TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Critical Thinking

I want my students to become critical thinkers with the skills to explore and solve problems that exist in the world around them.

Life and the universe are not static; consequently, I believe that a school’s curriculum should be active and evolving. The curriculum should reflect current events and prepare students to deal with the social issues that have the most impact on their lives. In the classroom, I believe that the teacher’s job is to “guide learning as facilitators of the students’ research and activities”. Rather than simply supply the answers, a good teacher should teach their students how to find their own answers. A curriculum based on inquiry and the scientific method is an important factor in educating students to become critically thinking adults. Furthermore, creating a learning environment that encourages students to view knowledge as “indeterminate and open-ended” helps students to become life-long learners.

Basic Skills

I want each student to master a basic set of skills which will enable them to communicate ideas effectively and fully grasp more advance subjects.

I believe that before students can conduct scientific inquiry or challenge social status quos, they must be given a solid foundation of literacy and other functional skills. I think it is very important to teach for mastery and to have standards in place to ensure that every student is prepared to communicate effectively, to conduct necessary arithmetic, and to understand the natural world so that they can prosper physically, emotionally, and intellectually. For this, I believe that teachers must be “specialist[s] in subject-matter content” (125). The goal of enabling a student to be a socially conscious, critical thinker can be better achieved if a student first possesses a high level of literacy which is essential to the effective communication of ideas. Therefore, I believe that the core of education should begin with a “back to the basics” curriculum. The basics, however, should only serve as a starting point which should be expanded to include a multitude of culturally diverse disciplines.

Technological Proficiency

I want my students to gain mastery of the skills that will allow them to compete in the cutting-edge, global work force of the 21st century.

I believe that today’s world requires that students possess a high level of technological proficiency. Although, in its most basic form, my job as a 4th Grade teacher is to teach students to read, solve problems, and write with competency and confidence. In order to achieve continued academic and career success, students must become fluent in the computers, software, mobile electronics, and other technological tools. To achieve this goal, students will learn literature, writing, math and grammar while immersed in a classroom environment filled with technology. Technology will be used as a tool to enhance student learning and to better incorporate multiple means of learning so that varying individual student needs are met. However, rather than becoming a distraction, technology will be seamlessly blended into curriculum. Teacher competency, thorough instructions and demonstrations, clearly conveyed rules and expectations, and consistent monitoring will prevent student misuse. While mastering language, writing, analysis, and critical thinking skills, students will build technology skill-sets that will prepare them for the future.