Student Essays–Ana Lucia Alarcón

In my sixth semester course in the Bilingual Teachers program that we just finished, we concentrated on composition…looking first at structure and then at the need for specifics, examples and details (My favorite reminder for my students—“Is there enough SED?” (SED=specifics, examples, details!)  Here is one of the three best compositions of the final exam. 

(I have edited very little with regard to grammar and punctuation, and I have not changed the content in any way.)

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Ana Lucia Alarcón

Instituto Laurens – LEB – Oral and Written Communications

Mr. Jon Herrin

June 6, 2011

21^st Century Competencies

Teachers have a very “hard” task. It’s our responsibility to make good individuals for the future. We are not perfect teachers, but we should do the best we can to reach our goal: To see our students grow and learn different things every day.

The first ability I think a teacher must have is the knowledge of various student learning styles. We must know that each student is different and they learn in many different ways. Teachers may be prepared with various learning styles for their students. If you don’t see a good process in your students or see that they don’t understand, you may change your learning style. Now a days, students from kindergarten to elementary are very familiar with technology. One good way to make students learn can be using smart boards, interacting games, and we can make the call more dynamic and fun.

The second ability most important for me is the ability to communicate effectively with parents. We as teachers must be in constant communication with our student’s parents and also the students with their parents. The process of teaching-learning will be more effective if you can have the support of your student’s parents. If you have a good communication with your students, it would be easier to understand their behavior and attitudes. And you may help them in different ways like counseling. A good way to have good communication with parents/students can be by e-mail or Facebook. You can send them homework’s or just a motivational phrase.

The third ability is classroom behavior management skills. Not all teachers have the skills to control their students’ behavior. We need first to know each one of the students to know how to deal with their behavior. Some students don’t care if you punish them, but sometimes punishing them is not the way they will learn. For little kids, we may be repeating each day the classroom rules. You can put some charts motivating them to a good behavior. Try not to say “NO” to everything.

Our task as teachers is to motivate our students every single day so they know they can count on our support.