Teaching Philosophy

To understand who I am as a teacher, I must explain my history as a learner.

 

In 2nd grade, after taking the California Achievement Test, I learned that I was not as smart as my friends.  My test results labeled me “below grade level.”  This low achieving label was reinforced throughout elementary school by experiences such as being sent to the second grade classroom for reading when I was in fourth grade.  I was diagnosed with a speech impediment and was “taken out” of the regular classes multiple times during the school week.  I felt different.  I lost interest in school.  I stopped trying.  In middle school, I often repeated courses.  When I entered high school, the label came with me.

 

In 11th grade, as a dare from my friends, I signed up for advanced placement history.  Because of my poor academic record, my parents had to sign a release form so that I was allowed to attend. When I entered the class, instead of being labeled, I met the first teacher who told me I was smart!  I discovered I was not “stupid”, rather I just learned differently than my peers.  Learning how to learn, not only turned me into a successful student, but it motivated me to help other students who were struggling in traditional classrooms.  As a result of hard work, my grades improved and I was accepted into university.  I earned my teaching certificate, and began teaching high school students.  Unlike many teachers who wanted to teach advanced placement learners, I hoped to teach the low achieving students.  Although I no longer teach high school I continue to work hard to help struggling students in my university courses.

I believe every student should be acknowledged as individuals who have something important to contribute to class.  Therefore, I take time to get to know all my students’ interests and goals.  For example, in my university classes, each student creates their own Internet web-blog where they journal about their personal and class experiences.  By understanding the knowledge students bring to the classroom, I can better integrate their prior knowledge into class activities.  As a learning technologies instructor I try to model ways to use the technology knowledge that my students bring with them into class.  For example I learned that my students were highly motivated to interact with their cell phones, therefore I developed class activities using cell phones as knowledge construction tools.

 

As a result of my own learning struggles I am sensitive to the diverse needs and abilities of my students.  I try to create an environment where all students can participate successfully in class activities.  For example, I put an audio feature on my class web-blog and use an “accessible” web-blog to make sure that my visually impaired students are able to access the information.  Periodically throughout the semester I ask my students for feedback on what I can do to help make the course more relevant.  I think it is important to get feedback during the course, so I can immediately modify the course to better fit the individual students whom I am teaching.  I do not believe my role as an instructor ends when the course is completed.  I continue to mentor many of my former students, some of whom are now teachers.  Although I mentor, they often end up doing the teaching.  Recently I met with a former student, who is in his first year of teaching at an inner-city school.  He wanted to start an online web-blog mentoring program for his high school students, to give them positive role models.  He gave me a generous compliment by stating that this project was a direct result of my course.   Yet, I found that I was learning more than I was mentoring, my former student has been teaching me about the challenges of teaching at an inner-city school.  

 

I believe the best teaching I have done is in cooperation and collaboration with faculty, staff, and students. There is an old Latin proverb, which states, by learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn.  I believe this proverb reflects myself as an educator.  As a teacher, I am always learning from my students and colleagues. I try to model teacher as learner to my own students.  Particularly since my students are going to be teachers one day, I want them to understand that learning never stops.  I also want them to understand that a test score cannot define one’s ability to learn.  I am not ashamed that I had a failing academic record for many years, because I think those experiences have made me a better educator.   I consider every teaching opportunity a great privilege, a privilege that as a “low achieving” 2nd grader I never thought I would be able to have.