcoming lessons. By using a mixture of spiral review and
scaffolding we can incorporate concepts previously taught with concepts currently being taught. We also look at

each of our class lists and sort students by need to place them in small groups for teacher conferencing. While
meeting with students in small groups we try to use as many interactive and hands-on learning experiences to give
students a deeper understanding of the concepts.

Equity in excellence for all learners

The teacher responds appropriately to diverse groups of learners.
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During the 2015-2016 school year I have been teaching a one-way bilingual 4 grade self-contained
classroom. This presents many challenges in the area of meeting the needs of each learner. I have a classroom with
100% ELL population who are on the free and reduced lunch program. My students also have diverse cultural
backgrounds and family make-ups, with many of them being first or second generation immigrants. With all of
these challenges I still think it is crucial to hold the belief that each student has the ability to be successful and part
of my job is to encourage my students to believe the same.

Learner-centered communication
While acting as an advocate for all students and the school, the teacher demonstrates effective
professional and interpersonal communication skills.
I believe that when a teacher speaks respectfully to his students it will be evident to others in the way
that the students communicate outside of the classroom. By modeling appropriate communication with my
students the students will pick up on that communication style and begin to use it outside of the classroom. At an
IB school we promote the IB learner profile which includes the following characteristics for becoming a wellrounded citizen: inquirer, knowledgeable, thinker, communicator, principled, open-minded, caring, courageous,
balanced, and reflective. It is amazing to see the long-term growth in student maturity and communication when
the entire school places value on these attributes and celebrates student success in these areas. I believe that
using learner-centered communication will affect students character development that they will continue to draw
upon for the rest of their lives.

Learner-centered professional development

The teacher, as a reflective practitioner dedicated to all students success, demonstrates a commitment to
learn, to improve the profession and to maintain professional ethics and personal integrity.
In the same way that learner-centered communication needs to be modeled, the learner-centered
professional development needs to be modeled as well. If we are teaching students to become lifelong learners
and pursue higher education, teachers need to set the standard and be the example that those students can draw
upon at a later time. As a teacher this year I have had the opportunity to attend many professional development
opportunities to deepen my understanding of the art of teaching and the methods for presenting concepts to
students. One example of professional development that has really strengthened me as a teacher this year is the
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Gretchen Bernabei writing training that focused on teaching revising and editing to 4 grade students. That
training presented strategies for teaching difficult grammar concepts in a student friendly and applicable way. I
feel like through many of my professional development courses I have grown as a teacher and will be more
prepared to share that knowledge with my classroom.
My strengths, weaknesses, and interests
I have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in my first year of teaching. I feel like taking an
internship rather than student teaching lends itself to a difficult transition into the career. As prepared as I feel
from my courses and observations there have been so many more things I have learned through first-hand
experience. I believe my strengths are being an encourager, a team player, and building a strong relationship with
my students. A successful teacher needs to have the ability to build trust with their students and coworkers. This
also provides an environment where growth and cooperation flourishes. On the other hand, I have also been made
aware of my current weaknesses in teaching. I will not remain stagnant in these areas, but I believe my background
content knowledge needs to be further developed, and my presentation ability and methods need to be expanded.
I struggle with keeping students fully engaged in each activity, and I need to plan genuine learning activities that
are student centered. My plan for improving in these areas is continuing professional development, whether in the

form of an official training or self-motivated learning. Also I believe I will be able to grow in my ability to present
information in a fun and engaging way through experience and collaboration with seasoned teachers.
My experience in the MAT program at TWU has definitely prepared me to become a teacher and has
given me the desire to be a lifelong learner as well. I am impressed with the bilingual education department and
feel like they have provided me with the necessary resources to be successful. My first year as a teacher through
the internship program has definitely been a learning experience, but I believe that it further prepares me to be a
better teacher from now on and to provide a quality education to each student that I serve.