Section Two: Teacher Candidate Background Experiences

Education Experiences:

My educational experience has inspired me to become a teacher. During my primary grades

in elementary school, I fondly recall a teacher who I adored and trusted. This teacher was very

warm and always encouraging me to achieve goals. After this school year was completed I moved

houses, causing me to change schools. As a young child I missed my teacher that I actually wrote

a couple of letters during the first year I moved schools to feel connected to that teacher. The

amount of genuine care I felt that bonded me to my teacher was my first indicator of how deep a

teacher’s influence impacts the lives others. Another educational experience I had was during my

secondary school, I was in my senior year of high school and I had a teacher who truly ignited a

passion and burning desire to learn. This teacher I will never forget, my dedication and passion for

learning supersedes the classroom setting, because of this teacher. This teacher was not the smiling,

energetic, warm person we imagine inspirational teachers to be; yet, this teacher was not

disappointed, lethargic, or cold either. Instead this teacher was very serious, calm, and inquisitive.

During our interactions his approach authentically valued me as a person who could make a

difference in the world. The intense feelings of being more and being important has shaken me to

my core. This was a life changing gift I received as grew wiser, building my resilience and

perseverance. For his deeper level thinking has forever changed me as a person.

This teacher remained calm with serious facial expressions as he wanted me to go beyond

a “good job” or just meet expectations. His constant questions he would pose to me deepened my

perception as I entered an unknown world driven by curiosity for I thought deeper, became more
analytical and critical, while noticing the subtleties and details as clues for hidden meaning to make

discoveries. Additionally, this teacher never told me if I was correct or incorrect. Instead, he would

question the evidence I have to support if my answer is right and why. Then, he wanted me to re

–approach the situation to re –analyze to discover what else is there I did not notice the first time,

even if my answer was correct to strengthen my decision. This built a tremendous amount of

confidence and trust within my abilities as it taught me I got this, and I am worthy. I remember

this teacher very fondly and regularly, when I reflect and question the type of teacher I want to be

like, it would be him. During my post –secondary education at university I implemented the critical

thinking life skills my secondary teacher indirectly taught me in my personal life, along with my

academics. These crucial skills have given me tremendous success as I am able to reflect,

persevere, and grow in all domains of everything I encounter.

The last and one of the most important teachers I’ve had are my parents and my best friend.

These special people in my life have always encouraged me, kept me grounded, provided insight

to guide me, and always reminded me of what I am capable of during atrocity. I owe these people

everything I am; they reminded me of my own power to succeed and who I am. These people have

been the number one teacher for me as I am able to skillfully plan to dismantle and cope with

challenges to be successful. I believe becoming an effective teacher is to take all of the important

skills attained from previous experience both academically and socially teaching these skills to

others to enrich and change another life by providing insight and perception.

Work Experiences:

During my years of employment I have been fortunate to have the role of being a teacher.

During my university years, I began traveling around the world. This was my first inspiration to

connect with other people in teaching, I very much enjoyed diversity and interacting with new
people. I got my Certified English Language Teacher to Adults (CELTA) certification in aspiration

to teach English abroad. Instead, I taught as an English Language Teacher to adults in an urban

school, where I was submersed in diversity as I learned about the students’ different cultures,

learned traditions from their cultures; while creating enjoyable and interactive lessons as I

developed a passion for teaching.

A second role as a teacher I had was for young children. I was the Early Childhood

Educator (ECE) for a suburban school, then a Designated Early Childhood Educator (DECE) for

suburban schools. Working with children was truly a rewarding experience, where I was able to

make a difference in that child’s life by giving them the same gift my secondary teacher gave me

of feeling worthy of being someone important. Through enjoyable and interactive lessons, along

with encouraging conversations, students that were reluctant to come to school in the beginning or

were identified as behavioral were the opposite. These students became one of the best examples

and leaders in the class, putting forth their best efforts and encouraging other students.

Additionally, I was a student teacher in two teaching practicums in suburban schools. During this

time, I was planning, instructing, and assessing student learning based on their interests. Also, I

made learning meaningful as I connected these concepts to tangible careers in real life. By doing

this, students would understand the importance of learning the concepts, while simultaneously

encouraging them to be creative as we imagined and role played fulfilling the multiple career roles

for each subject as we learned. These multiple experiences illustrate the power of influence. This

experience has taught me that it only takes one person to teach you how to be important and kind,

and even if you never see that person again, you will carry on their legacy to value and be kind to

others as they have taught you well.

School Observations & Classroom Applications:

 During my student teaching practicum an educational issue are the learning interruptions

during the school day, resulting in a limited time teachers have to teach the curriculum. Diligent

and detailed planning are not guarantees of meeting planned curriculum expectations. Often there

are many spontaneous interruptions throughout the school year. For instance: assemblies, dances,

school events, re –engagement lessons to consolidate students learning of a concept, and

behavioral issues, all of these require flexibility and adaptation from the classroom teacher to

adjust their daily schedule for these necessary changes. Consequently, by re –adjusting and

adapting the daily schedule decreases instructional time, resulting in the learning segment

requiring extra time to complete. Once a learning segment completion has been delayed it seeps

down delaying the following learning segment, and the next as learning segments build on each

other to gradually increase the complexities of a concept for student learning success. Theorist Lee

Vygotsky discusses important learning elements from his social theory of zone of proximal

development (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017). He claims the zone of

proximal development is a bridge for student learning, as concepts build on complexity for

students’ success in leanring (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017).

Vogotsky’s theory is widely used in education as this theory reveals important elements to teachers

about students learning (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017). This academic

article called Implementing the Zone of Proximal Development: From the Pedagogical Experiment

to the Developmental Education System of Leonid Zankov further explains how these five

principles are implemented in the school system (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -

786, 2017). First of the five elements is planning to instruct students at their appropriate challenge

level to maximize their learning success (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786,

2017). The second is increasing cognitive learning, through observation, dependencies, and
calculating conclusions (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017). The third

principle is the fast rate of learning, students are more intrigued in learning newer concepts that

connect to prior knowledge than to have repetitive coverage of a concept (Guseva, L. &

Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017). The fourth is self –awareness of learning, when

students access prior knowledge and create a study environment that best suits their concentration

to grasp new material, learning is maximized (Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786,

2017). The fifth is teaching new learning concepts in a planned and orderly system for more

abstract and concrete critical thinking relies on the gradual build of complexities on concepts

(Guseva, L. & Solomonovich, M. 9(4) pp. 775 -786, 2017).

In conclusion, decreasing the amount of interruptions throughout the school day is vital for

student learning as the beginning stages of learning it is important to first recall the content being

taught. Thus, if there are interferences during learning the basic understanding and connections

that follow have been broken, requiring the need to re –learn the same content to develop the

beginning stages of learning to recall information, then to develop the basic understanding that

should have been formed during the first attempt at learning (Alduais, A., & Almukhaizeem, Y.

6(6) pp. 1-18). Research concludes, learning without interferences does not significantly impact

abstract and concrete short –term memory recall of a concept (Alduais, A., & Almukhaizeem, Y.

6(6) pp. 1-18). (Alduais, A., & Almukhaizeem, Y. 6(6) pp. 1-18). Yet, there is a moderate positive

correction of short –term memory recall during learning without interference (Alduais, A., &

Almukhaizeem, Y. 6(6) pp. 1-18). Therefore after this research, I would implement core learning

segments by communicating with administration and faculty of different clubs within the school

community. It is important to communicate before planning the learning segment to decrease the

amount of interruptions for core learning segments as it will strengthen students learning.
 Additionally, decreasing the amount of behavioral interruptions is just as vital as planning

core learning segments around school events, for student learning success are maximized with

decreased behavioral interruptions both academically (as previously discussed) and socially.

According to the theorist Maslow there are several hierarchy needs a person must complete first

before progressing to the next level in the hierarchy; the goal is to reach self –actualization where

a person develops mastery of a skill (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). Research by Xiaqin Lui

demonstrates poor participation in adult business training programs is correlated to the basic

emotional needs of sense of belonging, self –esteem, and communicational skills (Lui, X. 5(3) pp.

137-145, 2016). When adults’ emotional and basic needs of belonging, self –esteem, and

communicational skills were established first, they were then able to achieve self –actualization

by increasing participation in order to develop mastery of a desired skill (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145,

2016).

In conclusion, this study translates to school aged students for the teacher to develop a plan

to assist, guide, and redirect student behavioral interruptions, during instructional time for their

emotional well –being and emotional well –being of others (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016).

Devising a plan to develop students’ sense of belonging to the classroom community could be

demonstrated through a sign –up sheet for students to collaborate with a partner to communicate

as a team a classroom activity for the week. Then, switch activities and partners for the following

week throughout the school year. This would foster a sense of belonging, along with

communicational skills as students are engaged in a classroom community task, by developing

teamwork and increasing the probability of developing communicational skills as students are only

in partners (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). Additionally, redirection and positivity are key

elements the teacher must incorporate to fostering a safe learning environment, along with
developing students self –esteem (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). When addressing students the

teacher sets the dynamics and boundaries of the flow of communication within the classroom,

directly and indirectly (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). This will directly model as the teacher

demonstrates how to speak to others, implying expectations within the classroom community.

Additionally, it indirectly sets boundaries and the dynamics through positive energy being

communicated through body language, gestures, and facial expressions (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145,

2016). Thus, staying positive and redirection enables students feel more welcomed into the

classroom community for this directly and indirectly communicates an acceptance of themselves

and their efforts, this will enable them to accept and respect others for they will have developed

high confidence and acceptance of themselves (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). Once students

have achieved Maslow’s basic needs of sense of belonging, self –esteem, and communicational

skills they will be more comfortable and inclined to actively participate in their learning to attain

self –actualization by mastering skills (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016).

Lastly, reducing behavioral interruption time allows students to be fully engaged within

their learning and make vital connections as frustration from interruptions and distractions have

been removed (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). I would incorporate the research into the classroom

by having a private conversation with the student to inquire about their behavior. I would ask the

student, if there is a reason for the behavior and have the student develop strategies to cope during

instructional time (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). Also, I would create a reward system, for

instance: a sticker chart. If the student achieved their realistic weekly goal, then they would receive

a reward that was agreed upon. I would support the emotional well –being with students by

fostering an open communication with parents and legal guardians is crucial for a student’s success

before creating the reward system, I would discuss the student’s strengths and needs within the
classroom with the parents or legal guardians (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016). I would ask them

for insight to guide me to better assist their child better by adjusting the classroom community to

decrease triggers for problems, build the strengths of their child, and incorporate interests of the

child into lessons to use as positive redirection, positive reinforcement, as well as, incentives for

rewards (Lui, X. 5(3) pp. 137-145, 2016).

Philosophy of Education:

My pedagogy of education is aligned with the theorist John Dewey as he incorporates many

important theorists such as Maslow, Vygotsky, and Piaget. Dewey began the transformation of the

school system to shift and become student centered. I agree with his vision of having an

educational system that teaches the student at their learning level, and to design learning segments

around the interests of the students to elicit a passion and drive for life –long learning (Williams,

M., K. 9(1) pp.91-102, 2017). During my student teaching practicum, I observed my host

classroom teachers design learning segments based on students previous experiences and interests.

As a result, students were highly engaged and interactive as they showed enthusiasm through

active participation within the lesson. Also, I noticed with enjoyable and interactive lessons that

include all learners, students feel respected and important to be included. This communicates to

students that their participation in learning worthy and has tremendous value as it is important;

leading to less interferences during instructional time. My learning segments were reflective of

Dewey’s pedagogy. I purposefully planned enjoyable, interactive lessons based on the interests of

the students, as well as, adapted my lessons to include students with accommodations to build our

classroom community of diverse learners. Consequences of incorporating Dewey’s pedagogy

within the classroom community were all positive. Learning had purpose as it was directly

connected to career roles, along with encouragement of ambitious career goals as we would
transform into a career role during our multiple learning segments. Additionally, my planned

learning segments included social skills as students collaborated and tackled learning together to

expand their learning and build teamwork skills. “John Dewey was an advocate for school being

a social institution for children and for classrooms to provide learning opportunities that allowed

students to engage in appropriate social interactions with their peers” (Williams, M., K. 9(1) pp.91-

102, 2017). Lastly, I was mindful to focus on student strengths and be positive with redirection

during my interactions with the students. The more positive in my redirections I became, I noticed

a change in student behavior; they trusted me more. Additionally, the students began to

communicate with each other in a more positive mannerism as I have demonstrated respect and

positivity. This means, the way I communicate verbally and non –verbally establishes the tone set

in the classroom of how students will receive and communicate with each other as their confidence

blooms through the teacher –student interactions. Dewey believed, “It aims to help children

develop self –control, begin to understand what socially responsible behavior is, and come to value

such behaviors” (Brady, Forton, & Porter, 2011, p. 7).

Development of Resume:

Heather Thistle
6427 Alderwood Trail, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5N 6W9
(416) 550-9138
heather-christine@hotmail.com
OBJECTIVE

To successfully provide students with the confidence and skills they need to enjoy learning and
become lifelong learners.

EDUCATION

June 2017 – August 2018

Masters of Science in Elementary Education Buffalo, New York, United States of America
Medaille College

April 2010 –June 2010

Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
(132 hours at International House –Sol Group Toronto)
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Toronto, Ontario, Canada

September 2006 –December 2009

Bachelor of Arts -focus in Psychology (Scholarship into York University)
York University Toronto, Ontario, Canada

September 2004 –April 2006

Diploma in Early Childhood Education
Sheridan College Oakville, Ontario, Canada

RELATED EXPERIENCE

September 2014 –Present

Designated Early Childhood Educator (DECE) Full Day Kindergarten
Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

This inspiring program focused on building the foundation for lifelong learning is very captivating.
My role in this program as a teaching partner is to co –plan lessons and activities. Plan and
implement daily whole group lessons. Communicate with parents and administration as well as
my partner and colleagues on the kindergarten team. Daily lessons, activities, and, whole group
lessons are based on the children’s interests as it capitalizes on the child’s natural curiosity and
exuberance in the inquiry based classroom. In addition, I contribute to the assessment and
evaluation of the students and set new goals for them to achieve a deeper understanding of learning.

November 2012 – June 2014

ECE Teacher
White Pines Montessori Academy Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
This Montessori School with students ranging from toddlers to grade 4. I was a full–time ECE
teacher educating primarily in the casa room where children range from 3 years to 6 years. As an
ECE teacher I was dedicated to developing my students academically, personally, and socially. I
believe in developing all aspects of a person to maximize the child as a whole. Duties pertaining
to the ECE teacher are consistent communication with parents on a daily basis. Preparing and
teaching academic lessons with high interactive learning experiences using manipulatives.
Developing the child spiritually, personally, and socially to achieve high confidence and
competence in a pro–social mannerism. As well as organizing and preparing for extracurricular
activities such as: picnics, summer camp, and, concerts.

October 2012 –June 2013

Entertainer
Simply Delightful Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

This company hosts children’s parties offering a variety of party themes, including: princess, spa,
fairy, popstar, and doll birthday party. I was an entertainer and my role entailed co–hosting a party
ensuring that food was prepared and served and games and activities were enjoyed by the children.
In addition, I often became a character of the child’s request. This involved becoming a princess
Disney character in which I dress up, act, and become the princess the child desires and host their
party to ensure that their party is special and memorable.

November 2012 –December 2012

Volunteer
St. Simon Stock Elementary School Mississauga, Ontario Canada

This occurred in two different classrooms full of diverse students. One class was a grade 5 & 6
split; the other class was a grade 6. During this time period I dedicated myself to the students on
multiple levels through assisting volleyball skills during an after school volleyball game as well
as planning and teaching multiple math lessons. I also worked with small groups of students and
behavioral students to provide them more one on one teaching to maximize their understanding
designated to their success.

September 2010 –July 2011

ESL Teacher
International Language Academy of Canada Toronto, Ontario Canada

This diverse employment exposed me to adults from various parts of the world. Each lesson
focused on developing two main language skills. The lessons were well organized, challenging,
and creative in order to create interest amongst the students and to develop oral communication
skills. Duties included tracking attendance, creating well organized lesson plans, submission and
evaluation of tests and overall grades reported on time.

January 2010 –April 2010

Volunteer
St. Simon Stock Elementary School Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Duties associated with assisting the teacher included helping students during group activities,
teaching lessons, guided small groups and individuals who required further assistance with
additional academic activities as well as literacy activities and assignments. I also reported to the
teacher on the progress of the students.

June 2009 –August 2009

Camp Counselor and Camp Supervisor
Academy of Martial Arts Mississauga, Ontario Canada

This was an innovative self–defense and self–awareness camp focusing on students from
kindergarten to grade 8. The focus of the camp was to develop effective communication skills and
physical ability to defend one’s self in any situation. The students were evaluated on how to solve
a social dilemma and how to defend themselves against harm. They also developed their
spirituality towards a confident and independent perspective on life.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

 Ability to confidently manage a classroom

 Experience as an ESL teacher and ECE teacher
 Well organized
 Flexible and adaptable
 Creates a positive environment
 Criminal record check completed

References Available Upon Request.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is vital for the teacher to be reflective of their educational experiences to

incorporate the positive qualities influential teachers had on us, and use them in our best teaching

practices to develop the emotional well –being and academic success in our students. Additionally,

it is important to continuously be reflective during our teaching careers. This will enable us to
grow as professionals to teach to the different learning needs and interests of our students. Lastly,

it is critical for the teacher to be mindful of their philosophy of education. Staying mindful will re

–ignite our passion and pursuit to educate others for greater success. Being mindful will elicit us

to stay updated, and current in our career by attending professional development workshops to

discover new and effective teaching resources and strategies as teaching is an evolving science

and art.