My Philosophy of Teaching

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

- Chinese Proverb
 

General

My teaching philosophy in general, starts with the child. The most important thing that I must consider is where the appropriate starting point is and what children of this age are capable of grasping and understanding.
    The next area that I take into account is what the desired outcomes are that I want my students to come away with. here I have to be familiar with both the Standards and my school curriculum. Before I think about "how" I am going to teach, I have to know "what" I am going to teach.
    The third aspect of my general philosophy is what strategies I will employ as I try to engage my students. Creativity and experience are necessary to captivate a class of elementary students, or any students for that matter. The more experience a teacher has, the more they have pickup up along the way, and the more they know what works and what doesn't. The more strategies a teacher uses, the more they create inquiry in their students and get them thirsty for more.
    My role as a teacher is to be organized and prepared. That is an extremely important aspect of being a good, effective teacher, in my opinion. The smarter people don't necessarily make the most effective teachers. It takes creative planning and preparation to keep the students wanting to learn, and learning by "doing", not listening to me lecture. The students must be active and moving around, doing hands-on experiments and activities. That takes extraordinary preparation.
    My classroom will include various centers displayed around the room. These will not simply be observation areas, but they will be areas where students can work on their own, pursuing issues and units in which we are currently studying. For example, when studying magnetism, there would be a learning center where students could test certain items for magnetism. For a unit on poetry, there would be a collection of books and posters where students could discover various forms of poetry and poets.

Classroom Management and Leadership

    I feel the best thing that I bring to the table is my leadership ability and my sense of humor. While my teaching experience is limited, I have been an officer in the U.S. Army and I have been a leader in athletics at various levels for many years. I am used to being a leader and a role model and feel comfortable setting the example and conveying material in a manner that is fun and easy to understand. It is very important when you get kids moving around the classroom that you have control of the class, good classroom management skills, and safety in mind. This starts the very first day of school when rules are established, responsibilities are handed out, and my students get on the same page with me and what I expect.
    Students must have a sense of responsibility in the management of the class. Class roles need to be understood and respected. The environment should be a warm and inviting learning atmosphere, but one where jobs are respected, responsibilities are carried out, and standards are in place. I believe in standards over rules because the correct behavior should be expected, not demanded. This is all part of the importance of the beginning of the school year.
    One way of keeping students active in class is by working in groups and engaging in cooperative learning activities. They learn teamwork, responsibility, and they get to know people that maybe they haven't previously gotten to know. Work stations are easier to set up and observe when there are four or five instead of each student working by themselves or having groups that are too large and don't engage all students. Of course, it depends largely on the materials you have in class and the facilities available.

Outside the Classroom

    There are many factors outside the classroom that I would like to tie into my philosophy. My colleagues are very important partners as we work together sharing ideas, strategies, experiments, and teaching philosophies. It is also important to include parents in the learning circle, through parent-teacher conferences and sharing homework assignments. Parents need to be inside the loop and cognizant of what their children are learning.
    Community field trips are a great escape. They give teachers a chance to create real relevance in their lives. They get to see what they are learning tied in to their everyday lives. If children see relevance in learning, they will embrace the knowledge much faster, and it will stay with them.