At the beginning of my teaching career I had a great deal of knowledge. I knew the educational jargon and the favored teaching strategies, but what I lacked was the wisdom to effectively utilize my knowledge. For me, teaching is a continuous quest to obtain the wisdom necessary to help my students learn. Sometimes this wisdom is obvious as I work with the “golden children,” the children destined for success. But more often than not, it has come from the “problem children,” those unmotivated, hostile and obstinate children who dare me to teach them. It is the “problem students” that get the credit for making me a better teacher. They are the ones that force me to seek the wisdom necessary for success. They are the ones that challenge me to be the best that I can be, and they are the ones that give me my greatest satisfaction as a teacher. With the help of these students I have created the three basic principles that form the basis of my teaching philosophy.
(1) Believe in yourself - believe in your vision- Teaching is tough. Students come into classrooms totally unprepared to learn. Parents are not ideal, and society has totally unrealistic expectations for teachers. These are but a few of the nails that can be used to build a schoolhouse of failure. It is too easy to use these problems as excuses for failure. I believe that I have the power to overcome these problems. In my classroom I am the most important factor in the success or failure of my students. I cannot overcome what I cannot control. When I blame the parents, I give away my control since I cannot change the parents. If I blame society, I give away my control since I cannot change society. If I take the responsibility, I keep control since I can change wha...
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...or when they will be required to participate in a simulation or a role playing exercise. Rather than dreading this they come to enjoy it. They know that taking risks is part of the learning process, and that they have nothing to fear in a classroom where students respect each other and where making mistakes is seen as a key to effective learning. I believe that learning is fun. I want my students to leave the classroom smiling. I want us to laugh together each day. I want a classroom where we always take our work seriously but ourselves lightly. When students are actively engaged, the old adage that all students can learn is true. I know teachers that have great lesson plans on paper but whose students are bored and frustrated. The key to my success has less to do with my great lesson plans than with my positive attitudes towards my students and my subject.
I know that as I grow and learn as a teacher my theory on education will change and grow with me. I know that the best thing that I can bring to the table when it comes to being a teacher is the willingness to learn along with my students on what works best for us in our classroom, what is important to us when it comes to learning, and to change what needs to be change in order to have a positive learning environment for my student. The most important thing as a teacher I will bring with me into my classroom is the unwavering desire to help to guide, shape, and above all foster a love of learning in my
The decision to become a teacher was one that I made when I was in the ninth grade. When I entered high school I worked at a summer camp every year with disadvantaged children. The children ages ranged from six years old to sixteen years old. The feeling that I received when I saw that I could make a difference in their lives was so rewarding that I knew I wanted to become a teacher. I grew up as the youngest of six children, finishing high school was very important to my brothers and sisters, but finishing college was never really stressed to them by my mother. Three of my siblings
Life is unpredictable and there are an infinite number of paths for one to choose from as they journey through life. One “trail” that seems to be a popular choice to travel is that of an educator. Why is this? What makes the sharing of knowledge so special? Perhaps there is an unparalleled joy in enlightening someone else. Perhaps it is a combination of unlimited elements that drives individuals to be educators. And perhaps there is no one sure answer to these questions. One thing is for sure, our world has seen its share of tremendous and inspiring teachers come and go with the passing years and generations of people. Unfortunately, this world has also seen its share of educators who were not so noticeable and effective. Again, I ask why is this? What makes some teachers more effective and inspiring than others? Could the difference be discovered through viewing their individual philosophies on education? My personal conclusion to this question is a resounding YES. It is an educator’s philosophy on teaching that makes the difference. Up to this point in life, I’ve simply been a student of this world, but as I move forward in life I aspire to cross the line that all before me have crossed to become educators. How will I achieve this? More importantly, will my personal philosophy elevate me to become an inspiring and encouraging teacher? And most importantly, what exactly is my philosophy on education? In a general sense, I simply hope to look at each child I teach as an individual and to make the best situation for each child. I will achieve this goal by developing my own views on the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of public education, teaching met...
Erin Gruwell once said, “Be the kind of people that have enough passion to change the world. If we let ourselves be fire, thunder, or lightning, we could alter everything.” This quote taken from “Teach With Your Heart” was directed towards the students of class 203, but to me it describes my personal teaching philosophy perfectly. I believe that every one of my students will be capable of reaching great heights in life if I am the fire under them. It will be my job, as their teacher, to motivate them and show them all that they can accomplish, after all our students are our future. I realize that not every student in my classroom will be eager to learn and I might encounter students that challenge me to the point of questioning why I went
Education is an experience that without a doubt no one can avoid at least for a while. While this process should be positive sometimes it can seem more negative. People should not look back at their education and perceive it as a “bad” thing or a waste of time. Logically one would think that a person is entitled to their own opinion; however, the opinion of one’s education should never be portrayed as a negative one. Every teacher or educator, whether they realize it or not, has developed an educational philosophy probably starting at the time they became interested in the field of education. It is through this educational philosophy or goal that the classroom teacher prepares children for their future.
“Teaching is not a profession; it’s a passion. Without passion for your subject and a desire for your students to learn and be the best in the world, then we have failed as a teacher and failure is not an option.” –John F. Podojil. In my opinion, this quotation is very true. If you do not have the passion to teach your students what is right in the world and what makes them be the best they can be, then you are not really teaching your students or you have failed and failure is not an option. I want to not only teach my students important subject manner but be an inspiration to my students as well. I want to be the teacher that students will come back to in ten or fifteen years and say, “You have inspired me in more ways than one. Not only did you inspire me to be a better person, but you inspired me to do better academically as well.” This is when I know for sure that I have made a difference in a child’s life.
...n the classroom is very important. I would encourage each student that they are capable of whatever they desire, whether to grow up to be the first woman president, an astronaut, fireman, or a cashier; along with those dreams they must know that all of their dreams start in the classroom with their education. I will also teach them that whatever they desire in their future, to be the best they can be.
Helping students to learn and grow is a foundational belief of what I will strive to accomplish as a teacher. Every single student has their own individual talents and strengths and I plan to cultivate these strengths to help students become the best they can be. As every student’s learning is extremely important to me, I believe in providing an engaging and welcoming learning environment which students truly enjoy. This will always be a safe and positive environment for all students. My teaching strategies include elements of clarity, variability, enthusiasm, and opportunities to learn and discover. These are essential components I possess and will continually work to improve as an educator.
I believe a classroom should be a sanctuary of learning in which the students know from the beginning what is expected of them and the teacher should discuss what is expected of her as a teacher. There needs to be an understanding amongst all involved with the children education. This understanding can lead to a fun filled adventurous classroom that encourages students to strive for the best. I believe when students and teachers are able to learn from each other, the learning environment can be successful. A successful classroom involves having an effective educator who believes they can make a difference in their students’ lives by believing in themselves as productive teachers. For a teacher to be effective, I believe they need to base their teaching on a foundation that will allow them to set goals for their students, as well as for themselves. My philosophy of education is based on the beliefs of Jean Piaget (1896-1980) cognitive theory of development. Piaget believe that children learn through discovery, manipulating objects, and interacting with other people, places, and things (Morrison, 2007, p. 112).Piaget surmised that children learn through actively interacting with their environments, and learn through actively interacting with their environments (Parkay and Stanford, 2010, p. 290). In my classroom, there are students with diverse learning styles and in order for me to reach these students as individuals; I have to implement lessons that will enable all of them to learn who they are as individuals and as a group. Through this learning they are able to construct their own understanding. I also believe that children should be given every opportunity to discover who they are as individuals and use language to talk or exp...
Being an effective teacher is very important to me. I have had many teachers that I will never choose to model, but I also have those who were so wonderful that I will always hope to become like them. Every educator I have had has affected my life in some way and helped me to develop my ever changing philosophy of education. As I begin my journey into the world of art education, I will take all of my experiences with me as learning tools for the future to help me become an effective teacher. I will achieve my goal of becoming an effective teacher and positive role model by developing my views on the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of a public education, curriculum and plans for my professional development.
Everyone’s witnessed a teacher in action in one form or another. Whether they sat in the classic classroom learning their numbers from the chalkboard or were engaged in an individual activity guided by a mentor in the field, every time there is a teacher present. Growing up, this was my perception of teacher, that everyone could be one. And while I still believe there in truth in that statement, my own studies and setting off on the path to becoming an educator have shown me that some of the finer details of teaching have been glossed over from the student’s point of view. Being a teacher requires self-reflection and development of a philosophy of education to guide and focus the responsibility and decisions a teacher has to make. With new information every day, as a future educator, I am developing my own perspective on the philosophy of education, the purpose of education, an individual pedagogy and thoughts on the relationship I
Teaching is not a profession but a life choice to change the world one child at a time. In a classroom there are four walls and within those four walls lies the opportunity to build strong foundations for tomorrow.
Teaching is a daunting task that I do not intend to take lightly. Becoming a teacher has been a dream of mine for several years. I always knew that teaching would be the career for me, especially when I began working in the school system as a substitute secretary. I loved working in the school environment; coming in contact with children everyday made me realize how much I would enjoy teaching a classroom full of students.
Being a successful teacher depends on creating a learning environment with the open exploration of ideas, a relationship in which students feel respected as well as challenged. Students should be encouraged to stretch themselves a bit beyond their level of comfort and be given an opportunity to leave every class feeling that they have overcome a new challenge successfully.
Along these two weeks we have been prompt to make a recall to our own way of learning and why we became a teacher: Was it because coincidence, due to life circumstances, maybe because family tradition, was it a conscious decision or because someone influenced us? Whatever the answer is, we have to face reality and be conscious that being a teacher does not only means to teach a lesson and asses students learning. It requires playing the different roles a teacher must perform whenever is needed and required by our learners, identify our pupils needs and preferences, respecting their integrity and individuality but influencing and motivating them to improve themselves and become independent.