Philosophy of Teaching        

 

 

       As a teacher it is my job to teach students the material he or she needs to succeed.  I believe learning occurs through motivation and different approaches to learning.  Showing students the importance of learning inside and outside of the classroom is important to me and is something I will strive to instill in my students.  I also believe students make great gains when the material taught is applied to real world situations.

       It is important to understand how learning occurs to teach effectively.  Learning occurs through neural connections in the brain.  New neural connections are made each time one learns.  The information learned is stored in a network of cells that are all throughout the brain. 

       I believe the purpose of education is to prepare students for his or her future, whichever path he or she takes in life.  I truly believe one of the best ways to prepare students is to include real world application in the classroom.  Outside of the classroom students are not going to be asked definitions or how to do a specific task, instead students are more likely to come a across a situation where he or she has to apply the information he or she has learned in the classroom.  Real world application is valuable because it will take a student’s knowledge a step further. 

While I will contribute to student’s learning by presenting material to the class, students will also learn from his or her peers.  Peer interactions will teach students valuable social skills that I as the teacher may not be able to teach such as: taking turns while talking, getting along with others, and listening to others.  In my classroom the desks will be positioned in groups.  Through group work students will learn to collaboratively and cooperatively work with others.  One example of a group activity I will implement is turn and talk.  Students will turn and ask his or her neighbor a question, repeat information he or she has learned, or will share what he or she found interesting.  Turn and talk will allow students to share his or her knowledge in his or her own language.  The social skills students will learn from peer interactions will be valuable to students inside and outside of the classroom. 

       While group work is important, students will also be working independently.  Working independently shows a student what he or she is capable of achieving on his or her own.  After seeing what one is capable of doing, he or she will have an increased self-motivation to try new things and to continue learning.  In my classroom I will strongly encourage students to become lifelong learners.  Self- motivation is the key to becoming a lifelong learner.  Many students will need encouragement and a little push to increase his or her self-motivation, and that is something I will strive provide my students every day in my classroom.  

       I believe it is the teacher’s role to ensure all students feel respected and welcomed in his or her classroom.  Having a safe and positive classroom environment will also increase a student’s motivation to learn.  My classroom will be a sense of a community where every student feels safe and comfortable with each other.  Part of being a community is respecting everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and individualities.  As the teacher, I believe it is my role to set an example for my students, so I will lead by example.  I believe it is important for the teacher to follow all of the classroom rules, showing the students that no one in the class is superior over others. 

       Setting up a positive classroom environment starts with students knowing that I care about each student individually inside and outside of the classroom.  I want my students to know I have his or her best interests in mind.  I will stand up for my students and support them any way I can.  Because everyone is respected in my classroom, I want students to know that it is perfectly okay to make mistakes.  Making mistakes is part of the learning process.  We often learn more from our mistakes than we thought we would.  I want students to feel comfortable asking questions.  Questions are an essential part to understanding any material.  Also, there is no such thing as a silly question, as long as it is related to the topic, because others may have the same question or a question could spark a question for another student. 

       Creativity and interactive lesson plans will be a huge part of my classroom.  Interactive learning is effective for student learning.  When students have to actively participate, he or she are more likely to stay focuses and get more out of the lesson.  I will also promote outside learning.  Students enjoy participating in outside research on topics he or she is interested in, which will help them remember the material better.  Having students participate in outside research is also another way to prepare students for real world situations. 

       Learning starts with respecting one’s peers and oneself.  Without respect group work or individual work cannot effectively be accomplished.  I believe the main goal of education is to prepare students for the future, and it all starts with real word situations.  A teacher should set a good example for students and should strive to motivate each student.