My Teaching Philosophy
I believe that education should be an active process in which students take an interest in their learning. Students should be excited to come to class and I strongly believe that in order to find success at this, it is essential to give students the creative freedom that they need to find themselves. If the student has an idea of who they are and what they want to achieve, they will strive harder to get there, and that will begin with their active role as learners. Students in my future classes will look forward to a teacher who acts professionally with authenticity, celebrates diversity, has a wide array of knowledge, is fair, kind, and accepting, and also has a good sense of humour. I believe that teachers that display positive attributes like those previously listed will find success in assisting their students to become critical and engaged thinkers.
A goal for me as an educator would be to incorporate and reach as many different students as possible throughout each lesson. In order to be an effective teacher, I need to ensure that, when possible, all of my students learn the way that they learn best. While it may be challenging, throughout my career I want to become a master at balancing different learning strategies in my instruction.
A very important aspect of classroom management to me is respect. Not in a demanding, authoritarian kind of way, but rather an environment that promotes mutual respect. I believe in order to achieve this level of respect, classrooms must have a strong sense of community, where all students from different backgrounds come together as a school family. Alongside the building of community, the students will learn teamwork and leadership skills that they may have never previously been exposed to. Once the students respect themselves, they will begin to respect others, and the classroom will be a desirable, self-sustaining environment.
To me, a successful teacher is passionate about their area of expertise. For me, that would be social studies. I feel that teaching is a profession where you can let your students in on your passions, and use that excitement that you have for a subject to generate student engagement. Student engagement can be created by bring relevance to material. I sometimes hear "social studies is useless, we don't need this," and that is where I often have discussions about why social studies is important, and all of the disciplines that influence our lives that we learn about in social studies. It is in those discussions where I let my passion guide my teaching, and help the students see the relevance and excitement behind social studies.
It is extremely important to me to become absorbed into the culture of a school environment. This means getting involved with volunteer opportunities when they come up, like coaching, or helping run tournaments, helping with drama productions, going on field trips, leading clubs, etc. I feel as though the more a teacher gets involved, the more they get to know their students. Taking an interest in their interests outside of instructional time is absolutely key to building relationships with the students, and once these relationships are built you can better reach them in the classroom.
I believe that being the instructional leader in a classroom is extremely important. There is a fine balance between being a good teacher and a great teacher, and this important piece of being the leader in the classroom is what makes the difference. By being the instructional leader, I will have complete control of the class as students explore the new material and grow as learners. I will strive to weave my outgoing personality to create meaningful relationships that are most effective when you act as the leader of the classroom. It is important to manage a classroom and maintain the relationships with the students. Instructional leaders set expectations, and work to make these expectations intrinsic motivation for our students. The students will soon understand why the expectation are there, and what their purpose is, which will make the classroom climate a more conducive environment for learning.
On top of all of this, I believe that learning should be fun. Students should look forward to coming into my classroom and having a good day full of positivity and fun. Once a student is having fun and feel like they are comfortable in their environment, then they will feel safe. Feeling safe plays a large role in a students learning, because if they feel uncomfortable, the amount of learning that will take place is minimal. Having a fun, safe, and positive classroom environment is very important to me.
In my classroom (and hopefully in every classroom), it is all about the students. They come first, and their learning comes first, as we are uncovering the potential that is within all of the students. This potential will help them grow into anything they want to become, and as teachers, it is our privilege to be able to encourage this transition from being a student, to being a successful young adult.
A goal for me as an educator would be to incorporate and reach as many different students as possible throughout each lesson. In order to be an effective teacher, I need to ensure that, when possible, all of my students learn the way that they learn best. While it may be challenging, throughout my career I want to become a master at balancing different learning strategies in my instruction.
A very important aspect of classroom management to me is respect. Not in a demanding, authoritarian kind of way, but rather an environment that promotes mutual respect. I believe in order to achieve this level of respect, classrooms must have a strong sense of community, where all students from different backgrounds come together as a school family. Alongside the building of community, the students will learn teamwork and leadership skills that they may have never previously been exposed to. Once the students respect themselves, they will begin to respect others, and the classroom will be a desirable, self-sustaining environment.
To me, a successful teacher is passionate about their area of expertise. For me, that would be social studies. I feel that teaching is a profession where you can let your students in on your passions, and use that excitement that you have for a subject to generate student engagement. Student engagement can be created by bring relevance to material. I sometimes hear "social studies is useless, we don't need this," and that is where I often have discussions about why social studies is important, and all of the disciplines that influence our lives that we learn about in social studies. It is in those discussions where I let my passion guide my teaching, and help the students see the relevance and excitement behind social studies.
It is extremely important to me to become absorbed into the culture of a school environment. This means getting involved with volunteer opportunities when they come up, like coaching, or helping run tournaments, helping with drama productions, going on field trips, leading clubs, etc. I feel as though the more a teacher gets involved, the more they get to know their students. Taking an interest in their interests outside of instructional time is absolutely key to building relationships with the students, and once these relationships are built you can better reach them in the classroom.
I believe that being the instructional leader in a classroom is extremely important. There is a fine balance between being a good teacher and a great teacher, and this important piece of being the leader in the classroom is what makes the difference. By being the instructional leader, I will have complete control of the class as students explore the new material and grow as learners. I will strive to weave my outgoing personality to create meaningful relationships that are most effective when you act as the leader of the classroom. It is important to manage a classroom and maintain the relationships with the students. Instructional leaders set expectations, and work to make these expectations intrinsic motivation for our students. The students will soon understand why the expectation are there, and what their purpose is, which will make the classroom climate a more conducive environment for learning.
On top of all of this, I believe that learning should be fun. Students should look forward to coming into my classroom and having a good day full of positivity and fun. Once a student is having fun and feel like they are comfortable in their environment, then they will feel safe. Feeling safe plays a large role in a students learning, because if they feel uncomfortable, the amount of learning that will take place is minimal. Having a fun, safe, and positive classroom environment is very important to me.
In my classroom (and hopefully in every classroom), it is all about the students. They come first, and their learning comes first, as we are uncovering the potential that is within all of the students. This potential will help them grow into anything they want to become, and as teachers, it is our privilege to be able to encourage this transition from being a student, to being a successful young adult.