Each response needs to be 150 words
Response 1 Pidgeon
Based on my readings, self-theory is how the student perceives themselves and their relationship with their peers, teachers, etc. Students have a self-image, which is how they see themselves, an ideal self which is how they would like to be seen, looking-glass-self, which is how others see them, and then real-self, which is the self that they actually are in their daily lives (Business Jargon, 2016). Self-theory in regards to the teacher-student relationship pertains to helping the student realize their inner student self, in order to be the student they are capable of being, helping them determine their learning preference (if they don’t know it already), such as finding out which ways they learn best and feel most comfortable with, and how to be good independent learners as they progress through their education. Self in teaching deals with a teacher knowing her/himself and their values and principles as a teacher, as well as learning about their students so as to provide them with the best possible education.
I have yet to teach my own students, but I have worked with many students in an educational assistant capacity. In most instances, I have not been with students enough to fully get to know them and their learning styles and preferences, however, I have had situations where I had to modify activities to how I thought the student would be most engaged and motivated to complete the activity based on the few things I did know about the students. And especially being a substitute, I don’t get the opportunity to really know the students I work with. I have seen some instances where teachers have incorporated some of what was discussed, such as students getting extra time on tests or having test questions read to them, or allowing students to listen to music and/or sit in other places around the classroom to help students find their happy learning space.
I have always been an avid supporter of making learning as fun as possible. By getting to know one’s students, the teacher is learning how and in what ways each student learns best. When a student can feel comfortable in their learning environment, they are more likely to be focused and motivated to learn. Some goals that I would want to achieve as a future teacher are as follows:

• Creating learning profiles for my students, which includes gathering information such as biological traits, cultural and societal factors, emotional and social influences, academic preferences, and learning preferences (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). The more I know about my students, the better I can make their educational experience. I can send my students an email or video message asking them about themselves and their learning preferences and have them respond back to me in either an email or video, or any other appropriate and feasible manner.
• Allow my students to share their ideas and opinions about the teaching and learning aspects of the classroom. For example, how they feel (pros and cons) about group projects, etc.
• Have a variety of activity options that incorporate the many learning modalities, such as kinesthetic, tactual, auditory and visual (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). For example, if the project is to do a presentation on a topic, students will have the option to present the topic in a drawing, written paper, oral presentation, video presentation, etc. This also helps presentations to be more enjoyable, as opposed to each student just presenting their written paper to the class.
•    I will set aside a specific amount of time each time to observe students as they are learning, working in groups, etc. This will allow me to see how they learn, think, interact in certain situations, so that I can make adjustments to their learning preference as needed (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). This goal would work better in a traditional classroom, but it is possible to get in some observation through Zoom classes.

Response 2 Travis
The first thing that came to mind when seeing the “Self” in this week’s lesson plan is the fact that if we do not build upon or aid the building of Self (Self-Esteem) it limits success. Throughout all my years of being in the service, I definitely understood that if I did not believe in myself, I was not going to be successful. This concept is transitional across academia and any other profession that you can think of. It is also not a new concept, perhaps a concept that has been left on the shelves and forgotten by some, but a concept that has always been important to the delivery of instruction and receipt of it.
Every individual brings his or her own traits, experiences, preferences, emotions, and expectations to a class of instruction, whether they are standing in front delivering it or in the audience receiving it (Kusuma-Powell, 2011). The knowledge of oneself is important in the transfer of knowledge or feelings for that matter in any setting or at any point in one’s life, it is key to communication. The maintaining of a high self-esteem of one’s self is crucially important to knocking down any perceived barriers of learning ability. How we see ourselves is how others perceive us as well, a concept that is very important in teacher and learner interactions within the class-room (Kusuma-Powell, 2011).
As I stated earlier, this topic immediately sparked memories of becoming a helicopter pilot. I mention this, because my experiences as a pilot and learning from “bad” instructors did translate into the flight deck of the aircraft and the classroom when I became an instructor pilot as well as a K9-12 teacher later on.
I remember back to flight school and everything had been going well until I was paired up with an instructor that definitely had some issues going on at home or in his career in general. Needless to say he was not a good instructor and I never connected with him, nor did I feel the need to. He was a bitter man with low self-esteem. It only took two flights with this particular individual and my self-esteem plummeted and hampered my skills of learning to fly. What had been a great experience until that point, became unbearable. I truly had doubts about my abilities. Fortunately, what snapped me out of my daze was a truly great instructor that understood the importance of “self”. In my end of stage check-ride with this instructor I scored the highest out of my class, and it was due to the changing of instructor.
The concept of “Self” means that as a teacher you never stop learning and continue to challenge yourself and your students to excel and build upon their self- esteem. Oftentimes, students think they are unable to achieve anything due to their previous academic records or backgrounds being labeled as underachievers or the such (Taylor, 2012).
As an instructor pilot, a teacher and now an adjunct professor, I understand the importance of connecting with each student to the point that you are a mentor. I know that I can do more as a teacher to spark the learning of my students and perhaps increase their thoughts of self.