My role in becoming a teacher Throughout the process of becoming a teacher I have played an extremely important role in my development as an educator. Throughout these presentation you will be shown some of the biggest ways I have grown. Enjoy! --Ashton Hoff

A Reflective Practitioner One of the biggest beliefs I have about teaching is that educators must always be evaluating the impact they are having on students. Becoming reflective about every lesson I teach has been a big part of this process. I have accomplished this by setting up a blog and keeping a weekly log—both of these forced me to become a reflective practitioner.

To visit my early field experiences blog click on the image

To visit my student teaching blog click on the image

Early Weekly Reflections In my earliest “reflections” on the lessons I was observing I just described what my students were doing with very little reflections about how the lesson or day went. Weekly Logs

Early Weekly Reflections In several spaces I just describe what students are doing without reflecting on the lesson or their engagement. I started to get a little better at this occasionally commenting on what my students liked and disliked.

Later Weekly Reflections As I moved through my internship and started to move into taking over the classroom I noticed a lot more reflection! I started commenting on the lesson: things I liked, things I changed. This was helpful to see how my thinking evolved over the course of one day!

Later Weekly Reflections As I wrapped up my student teaching I realized how reflective I had become. In fact my cooperating teacher also commented on how this had become so intuitive as a part of my teaching. I was constantly adjusting and refining lessons throughout the day to make them better. I have loved planning out my days in this method and hope to continue this as I move into my own classroom.

My Ever-changing Teaching Metaphor  Being a reflective practitioner has helped me to change my beliefs about education and grow. One of the best places to document my growth as an educator is through my teaching metaphor, which has evolved in response to reflecting on my experiences with students. (click on each image to see the metaphor in video format)

Where I want to go? I believe that teachers must always be developing and growing in their profession. When I stop seeking out new strategies to help my students I will know that it is time to stop teaching. With this in mind I hope that I can continue the process of becoming an advocate for my profession

An Advocate for My Profession I belong to two professional organizations that allow me to constantly develop myself as a better educator. These are: The National Council of Social Studies Student Virginia Education Association (a part of VEA) Student Virginia Education Association

My goals In the future I hope to become more active as a social studies teacher…sharing what I learn with others and incorporating their insights into my teaching. My hope is that I will become a National Board Certified Teacher and continue my education in a variety of fields.