1.4 Prof. Commitment | Fionnaigh's Learning Journey

So here I am looking at my weeks timetable and I feel fear rushing through my vains. I have a mathmatics lecture on monday and I can already feel my heart beating and my palms getting sweaty.

Monday evening came around and I have completely changed my midset of mathmatics, the enjoyment I felt during that maths lecture was ground breaking. Why did I enjoy it? What was so different about that maths lesson compared to 13 years of school education where the clocks hands seemed to travel backwards?

So here I am reflecting on a very enjoyable two hour lecture on mathmatics and trying to understand why I enjoyed it so much.

I realise that I was fully engaged in the whole two hour lecture where we were talking about mathmatics and it’s relevance in our daily lives. That got me thinking as I was never engaged in any maths lessons in school instead I lived in fear that I was going to be asked a question next and have to stand up in front of my peers and very weakly whimper a complete guessed answer to a question I did not understand.

So today I find that my engagement in the lesson was due to the lecturer making mathematics completely relevent to my everyday life. First the basics were discussed; how big or small an object can be, place value and them importance of zero, time and money, etc.

By making mathematics relevent to my everyday life I was able to follow the lecturer closely throughout the powerpoint and complete the journey trhough each transition without becoming lost. This has shown me that in every stage of teaching mathematics it is important to be mindful that there will be learners who will struggle more than others in particular areas. To combat this when teaching I will create a lesson that will show the individual learners why the content of the lessons are important and can be utilised during their day to day lives. By doing this from the very begining I hope that learners will not become anxious in maths lessons as they will be following the content of the lessons and be fully interactive during them. Also by creating a good report with pupils and a friendly classroom enviroment where everyone’s voice is heard I hope the outcome will be enthusiastic pupils with the hunger to improve their mathematic skills in an enjoyable way.

Professionalism videos and what I believe they tell me

A professional is someone who provides their own effort and skills one hundred percent of the time. They stay informed with current affairs because if they did not it would have a negative impact. Without education there is no people can not improve their own lives because they do not have the tools they need to further themselves. A teacher who makes a difference has to be dedicated for life, they have to want to improve their knowledge throughout their career. They will work within a community, not just with pupils. Dedication is imperative along with a love for your work. Pride should be taken in the work that you carry out. A teacher who makes a difference will sacrifice personal time to ensure that they are informed and knowledgable. Passion for teaching and individual subjects will inspire pupils therefore enabling them to enjoy learning. By being a responsible individual and continuing your personal development you will motivate pupils to learn more effectively, this will make you that exceptional teacher who makes a difference.

Do you agree with what these teachers call professionalism?

I agree with the video that professionals are role models within a society. Children live by example so teachers have to set a very good, professional example. the way in which teachers talk and act is incredibly important. The video talks about not judging a child by their upbringing or their parents. To me this vital, as a professional everything you do has to have the best interests of a child at heart. If issues such as how their parents are as adults gets in the way of educating a child, this makes your practice unprofessional. I agree that teachers have to continue their development after university. Practice changes very quickly, there will always be new developments and knowledge to learn. As a professional teacher it is important to be informed so that you do not have a negative impact on your pupils education.

What is the message here?

The first video shows Chris Christie idolising teachers. He says how they should be carried to school on our shoulders. He creates a hierarchy where he believes that teachers are at the top looking down on the rest of society. He suggests that teachers are not rewarded enough for their efforts. He mentions how teachers are valuable to society. Opposing to this view the video also shows Karen Lewis, she tells the audience how she is not a teacher but is a worker. She provides the feeling that she is not special she is merely an educational worker. She knocks down the social hierarchy opposed to Chris who builds it up. KAren at the end of the video says, “if you punch a clock at the end of the day, you’re a worker”. I believe that Chris Christie has the opinion that teachers are professionals as they sacrifice for education.

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