Personal Philosophy: 

My personal philosphy is that learning never ends and it is something that we will continue to do our entire lives. Being a life long learner is being openminded and curious to the new ideas, concepts, and opinions of others. Learning is not a sprint but a continual marathon. As a teacher I can still be taught by my students in many different ways. They are all different an unique because of many different factors that play into their everyday lives and make them the way that they are. As a teacher I will give every student equal opportunities to learn and be successful. I think it is extrememly important for educators to focus on the well being of the student and build lasting relationships in which they can feel safe, respected, welcoming, and appreciated. As I teacher I want to teach my students to be creative, original, and innovative. This will be done by giving student opportunities to express what they have learned in a variety of ways, while giving them autonomy to make choices.  My focus is on the knowledge that the student is gaining instead of the grade they are recieving. 

  As I have come to study the theories, strategies, and beliefs surrounding child development, I have been able to better understand the observable traits in children as they are developing rapidly physical, social, and emotional maturity. As a future teacher I have come to the realization that young children understand and can comprehend a lot more than what we give them credit for. We need to be aware of the changes that children undergo and they move through several challenging stages of development. From the different philosophers and theorist that I have studied, it is evident that children need the correct support and guidance to develop typically in everyday life. As teachers it is our duty to guide students through changes, build lasting relationships, teach them had to interact with others, and create safe environments where all students feel comfortable and safe. I want to teach students in the early childhood stage of development. Children in this stage are from ages 2-6 years old. Having the right resources and support needed is important for children this young because they are just learning to explore the world around them and get out of their comfort zones. I want to teach lessons that are intriguing, exciting, engaging and important in the real world. 

The deliverables that I have created include lesson plans for different stages of development, however my goal is to teach early childhood. My first deliverable is the lesson plan I created along with my group as we were preparing to teach the class. This lesson is all about social emotional learning with a focus on the five components of SEL from the CASEL model. Although this lesson is written for students in late adolescence, it can be altered and changed to fit any age range. There are many activities and ideas online that teach SEL to young children in fun and engaging ways. This lesson plan will help older students undestand the fundamentals of social emotional learning, and strategies that they can use to improve in each component of the CASEL model.

 The second deliverable is similar to the first because it is from the same lesson however it focuses on the component of SEL that I taught which is social awareness. Because I only had to teach this topic for 15 minutes, I added other activities and instruction to this lesson plan to make it longer so that it could actually be taught in a standard class period. This lesson plan is ideally for older students and this lesson will help students as they are developing social skills and identifying social cues. By understanding the concepts being taught in this lesson, students will be able to better understand people around them and what they are feeling. They will be able to view others opinions and be open to the perspectives of people around them.

The third deliverable is the lesson plan we created as a class called "Save the Sea Turtles". This lesson plan is for younger children but just like other lessons, it can be adapted for a older audience. This lesson helps introduce real-world issues to children in an age appropriate and engaging way. Children will be able to have opportunuties to practice their researching skills as well as problem solve by collaborating with other peers in their class to find solutions. 

The fourth deliverable is a lesson plan for a 6th grade math class. This lesson is focused on ratios, percentages, and probability. It also includes accomodations that could be made for a student with a visual impairment. This lesson plan is written specifically to accomodate a student that could have a visual impairment. This lesson helps students learn currency and how to figure out discounts and taxes for specifc objects. This will help them in the future as they will be making fincial decisions and living on their own. 

The fifth lesson plan is one that we created in class with Sister Chaffin. It is a helpful resource to teach health and wellbeing to students in late adolescence. this lesson plan will foster development by teaching students how to be counciously aware of themselves and the needs of their body and mind. These lesson plans helped me think about teaching and instruction in new ways. I was able to look for real-world implictions of what I was teaching, and these deliverables helped me find activities and instruction strategies that would be beneficial depending on the age of the students I am teaching. 

These deliverables are all made to better support students growth in their personal development. They provide opportunities for children and young adults to learn new ways of thinking. As children become older, they will discover who they are and gain a sense of self. This will help them understand themselves and help them prepare for being future citizens in a community. Children exhibit all kinds of behaviors as they are figuring out the world for themselves and understanding what is considered right and wrong in different contexts. Although I have an age group I would like to work with now, I do not know what my future holds, and I am grateful for the opportinity to create lesson plans that would be teachable to a variety of students wherever they are in their development.