In my seven years teaching my philosophy of the art has changed greatly. This is part of why I love teaching, because it is an art. As a teacher I am continuously gaining experiences, molding to environments and evolving into a more effective educator. What you’ll see here is my current philosophy but by no means does it signify a concluding point. It is one benchmark on my journey as a teacher, as a student of education and as a person. I am a continuous work in progress, and I view my students in the same light. We always have strengths to build upon, and new challenges to take up.
Why I’m a Teacher
I teach to inspire great work and because I value excellence. Excellence in myself and in others. Excellence in character and academics. I teach so that I might help students to become the best version of themselves, whatever that might look like. I want to help my students to discover who they are and become well-rounded, confident individuals who aspire to achieve their potential. I believe that education which raises students to be intellectually, physically and emotionally healthy serves to create a just and equitable society.
What I Teach
As an English language arts teacher, I teach to share my love of language study. I value its role in developing social efficacy and diverse perspectives in young minds. My purposes in the classroom fall into two domains: the pragmatic and the ideological. From the pragmatic standpoint, my goal is to equip students with the literacy skills needed to succeed throughout their academic career and into their adult lives. To succeed in all areas of the K-12 curriculum, students need literacy skills that are explicitly taught in the English Language Arts classroom. I believe in reading strategies that give students the ability to determine meaning in both informational and literary texts. I teach students to produce clear and coherent writing that utilizes the conventions of standard English grammar and are appropriate to purpose and audience.
From an ideological perspective, I teach to cultivate a diverse understanding of the world and to empower my students. I think that students should be exposed to a large variety of written, visual and auditory texts from a range of cultural backgrounds. In my classroom students are asked to share their opinions and viewpoints. They are encouraged to understand multiple perspectives and I think that this is a very important component in developing open, empathetic learners. In my own life, I've gained a better understanding of the world and of life through my study of the literary arts and I’d like to promote this in my students.
How I Teach
At the heart of my teaching methodology is a respect for the variety of ways that students learn and enthusiasm for my content area. In preparing learning activities for a class I think it is absolutely essential to take into account the learning styles that are present in the classroom. An effective teacher needs to have an eclectic 'tool box' of approaches to reach a variety of students in a meaningful way. I believe that students learn best when they connect new material with prior knowledge and engage in an interactive learning environment with their peers and instructor. In my class, I present a range of literary, informational, audio and visual tests. My instructional strategies range from hands-on lessons to teacher-led lessons, and from discussion-based lessons to student-taught lessons. I think that it is important to vary these methods in order to maintain student engagement and to appeal to the variety of ways the students learn.
Conclusion
As a concluding point I’d like to reflect on flexibility. I believe that as a teacher I can adapt myself to meet the needs and goals of the community in which a school is situated. I look at myself as a teacher in terms of the personal values and cultural experiences that I bring into the classroom as an individual. I care about my students. I care about the quality of their work. That will not change. What I love most about teaching is that how I go about accomplishing my goals is constantly changing and evolving.