As a future teacher what do you see as your main weakness (or weaknesses) and how will you work on improving this (these)?

Originally I shied away from answering this question. I know it is very important to know and recognize my faults, both as a teacher and an individual. Understanding that there are always things I can, and should, be doing to improve myself both in and out of the classroom will be crucial for my students as well as career. Having said this, and while it is easy for me to pick out and recognize many of my own faults, it is still not an easy task for me to openly discuss and expose them to others.

I would have to say that one of my main weaknesses is in my time management skills. Don’t get me wrong, I usually accomplish everything I need to by the time it is necessary to be completed. But, I often find myself waiting until the last minute, or pretty close to it, to finish. I am a procrastinator. I usually have every intention of starting a task early, and sometimes do, but I seldom complete the task far in advance. Perhaps this behavior is due to the fact that I try to do many things all at the same time and can have a lack of focus on just one thing. While I am a busy person with try to balance school, activities, work and leisure, I think that occasionally I use this as an excuse for not accomplishing things sooner. When I do work on a task I want it to be done correctly and done well. Sometimes I also think that the perfectionist in me comes out and won’t let me be fully done with something until I think its good enough. I know I can manage some of my time better; I don’t just want to accept that this is the way I am and the way I work. I will have to continually work to improve in this area to become a better SLP. In order to provide clients with the best services I can offer. We have a limited time to spend together; I will have to be certain before each session that I have devoted adequate time to each and every case and come to every session prepared in advance.

Another weakness that is geared more towards my professional interactions with my peers has to do with the way I perceive things. Sometimes I have a difficult time looking at information from other, or multiple angles. I tend to look at things one way and assume that is how everyone else sees them as well. By taking this class I have already become more aware of ways to acknowledge other points of view. I hope to continue to develop this awareness throughout my career. This way of perceiving things can also be applied to the approaches I will use in therapy. For example, I may think that the best way to learn a desired skill is one way, but my client may benefit more from learning another way, or taking a different therapy approach.

Name one social issue of concern and project how schools, schooling, or you as a teacher might be able to help address this issue. What good will it do, what part can you play?

When I first decided to undertake answering some of the Big Questions presented to the class, I overlooked this one. I could think of so many different issues of social concern to discuss that I thought to narrow it down and only discuss one would be extremely difficult. As I reread the question last week however, one issue came to my mind immediately. Poverty.
After reading about the increasing presence of poverty in schools, as well as discussing it in our class jigsaw groups and addressing poverty in my strategies, I could think of fewer more appropriate and important issues to examine here. Poverty is a growing problem effecting students all throughout our country’s schools. Students living in poverty are often at higher risk for other problems. In Educational Psychology the issue of the “environment of poverty” is discussed. The environment of poverty points out that students of low socioeconomic backgrounds are often exposed to an accumulation of multiple risks that adversely affect healthy development on multiple levels.
One of the questions asked in our Jigsaw groups had to do specifically with poverty and hunger. “How can you help a student overcome hunger while sitting in your classroom?” Whether in a general education classroom or a private therapy room, being hungry (as a result of poverty) will undoubtedly affect a student’s performance. But, how can one teacher help or make a difference in the lives of hungry students? It is not realistic to expect to be able to provide food for all of your students. However, there are routes teachers can take in helping to establish free and/or low cost pre-school day breakfasts or lunches for the children in need within their schools. The principal and school board, as well as other teachers need to be involved and made aware of the conditions and needs of students, as well as various resource options they may not have otherwise been aware of. Sometimes even taking proper traditional courses of action may not yield the desired results for our students.
In situations where our immediate strategies do not work, it is important to continue to seek results and move forward toward change. We should also look to other schools for examples. We must remember in all that we do as teachers, that we need to always remain advocates for our students. We should do all that is within our means to help our students reach their highest level of success in school and in life.

Name three things you hold dear and on which you will not compromise. Why?

In my future profession there are things that I will not compromise on. The first thing I hold very dear and will never allow compromise on is that all people (clients, parents, adults, children, and other professionals) deserve to be treated with respect. Any person who comes into my therapy room for services will be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their mental or physical capacity, age, gender, or race. By projecting this respect for everyone in my clinical practice I hope that my colleagues, other professionals, and people seeking services will be comfortable with me and will establish an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Being able to trust me as a professional, and having my clients know that I respect them, will allow my clients to truly express and be themselves. As a result, clients will hopefully achieve their highest potential in our therapy time together.
Another thing that I refuse to compromise on in my future profession is that my clients will know what is expected of them in the therapy room. I want my clients to know that our time together should be enjoyable, but having fun is not our main objective. We are working together to improve their communication, not just to play. Clients will know that I expect them to work hard to improve their skills, and that there is a time and place for fun activities in therapy. That’s not to say we can’t have fun, we can, but my clients will know that I also expect them to work hard and practice. It is okay to get off task slightly, but we have a limited amount of time to spend together and it is important that the focus of that time is on helping the client. Also, I want my clients to be aware of why they are in therapy. If they know what our main goals and objectives are and we track their progress, clients can see how their improving, and know what we are ultimately working toward. This knowledge of our ultimate goal will hopefully serve as motivation for my clients to continue to work hard and strive to improve.
A third thing that I refuse to compromise on in my future profession has to do with the guidelines for SLPs and audiologists set forth by The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA has set forth rules of best practice and guidelines that all practicing SLPs and audiologists should follow. Staying within the scope for practice is important to me. Following these guidelines is a matter of ethics; adhering to these guidelines includes maintaining a level of professionalism that I believe all clients deserve.