One way teachers engage students across their individual classrooms at the beginning of a school year is by collaborating to create a Class Mission Statement. The Mission Statement activity is an opportunity:

for teachers to get to know his/her students and begin building a relationship with each of them. This is because students share and exchange ideas that personalize the classroom mission to themselves. [People]

to synthesize individual comments received and build into a collective message. [Academic Achievement]

to define behavioral and academic expectations and associated actions to help the learning community align the behavior to achieve. [People, Quality]

to establish a safe learning environment. [Operations, People]

Our newest class of TeacherReady teacher candidates which began Orientation yesterday are now engaged in the Mission Statement activity. As part of the activity we ask them to reflect on what they hope to learn and to think about what they think will be most helpful to them as a first year teacher. Here are a few of their responses:

I hope to learn how to successfully organize a classroom, create a curriculum and best engage my students in their own learning.

I hope to use the information that I gain as I matriculate through this program coupled with what I learned in college to mold me into a successful and inspiring teacher.

The most important thing I want to learn is how to reach each student individually, to ensure that no student is overlooked.

I hope to learn how to design engaging lesson plans in a way to make students think critically about what they are learning and to encourage them to explore their own learning styles.

I believe the most important thing to learn through this program is how to communicate to the students the importance of education.

I hope to learn how to be an amazing teacher. An amazing teacher knows how and when to push students to go that extra mile, knows when to let up, understands the mind set of his/her students and caters to their learning needs.

It’s been several years since I first stepped into a high school and middle school classroom for the first time. The responses of these new teacher candidates—the hope, the energy, and the enthusiasm in their messages—serves as a great reminder of the “why” we become educators and leaders in education. It’s about creating great classrooms for students to learn, feel successful, and achieve.

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TeacherReady® is state approved and is the Educator Preparation Institute of the NCATE accredited Professional Education Unit at the University of West Florida. Upon completion of TeacherReady, individuals earn a professional teaching certificate from the State of Florida. For more information, connect with Mandy or Jack via email at TeacherReady@StuderEducation.com.

Our mission at Studer Education is to help education systems achieve measurable results that produce positive outcomes in student achievement, employee engagement, support services, and financial efficiencies and productivity. Our goal is to help school systems provide students with a great place to learn, teachers with a great place to teach, and parents with confidence that their children are getting a great education. Follow us on Twitter at @StuderEducation and visit us online at http://studereducation.com. Studer Education is a division of Studer Group, ranked for the seventh straight year on the Best Small and Medium Workplaces by Great Place to Work® and a recipient of the 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The Colorado Department of Education (DOE) regards TeacherReady, a state approved and nationally accredited teacher preparation program affiliated with the University of West Florida, for initial teacher certification licensure in Colorado and its teachers “highly qualified.”

More than 264 individuals living in Colorado are current or former students/teacher candidates in the TeacherReady program. Once they complete TeacherReady, these teachers are considered highly qualified teachers in Colorado and are ready to make a difference in the lives of students.

In addition to this recognition from Colorado’s DOE, TeacherReady works closely with the Troops to Teachers program in Colorado and the Troops to Teachers representatives have been very supportive of the TeacherReady program. The Troops to Teachers organization continues to work to help active duty and retired military to transition into teaching. TeacherReady is particularly attractive to retired and active military personnel who are living in Colorado. It is largely through the support and efforts of the Troops to Teachers’ representatives that TeacherReady received this special designation from the Colorado Department of Education.

The “highly qualified” formal recognition from Colorado DOE provides TeacherReady the unique opportunity to reach out to second career individuals and support them in their teaching endeavors. Thinking about teaching? Teach with TeacherReady!

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For more information about Troops to Teachers contact John Scheuer TTT-CO jscheuer@troopstoteachers.net Phone numbers: 719-526-9828; 800-438-6851.

TeacherReady® is state approved and is the Educator Preparation Institute of the NCATE accredited Professional Education Unit at the University of West Florida. Upon completion of TeacherReady, individuals earn a professional teaching certificate from the State of Florida. Visit the TeacherReady website or connect with them on Facebook for more information.

Our mission at Studer Education is to help education systems achieve measurable results that produce positive outcomes in student achievement, employee engagement, support services, and financial efficiencies and productivity. Our goal is to help school systems provide students with a great place to learn, teachers with a great place to teach, and parents with confidence that their children are getting a great education. Follow us on Twitter at @StuderEducation and visit us online at http://studereducation.com. Studer Education is a division of Studer Group, ranked for the seventh straight year on the Best Small and Medium Workplaces by Great Place to Work® and a recipient of the 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.