I. Two areas in which my thinking about teaching has changed significantly:

CLASSROOM RULES: I kept the same rules both years of teaching. The first year I battled to enforce these rules. I spent much time going over them to ensure that students understood the expectations set forth. At some point during the second year I realized that they were irrelevant and moved them from their place of prominence in the front to a side wall. The only rule that was needed was the first, requiring respect. In my future classroom, rules will be simple: Respect - Responsibility - Honesty.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS: When I entered the classroom, I perceived myself to be a professional, there to teach my subject area content. I was strict and all business. Over time I realized that in my school setting, this was not effective. Students seemed to interpret my approach as uncaring and disrespectful. As a first-year teacher, desiring not to appear soft, my firmness did not effect the desired outcome: students engaged in learning. I entered my second year with greater confidence and a more relaxed attitude, willing to do anything to get my students to learn. I talked to them, joked with them, praised them, shared personal thoughts and experiences, listened to them, planned activities I thought they would enjoy, ate lunch with them, showed interest in them, took pictures of them, advised them, and helped them during planning periods and after school. When I disciplined them, I let them know that it was because I cared and wanted the best for them. Today, the majority of my students go along with anything I ask of them; they trust me. I attribute this success to the relationships I forged, made possible by a tremendous change in my thinking. Enforcing rules did not result in cooperative students. I drew more flies with honey and proved, "It's not what you know, it's who know."

II. The two portfolio items of which I am most proud are my second Success Story, describing my feelings about the decision to join Teacher Corps; and my online journal, which has been a record of my observations, thoughts, and experiences throughout my tour of duty as a teacher in a Mississippi Delta middle school.

Reflective essay on my MTC experience