Journal Entry Chapter 1

 

    When I look at the qualities of a good teacher described by the 5Cs, I can personally relate to some of them. 

As for being committed, I do feel that I am committed to my education and the learning experiences of young people. With that being said, I feel like there is always room for improvement so I would definitely like to learn more about the commitment it takes to foster a love for learning in students so that I can do my best job as a future teacher in creating fun and educational learning experiences for young children. While taking this course, I feel that I can get a better idea on what a truly committed teacher looks like.

 For the caring category, I feel like I relate to that most out of the 5Cs. I have a strong passion for early childhood education and overall helping them within their education, so I care a lot. After taking previous child development courses, it helped me really foster a better understanding for child development as a whole and it's honestly helped me understand that good teachers need to have that level of care for their students. To me, it's not all about just teaching them, it's also about making an everlasting impact on their lives so that they can takeaway good life skills too. On a professional level, I want to learn the best ways that I can encourage students in their learning so I can help them understand and be prepared throughout their school years. 

For the quality of being courageous, I have a good idea of that trait but am still working on it daily and would love to get to the point where I can say that I am without a doubt courageous. I feel like I doubt myself a lot of the time and that's something that I sometimes struggle with. I think if I keep working to develop being courageous and continue to surround myself with people who are courageous and also encourage me in the process, I will for sure get there. 

For the quality of being conscious, I feel like this is already a trait that I have developed. I always do my best to be conscious about my interactions with not only children but everyday people in my life that I come across. I am an individual who tries daily to have meaningful interactions and be engaging with others. Like I stated earlier though, I feel like there is always room for improvement so for now I will work on maintaining this quality within myself. I feel as if this quality stands out a lot to me because it's important that students feel meaningful connections from their teachers because it lets them know that the teachers care about their education and overall well-being. 

Lastly, being centered is definitely something I want to learn more about and learn to develop. I would like to learn how fully grasp students' attention because right now I feel like that is a quality that I don't have. I feel like once I am in an actual classroom setting observing other teachers that I can learn from their own body language and speech on how to do so. 

    When thinking about a good teacher, this picture to me ties into all of the 5Cs of good qualities that teachers should have towards their students.