Statement of Informed Belief’s

Charity Dodge

College of Southern Idaho

January 3, 2020
 “What would make you want to teach?” “How do you know your right for the job?”

These are questions I get whenever I tell someone what I want to do with my life. When I say I

want to teach inquiring minds the fundamentals that they will need to continue with their life and

grow far beyond what they could imagine. I will outline the fundamentals of how I would best

deal with diversity within my classroom, I believe this to be in five sections, they are: all

students can learn, teacher’s expectations, students’ social ecology theory, cultural diversity

instruction, and the curriculum for all learners.

All students can learn

My job as an educator is to make sure that there are equal opportunities for a student or

multiply students to learn. I full heartedly believe that we are all capable of learning each day,

it’s a matter of if we want to learn. This is another responsibility of mine to make my students

want to learn. They must be there, but if not in the correct atmosphere they will not want to learn.

When something is fun, we want to do it more and better, if learning was that way as well, I

could engage more students to want to be there as much as I do. Everyone has a strength and it is

just a matter of finding what works best for each student, gauging what each student needs and

not clumping them together. By doing this I have to realize that every student will learn at a

different pace, this means extra time on a certain assignment for some and others will need less

time. I will apply this as necessary and work extra with the students that need such help. While

some students learn best with visual others might need audio, hands on, or a different method to

completely understand the material, it is my responsibility to have any and all learning materials

and methods ready and avaibile for my students when they need them.

Managing my classroom and engaging with students will be one of the most important

rolls I will have. I don’t believe that a student should be punished without prompt reason. In
order to keep a steady classroom full of active learners I believe the act of positive reinforcement

is the way to go. To reward a student that is doing right, being helpful, and is showing great

qualities and behaviors, compared to the norm of taking something away, or simply yelling to fix

a problem. I believe that a punishment should be kept for the worse acts such as but not limited

to, bulling, fighting, or causing undo alarm. Punishments can include but not limited to a call

home, a missed free period, or a skipped recess. However, to engage better and to understand the

need of the students, as the teacher, I should have a great understanding of the students back

story, who are their siblings, what could be going on outside of the classroom to cause such

behaviors, is there a way that I could help them engage better so there is less to act out about, and

so on.

Teacher’s Expectations

“Great teachers have high expectations for their students, but even higher expectations

for themselves” Todd Whitaker While I will have high expectations for my students, I will have

the knowledge to understand to not make them unachievable for those students. By doing so this

will act as a productive learning guide. I, as your teacher, can help you form the person you want

to be, but only if you let me. We know now that every student is going to learn differently and

with different guides, if I set up a individual learning expectations for my students and not clump

them, then I will have succeeded in making them reachable expectations. I believe that students

can be compassionate, goal setters, and cooperative. These are some of the goals and

expectations that I will expect from my students. Every student needs an expectation and or a

goal for every day, week, month, year that they are in school. When they do not have these, they

will not want or see why they need to be there. These cannot be the standard goals set at the state
level, as those are not tailored to a student individually but instead set for every student. Students

will need a vision, expectation, and or goal to help them be successful.

Student’s Social Ecology Theory

While goals and expectations are important in a classroom, the connection between a

student and their sociality is just as equally important. To do this as a teacher I must be able to

connect with the members of the intermediate family. Your students first teacher is their parents.

Being able to connect with families, communities, and the culture that the student is raised, or

views as their own is just as important to their learning as teaching them in a way that they

understand. Keeping up with a student is not just at school, when something at home affects the

student it will also affect them in the community, such as school. As an educator I need to be

able to engage and understand what the student is going through, in order to better assist the

student in learning. This could be more breaks through the day, an extension on an assignment,

or just someone to talk to, so they know that they are heard and that what they feel is okay and

just as important. By doing this I am able to give each student a fair and equal education on their

own time and in the proper channels.

Cultural Diversity Instructions

Finding out where you are from is important, learning your family tree, your cultural placement,

and even the religion of some, by doing this, I as a teacher will be able to adjust my teaching to

fit the cultural need of each child. A classroom will be made of many different cultures and

diversity, there will never be the same student with the same background, even siblings can have

different back grounds and ideology. Being able to push that everyone is equal no matter the

differences will make for a classroom that is appreciative of all cultures and diversity. The
diversity we see in the classroom makes us able to achieve more then ever before and will help in

future social events where the students can see that they are equally as talented as the next, just

in different aspects of life.

Curriculum for All Learners

To make all methods and assessments in my classroom work, I will need to make a

curriculum that meets the needs of each student but that will also adjust to meet the need that the

state has required. This means that each student, no matter how they best learn need the materials

in a way that they personally can understand and achieve. This means that I may have to adjust

many times before they met both. As I go forth in as an educator I can not predict how the first

few years will go they will be my trial and error years, once in the hang of everything I will be

able to adjust to met the need of the student and states levels in a more timely and effective way.

To be able to adjust my teaching to students that are failing but continue for students that are

thriving will be one of the first most steps to implement in a classroom. All students can learn it a

matter of teaching in a way that will reach them. Being able to ask for help when needed is a

must with educating vibrant mind, to do so I can ask more seasoned educators. This overall will

make me a much better teacher.

Getting to know each student is essential to base assignments, class work, homework, and

any projects. This will allow me to collect the concept of which students need me to adjust my

teaching methods to fit their need, after all I am there for them. While some student may take a

week to do a project other might need two. I’ll need the understanding the students and their

needs, while still maintaining a class on track will be essential to my job as an educator. In

theory I will have a syllabus of assignments, test, work, projects, that students will have at the

beginning. From that syllabus I will be able to adjust and infer to fit the needs of the students
individually. Ideally every student should be above or at grade level when they leave my class

for the next year of their twelve year or more education.

All students are different, just like adult. Its finding a way that will fill their needs while

continuing to fill the learning needs of other students and what the state has mandated to be the

fundamentals of the grade they are in. It is my job to fill this need with any means in my

capability. Weather that means learning the background of their families, understanding their

needs from the home and community standing, modifying my teaching style, or any other

necessary need they might have. As an educator, I will show students that I care about them and

that I hold myself to higher standards, so that I can be everything they need and more. There is

no universal design to a classroom that fits all students, it is my job every year to form a

classroom that fits who they are individually instead of a whole. There should never be a student

left behind. There is always a way to help them succeed.