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
Weekly Logs
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.
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)
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.