Running head: MY STORY 1

My Story

Lesli Nevarez

National University

Completed as partial requirements for TED690

Prof. Darryl Wyatt

MY STORY 2

Abstract

This paper is a summary of my journey into the field of education. It talks about my background

and what has led me to my choice to pursue a Multi-Subject teaching credential. It also discusses

some of my strengths and weaknesses relative to the Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs)

#1 Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning.

MY STORY 3

Introduction

Teachers come from diverse backgrounds and bring different strengths and weaknesses to

the industry. To truly be engaged in the education industry it is important to model continual

growth and learning. Teachers should look to what is expected of them, reflect on how they

measure against those expectations, and always strive to improve. I will look at how my journey

models continuing education and how that journey has influenced my strengths and weaknesses

relative to TPE 1 Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning.

My Journey

My dream as a child was to be an astronaut. After getting two engineering degrees I went

to work for an aerospace company and worked on the manned space program. During this time I

was given my first taste of teaching through participation in various local school outreach

programs supported by my company.

After working to move my family south to Carlsbad, I started volunteering in my

daughter’s kindergarten classroom. I loved it, but wanted to make sure I enjoyed being in a

classroom all day, so I became an instructional aide in a mild/moderate SPED kindergarten/1st

grade classroom. This was an amazing experience. I saw the value and need of different

approaches for different students and the need for consistency in helping students to be

successful. I enjoyed going to work every day and decided to pursue a teaching credential. While

I worked on my credential, I continued to design curriculum for students and run intervention

programs for several general education students.

Teacher Performance Expectation (TPE) #1

Making the required content engaging for all students is one of the largest challenges to

teaching. Many students feel disconnected from their education and do not see the point of what
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they are learning. TPE 1 Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning is a reminder that I

need to find ways to make the content interesting, get students buy-in to their education, and

provide the supports they need to be successful in learning the material.

During my student teaching experience, I was able to design lessons that tied into

students’ prior experiences, were engaging to the student, and to use visuals, sentence frames, and

guided questions to make the material accessible to all of the students. My first artifact was a

lesson I used in a kindergarten class with several ELLs, special needs students, low performing

students, and high performing students. Using Fall as the topic for the science lesson gave me the

opportunity to teach and have the students practice the scientific process with a topic they have

experienced.

While I was able to make this lesson engaging, I do find it challenging to make all

required content engaging. This is an area in which I want to continue to grow. Finding ways to

move away from the approach of feeding students’ information and having them give it back to

me. Rather I want to increase the use of exploration learning in the classroom by giving students

the opportunities to be active learners and explorers in their education. Carol Tomlinson (2001)

states “When teachers differentiate instruction, they move away from seeing themselves as

keepers and dispensers of knowledge and move toward seeing themselves as organizers of

learning opportunities.” ( p.16)

Another artifact for my PDQP is a literature review of a chapter from Carol Tomlinson’s

book “How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms”. Providing supports

through differentiated instruction for students is one of my strengths. From my experience

working with special needs students, I have seen close up how the approach to a subject can

completely change a student’s understanding. For many of the special needs students there was a

need for repetition and a variety of approaches in presenting the material and having them
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practice. By using a variety of approaches (individual, small group, and whole group) and types

of activities (tactile, auditory, and visual) all of the students were able to learn their letters and

sounds. By planning instruction, giving instruction, and assessing the results, I was able to adjust

the instruction. This experience has shown me that all students can learn if they are given the

appropriate supports and scaffolding.

A strength of mine is to start with supports and to slowly remove the supports until

students are able to do the work on their own, often without them even realizing that I am not

helping them anymore. On the other hand I do still find it challenging to differentiate instruction

and activities for every student. I need to increase my focus on challenging the high performing

students. Tomlinson (2001) says “We know that learning happens best when a learning

experience pushes the learner a bit beyond his or her independent level. When a student

continues to work on understandings and skills already mastered, little if any new learning takes

places.” (p.8) High performers need to be challenged to increase their learning and stay engaged.

Providing more of the same work is not the answer. This is an area that I want to continue to

research, discuss with peers, and grow to help all of my students.

Conclusion

I look forward to continuing my journey in the education field. I hope to teach my future

students the importance of learning and inspire them to continue to learn throughout their lives by

sharing my own example. My goal is to help every student find their way into a love of reading

and learning so that they can be successful on their journey.

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References

Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd ed.).

Alexandria, VA: ASCD.