My Personal Teaching Philosophy Making a difference in children's lives has always been a desire of mine. I believe all children deserve an education that allows them to use their imagination. Students should have a learning environment that is nurturing and loving. Teachers should guide the students not lecture them. The belief that I have is that a student's education should not only be based on the academics, but also preparing the students mentally by teaching them solid problem solving skills that would be needed throughout their lives. Students will also need to be taught how to communicate and work well with the other students in the classroom. The students do not only need to excel in the classroom, but in real life and by providing them with this type of teacher student education they will have a great starting block for the future.
The sole purpose of an education is to help prepare the students to become active and successful members of society. Success can be measured on various levels some of which can be considered shallow and unfair. Teachers have a major rule in preparing these students and the only way to do that is to find out what is most important to the students themselves and what would be most useful to the student in the real world. The teacher does have guidelines to follow that are set forth by the school district. However, the great teachers are the ones that know how to incorporate what the district is looking for and what the students need to learn for the real world. There can be many ways to do this in a classroom, one of the best ways are group discussions. Group discussions are a great way to get many different concepts and ideas from the students. These discussions will also help the students to learn to respect each other's ideas and views and how to work together to form a conclusion.
The students in the classroom are going to learn in different ways, and it is up to the teacher to come up with various techniques in order to reach every student. I believe that if a teacher only uses one method in his/her classroom that they should not be teaching at all. These teachers are not providing every student with the same education and therefore not preparing these students for real life. The teachers are going to have to learn how to reach out to the visual learner, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. The teacher that has varying methods of teaching is going to create a learning environment that will be fun, and interactive which will be the best environment for the students to learn in. I personally plan on using many different methods when it comes to me teaching my classroom. I will have hands on activities for the students, technology based learning and many group discussions so the students can also learn from each other. Personally I do not like sitting in classroom and hearing lecture for 8 hours! The most interesting part of any class time for me is the group discussion. The teacher can take the vital information that the school district wants and turn it into a group discussion. Students will remember more by running the classroom this way, because they will be able to listen to other students, give their own input which can relate to real life. The school districts do require a various amount of homework and tests that need to be taken throughout the school year. I plan on keeping the assignments and test down as much as possible while increasing the amount of time relaying the information to real life situations.
The activities that I have planned for my classroom is to involve the students directly in an active classroom covering the subject matter that was set forth by the district. The students will have the opportunity to come up with their own ideas and conclusion regarding the subjects. I hope to have the students learn using other students and myself as a guide and for any outside questions. The students in the classroom will have the chance to take the material matter in their own hands and learn what they see just. The lesson plan will be open to change at any moment depending on where the students are and how they are feeling about a certain subject. I will also observe the students in a variety of different methods such as, direct observation, journaling, and progress portfolios. I will give my students the opportunity to choose which method they see fit when it comes to me grading assignments and reports. Students who feel that they are a part of the education process are more open minded and willing to learn. .
The students education should not just be based on what the state, district, or even teacher thinks that is good for them, but what the students feel is going to better them. The classroom is not a place where students feel they are forced to learn something they really don't care about, but a place where students can interact and learn how to apply their new knowledge to real life. I strongly believe that teachers should guide their students in their learning, not force them to learn. My students will come out of my classroom with the knowledge that was required by the school district, and they will achieve this through working together, group discussion, and an active learning environment.
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Reference Page
Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., & Hall, G. E. (2011). Foundations of American Education. : Merrill.