My Teaching Philosophy
As an educator, I want to contribute to the development of a strong and functional society. Thus, my beliefs for teaching and learning are based on a desire to create powerfully literate children. Powerfully literate children grow up to be adults that have the ability to formulate opinions, make good decisions, participate in and contribute to our society. How are they created? By individualizing instruction to meet our students' needs, fostering a love for reading and writing, and providing a safe and nurturing environment where children are free to take risks and be themselves.
I have learned throughout my teaching career that children come to us at different levels, both developmentally and academically. My goal is to take each child from where he or she is, develop a love for learning, and in the process create a confident, independent learner. Teaching to each child's point of need will allow me to make professional judgments about the learning practices taking place in my classroom. The classrooms, I have been involved with attempt to provide more time with each learner, thus allowing for better assessment, evaluation, and planning. When we individualize instruction all children benefit.
Throughout my experiences, I have learned that reading and writing play a vital role in a student's success across grade levels and subject matter. My goal is to create a love for reading and writing that my students will carry with them for the rest of their lives. It is important to provide adequate time for students to be immersed in reading and writing. As an educator, I will provide time for students to read independently, to read with me, and to be read to. I will also provide for students to write independently, to write with me, and to be written to. In my classroom, children will be able to select texts to read that they find interesting and meaningful to them at their level. All of this combined with my own contagious love of reading and writing will help children develop positive attitudes.
In the classrooms I have been involved with, I have seen the difficulties that arise when children do not feel safe to take risks. A lack of risk taking has adverse effects on a child's ability to read and write. For example, a child will not write down a word unless it is spelled correctly and will skip over a word while reading instead of taking a chance because it may be wrong. My goal is to provide the right environment to allow children to take risks without ridicule and to feel safe and nurtured. That environment will allow everyone including myself to be wrong at times. When we provide this type of environment our children's chances for success and growth as learners is endless.
It is my goal as an educator to remember that these goals are not only for my students but also for me. I plan to continue to love reading and writing, to take risks, and to look for the next step in my own learning process. I will be constantly looking for educational opportunities for myself that will keep me growing and thinking. As a teacher it is my job to coach students to become actively involved in and motivated about the pursuit of knowledge, two goals I also have for myself.
I have learned throughout my teaching career that children come to us at different levels, both developmentally and academically. My goal is to take each child from where he or she is, develop a love for learning, and in the process create a confident, independent learner. Teaching to each child's point of need will allow me to make professional judgments about the learning practices taking place in my classroom. The classrooms, I have been involved with attempt to provide more time with each learner, thus allowing for better assessment, evaluation, and planning. When we individualize instruction all children benefit.
Throughout my experiences, I have learned that reading and writing play a vital role in a student's success across grade levels and subject matter. My goal is to create a love for reading and writing that my students will carry with them for the rest of their lives. It is important to provide adequate time for students to be immersed in reading and writing. As an educator, I will provide time for students to read independently, to read with me, and to be read to. I will also provide for students to write independently, to write with me, and to be written to. In my classroom, children will be able to select texts to read that they find interesting and meaningful to them at their level. All of this combined with my own contagious love of reading and writing will help children develop positive attitudes.
In the classrooms I have been involved with, I have seen the difficulties that arise when children do not feel safe to take risks. A lack of risk taking has adverse effects on a child's ability to read and write. For example, a child will not write down a word unless it is spelled correctly and will skip over a word while reading instead of taking a chance because it may be wrong. My goal is to provide the right environment to allow children to take risks without ridicule and to feel safe and nurtured. That environment will allow everyone including myself to be wrong at times. When we provide this type of environment our children's chances for success and growth as learners is endless.
It is my goal as an educator to remember that these goals are not only for my students but also for me. I plan to continue to love reading and writing, to take risks, and to look for the next step in my own learning process. I will be constantly looking for educational opportunities for myself that will keep me growing and thinking. As a teacher it is my job to coach students to become actively involved in and motivated about the pursuit of knowledge, two goals I also have for myself.