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Hello classmates in Child Development, my name is Ryan C. A few of my interests include
creating art, adventuring outdoors, and eating with my favorite people. I hope to incorporate
some of my personal interests into my career. Pursuing a career in Child Development became
my goal when I realized I wanted to be like the persons in my life who positively influenced me
the most, teachers. I realize there are misconceptions about teaching being easy, and have
experienced youth development at both an Outdoor Education camp and the Boys & Girls Club.
Problems always arise, “It is not possible to exercise a high level of control” (Darling-Hammond
et al., 2006, p.6). I believe and can identify now, that possessing the sixteenth habit of the mind
“remaining open to continuous learning” Increasing Autonomy with Habits of Mind. 16 Habits
of the Mind [video]. Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MWDCPyKAo&ab_channel=IncreasingAutonomyWi is
completely necessary when becoming a master teacher. Diverse cultures and competency within
students demands persistence and understanding from educators, enabling the sense to step into
other people's shoes.
There is a teacher who has planned a storytime for their class and one student is running
around causing distraction (Jalongo, Isenburg, 2013). The teacher in the scenario practices
metacognition as he ponders his situation at hand. And while beginning to become concerned of
their own possible faults, they manage their impulsivity before acting fast. Similarly to the
teacher, I have learned to think first, and control my impulsive tendencies, from what I found
through practicing meditation. I believe that not curating or being aware of my personal
pedagogy in the past, is why I am not so good at taking risks. Becoming aware of the habits of
the mind will enable me to confront my weaknesses and implement my strengths.
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Both, the Habits of the Mind and the dispositions from the book show educators the vast
journey of education. These practices and dispositions benefit educators by building our ability
to respond to problems and learning effective procedures to reflect and make better impacts on
the future generations.