Teaching Philosophy
Reading is writing and writing is reading, meaning, what you've ever read was written by somebody, and what you've ever written can be read by somebody else. In most cases, the best writers are also the best readers. Because of this, I strongly believe that:
Reading is writing and writing is reading, meaning, what you've ever read was written by somebody, and what you've ever written can be read by somebody else. In most cases, the best writers are also the best readers. Because of this, I strongly believe that:
1. Students need to read.
- One of the most important qualities that a person can have is empathy. Reading can teach empathy. Reading also raises intelligence, boosts creativity, improves concentration, and reduces stress. Reading puts your brain to work, therefore helping raise brain power, and not to mention, topics of books can turn into great conversation starters with friends and family (I would even intensely argue that every single Harry Potter fanatic would agree that the books are infinitely-times better than the movies). Depending on future career pursuits, the student who reads more will develop better communication skills that will help him or her accomplish goal after goal.
2. Students will improve their writing by reading more.
- Some people just seem to have that knack for writing. We all envy them. Thankfully, we can always improve the way we use our words. The only way to expand our vocabulary is to communicate, whether it be with another person or with a book. The narration of a book generally contains "fancier" word choice than our day-to-day conversations. Reading various genres and taking in different authors' styles allows us to pick up new phrases and ways of combining words, helping us to individually establish our own writing styles. The way something is worded can completely change your viewpoint. Below is one of my favorite videos to show "The Power of Words."
3. Students will feel proud of their writing pieces after making revisions.
- The harder you work at something, the better you feel when you finally finish your task. The process of working hard makes you more likely to want to continue bettering yourself too. This goes for a baseball game, a gymnastics competition, painting, or working on a puzzle. The same goes for a writing piece. With an outsider's perspective and tips, along with your own revisions, you are guaranteed to feel proud of what you've written. Just like a soccer player who doesn't stop practicing after winning his first game, an author's work is never really finished.
4. Students need to use reading/writing skills in all subject areas.
- You can love science and grow up to become a scientist. You can be obsessed with history and become a historian. You can thrive in math class and become a mathematician, and you can absolutely love art class and become an artist. But what you cannot do, is love Language Arts and grow up to become a Language Artist. There's no such thing. You can write a science lab. You can read books about the Scottish and study the evolution of their existence. You can read about the discovery of Pascal's Triangle. You can flip through pages that explain the entire history of the artist who painted, The Scream, and write your own critique of any work of your choice. Evidently, you cannot escape, or even function without reading and writing, so why not use skills learned in ELA in all other subject areas?