My Goals and Convictions

My Core Convictions about Teaching and Learning:All people should all be treated equally and fairly no matter their behavior or background.Make learning accessible to all students no matter their background educationally, culturally, or physically.All students can learn something from my class.Everyone should be able to voice their opinions and questions (as long as they are on topic) Students should have fun and be interested in class, and it's my job to make it that way.All people are different and we should celebrate diversity.My Goals as a Teacher:I want to a figurehead in my classroom, not just lecturing but guiding learning overall. I want to create a classroom where students are engaged and motivated. I want to be someone that student's knows cares about them but also will not be manipulated or ignored. I want to be a strong classroom manager and keep the environment peaceful and efficient. I want to foster creativity and imagination by doing project based learning and student based learning. I want to create lessons that will be accessible to all students.

Self-Assesment

Growing up in Miami, I grew up in a blend of many different cultures. Although, it is very heavily influenced by Hispanic culture, I definitely have been raised in an American lifestyle. My favorite foods range from lasagna to arroz con candules. I remember growing up having breakfast with my dad in one of the many Cuban cafes having sandwiches together. I love the clothes used in traditional Honduran dancing. A lot of what I like about the Hispanic culture is hard to describe, like the intimacy and closeness of our families, giving everyone a kiss on the cheek when you come to the party and when you leave, and seemingly never being able to get anywhere on time. As a Hispanic girl who is not fully Hispanic or American, I have had a lot of cross cultural identity issues. I never felt like I could fully say I am Hispanic, because I struggle to speak Spanish and have similar values to my family. I also never have felt very American because I have very strict Hispanic parents who I don't ague with, I speak Spanish occasionally, and I have an extremely small personal space bubble.

Growing up between cultures, I have a range of cultural experience first hand. I feel every students cultural identity should be taken into account in the classroom. I would have a very multicultural learning environment, bringing up people of color who affected science and math who are often left out of textbooks. Every person on this planet has different ethics, values, and experiences in their lives, as teachers we shouldn't expect a class where all students have the same values and beliefs. I definitely welcome every student no matter what background of creed into my classroom. I don't believe that every student will like me or enjoy being in my classroom, science is not an easy subject and I will not give the student's everything. I want to make my classroom as place where years later students appreciate what the learned in my classroom like independent, critical, and curious thinking.
Working with students of different backgrounds, I would try my best to understand their culture and how it affects them in the classroom. With that knowledge I can be more understanding and accommodate to fit their needs.

I would say I don't subscribe to any stereotypes because I've grown up around a lot of different types of people. I am biased in the sense that I sometimes use negative language towards white people, like saying white people problems and such. I don't think  my students would want to hear any sort of bias so I'm working on using speech neutral to every group of people. That perception is probably rooted in that many white people, probably just Americans in general, ignore global problems and have deep roots in racism. Images like Trump supporters or the KKK flash into my eyes when talking to people who adamantly believe that all people are treated equal in this country. Which is not true for every single white person, so that is something I have to work on.

I love learning about the world, so I know a lot about history and culture. I would like to continue learning and growing my whole career because you can never learn too much about the world. I also research a little about mental and physical learning needs, so that in the future I can help every student but I don't know enough. Having those needs changes a person's life drastically and I want to learn so much more.