Educational Philosophy
My educational philosophy is to help guide students become free independent thinkers, and to believe that they are capable of learning to become what they dream of. I want to inspire and challenge students to live to their potential and to build on the strengths and improve their weaknesses. I want to give students the knowledge and tools to succeed, no matter the obstacles they may face. As a teacher I am a supporter, an observer, an inspiration, an aide and leader. My philosophy outlines my aspirations as an educator, but also how I can apply my teaching methods to encourage developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom.
I believe in using hands-on activities and interactive lessons to provide a good learning environment for students. An effective teacher is one that creates a positive, loving and caring environment. I encourage different simulations, which students can play and experiment. I value taking real-life experiences and apply them in the classroom, by using students interests it will help motivate and build long lasting connections for students. I support adopting the different teaching methods of Dewey and Piaget. Dewey believed that education should be student centered, which the student’s interests influence the curriculum planning. Teachers need to look at student’s interests in order to engage students by allowing students to discover and explore the world around them. Dewey believed in experimentation, independence and creativity. He encouraged students to learn from their mistakes. Teachers need to promote self-directed activities that encourage students to make choices. I believe that students need to have choices to become independent, and student’s curiosities need to unfold and develop.
I understand that students must meet standards. Students must show competency in a variety of subject areas. My belief is that teachers need to be creative to incorporate standards without having to jeopardize students’ self-discovery through hands-on learning.
Dewey and Piaget shared the concept that student’s curiosity drives their learning. Piaget formulated the Stages of Cognitive Development for young children. It is important to understand how students learn cognitively because incorporating student’s interests and learning needs into lessons will be more effective, rather than solely basing lessons on content. When teaching and planning lessons I believe in always keeping the students in mind, constantly asking myself how I can improve my teaching to meet my students’ learning needs.
All children learn in different ways. Each individual child has different learning techniques and strategies. I strongly support in providing differentiated instruction for the diverse learning needs in the classroom. I believe in modification my lessons to maximize learning and students outcome. My belief is that, no matter the individual, all children have the ability to learn, develop, and grow in all areas. Differentiating my lessons will meet the learning needs of all the students in the classroom, by considering students learning needs. I support using multiple teaching strategies to teach content areas that will fill student’s thirst for learning. I value having an integrated curriculum where different subject areas are connected and re-alliterated.
It is important to encourage and support diversity in the classroom. I feel diversity enriches students learning and helps with students’ social and emotional development. Diversity includes an array of different cultural, religious and learning needs. It is important that this diversity is recognized and incorporated into my teaching. Students need to build self-awareness of themselves and others. Incorporating and teaching diversity will help prepare students to interact and relate to the world around them. The social and emotional development is interwoven to students’ success because it will help build self-confidence.
Building self-confidence is creating a safe and open learning environment that enforces trust and respect among peers and adults. I use a lot of positive environment as a necessary tool to build a safe learning environment because it emphasizes the students’ behavior. Students need to feel safe to express themselves, and the importance of students having a voice in the classroom. I believe in building a classroom family, students learning to work together and encourage critical thinking for students to think independently. This allows students to practice learning to think outside the box.
Teachers need to be master observers. My responsibility is to observe the changes, outcomes and development of each individual child in the classroom. I support using an assortment of assessment tools to determine students understanding. I like in incorporate both informal and formal assessment as a guide to determine students’ progress. Running records and anecdotal records are beneficial assessment tools that is a great reference to determine students’ knowledge. I would like to apply Dewey’s and Vygotsky theories of observing children, and documenting the observation to help better plan lessons. There are multiple ways to assess whether students are meeting the learning objectives. A combination of informal and formal assessment gives more evidence of students understanding of the material. I try to avoid using tests, quizzes or handouts as the main form of assessing students. I believe in using alternative worksheets to help assess students’ understanding. Rather than giving students handouts, I believe in using different creative projects that are as effective and more fun for the students. For example, rather than having students just write a paragraph to assess students’ comprehension of a story, a great alternative worksheet would be having students create a newsletter or create a poster. This can be adapted to meet each student’s learning needs. It encourages creativity and self-expression, and it supports critical thinking, instead of generic handouts that are not interactive.
Teachers provide the necessary support for students to success. Parents are the anchors for their child’s learning. A team consisting of the teacher and parent help ensure that the child is gaining enough experiences, and knowledge to excel in school and in life. Parent-teacher relationships support a child’s development. Teachers should build strong relationships with parents, guardians, friends, community and families that collectively give students the tools and knowledge to succeed.
Teachers are referees to guiding children in physical, mental and emotional development. I believe learning should be fun and educational. Different activities and lesson plans should apply real life experiences, but also promote creativity and individuality. The purpose of learning is for each individual person to grow and apply his/her individual talents in the real world. Teachers are flexible, adaptable, actors, players and reliable. My philosophy is that teachers never stop learning; we are constantly reflecting and reassess ourselves in order to continue to improve our teachings and lessons. Teachers need to use outside resources, colleagues and community members to enrich their teaching. Teaching is not a solo job. It requires collaborative work with colleagues. With experience comes knowledge and wisdom that will help better me.
My educational philosophy is to help guide students become free independent thinkers, and to believe that they are capable of learning to become what they dream of. I want to inspire and challenge students to live to their potential and to build on the strengths and improve their weaknesses. I want to give students the knowledge and tools to succeed, no matter the obstacles they may face. As a teacher I am a supporter, an observer, an inspiration, an aide and leader. My philosophy outlines my aspirations as an educator, but also how I can apply my teaching methods to encourage developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom.
I believe in using hands-on activities and interactive lessons to provide a good learning environment for students. An effective teacher is one that creates a positive, loving and caring environment. I encourage different simulations, which students can play and experiment. I value taking real-life experiences and apply them in the classroom, by using students interests it will help motivate and build long lasting connections for students. I support adopting the different teaching methods of Dewey and Piaget. Dewey believed that education should be student centered, which the student’s interests influence the curriculum planning. Teachers need to look at student’s interests in order to engage students by allowing students to discover and explore the world around them. Dewey believed in experimentation, independence and creativity. He encouraged students to learn from their mistakes. Teachers need to promote self-directed activities that encourage students to make choices. I believe that students need to have choices to become independent, and student’s curiosities need to unfold and develop.
I understand that students must meet standards. Students must show competency in a variety of subject areas. My belief is that teachers need to be creative to incorporate standards without having to jeopardize students’ self-discovery through hands-on learning.
Dewey and Piaget shared the concept that student’s curiosity drives their learning. Piaget formulated the Stages of Cognitive Development for young children. It is important to understand how students learn cognitively because incorporating student’s interests and learning needs into lessons will be more effective, rather than solely basing lessons on content. When teaching and planning lessons I believe in always keeping the students in mind, constantly asking myself how I can improve my teaching to meet my students’ learning needs.
All children learn in different ways. Each individual child has different learning techniques and strategies. I strongly support in providing differentiated instruction for the diverse learning needs in the classroom. I believe in modification my lessons to maximize learning and students outcome. My belief is that, no matter the individual, all children have the ability to learn, develop, and grow in all areas. Differentiating my lessons will meet the learning needs of all the students in the classroom, by considering students learning needs. I support using multiple teaching strategies to teach content areas that will fill student’s thirst for learning. I value having an integrated curriculum where different subject areas are connected and re-alliterated.
It is important to encourage and support diversity in the classroom. I feel diversity enriches students learning and helps with students’ social and emotional development. Diversity includes an array of different cultural, religious and learning needs. It is important that this diversity is recognized and incorporated into my teaching. Students need to build self-awareness of themselves and others. Incorporating and teaching diversity will help prepare students to interact and relate to the world around them. The social and emotional development is interwoven to students’ success because it will help build self-confidence.
Building self-confidence is creating a safe and open learning environment that enforces trust and respect among peers and adults. I use a lot of positive environment as a necessary tool to build a safe learning environment because it emphasizes the students’ behavior. Students need to feel safe to express themselves, and the importance of students having a voice in the classroom. I believe in building a classroom family, students learning to work together and encourage critical thinking for students to think independently. This allows students to practice learning to think outside the box.
Teachers need to be master observers. My responsibility is to observe the changes, outcomes and development of each individual child in the classroom. I support using an assortment of assessment tools to determine students understanding. I like in incorporate both informal and formal assessment as a guide to determine students’ progress. Running records and anecdotal records are beneficial assessment tools that is a great reference to determine students’ knowledge. I would like to apply Dewey’s and Vygotsky theories of observing children, and documenting the observation to help better plan lessons. There are multiple ways to assess whether students are meeting the learning objectives. A combination of informal and formal assessment gives more evidence of students understanding of the material. I try to avoid using tests, quizzes or handouts as the main form of assessing students. I believe in using alternative worksheets to help assess students’ understanding. Rather than giving students handouts, I believe in using different creative projects that are as effective and more fun for the students. For example, rather than having students just write a paragraph to assess students’ comprehension of a story, a great alternative worksheet would be having students create a newsletter or create a poster. This can be adapted to meet each student’s learning needs. It encourages creativity and self-expression, and it supports critical thinking, instead of generic handouts that are not interactive.
Teachers provide the necessary support for students to success. Parents are the anchors for their child’s learning. A team consisting of the teacher and parent help ensure that the child is gaining enough experiences, and knowledge to excel in school and in life. Parent-teacher relationships support a child’s development. Teachers should build strong relationships with parents, guardians, friends, community and families that collectively give students the tools and knowledge to succeed.
Teachers are referees to guiding children in physical, mental and emotional development. I believe learning should be fun and educational. Different activities and lesson plans should apply real life experiences, but also promote creativity and individuality. The purpose of learning is for each individual person to grow and apply his/her individual talents in the real world. Teachers are flexible, adaptable, actors, players and reliable. My philosophy is that teachers never stop learning; we are constantly reflecting and reassess ourselves in order to continue to improve our teachings and lessons. Teachers need to use outside resources, colleagues and community members to enrich their teaching. Teaching is not a solo job. It requires collaborative work with colleagues. With experience comes knowledge and wisdom that will help better me.
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