"My Philosophy"

My Philosophy

My philosophy of teaching is the belief that students need an atmosphere in which they can learn and to provide them with the skills needed for them to teach themselves. Teaching is the activity of facilitating learning. Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills from instruction, study, or experience. Teaching is taking the time to introduce a student to critical thinking, analogies, and problem-solving. While introducing the students to these techniques, it is also evaluating to determine what they are retaining or learning. I believe the student should be able to grasp, hold on to, and remember what they have been taught so they may add or build on the knowledge in the future. I believe in demonstrating reflection and having a true purpose for teaching. The facilitator communicating the goals and expectations with the student are essential to the learning process. It is the responsibility of the student and the facilitator to instill the knowledge to learn. Tasks should be incorporated concerning the conceptualization of learning that will assess the learning strengths and weaknesses of each student on a continuous basis. It is important to be competent in the content area being taught and have the knowledge and understanding to be able to accommodate those that may have learning variances and differences. I agree in the usage of different instructional strategies such as, the Backward Design, reflections and problem-solving, cooperative learning, differentiated instruction, and them being used to promote critical thinking by using problem based learning.

My personal philosophy of education involves ideas of progressivism. I agree students learn best through real-world experiences, which are meaningful to them. I believe while some students may be able to learn from the "Great Books" and established "lists" of what is necessary to be culturally literate, they may not be able to relate to material from that era. As a student, I was able to study through memorization. I would look at the material and study it until I had it memorized. I was never taught strategies or skills to correlate the lessons from the classroom to lessons to life in the everyday world or what I have grown to know as REALITY. Just like students today, I would think, "What does this have to do with everyday life? What am I going to need this for?" Othello lived then and not now. I may have enjoyed class more if the lesson was taught differently. I am an optimist of Social Reconstructionism. Social Reconstructionism provides students the opportunity to relate their learning and critical thinking skills to social challenges and problems outside the classroom and in real society, “The Real World”. This also encourages the students to improve their critical thinking and problem solving skills and maybe boost their self esteem as well.

I was educated on the traditional learning structure where either you got it or you did not. I was not introduced to an alternative way of teaching. It is the responsibility of the teacher to establish and maintain a safe environment that is advantageous to the learning needs of the students(s). The understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self -motivation is pertinent. I believe in utilizing resources for instruction such as, media and computers will be a portion of my commitment to support learning through technology usage. As a facilitator, I also believe in fluency and usage of Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is also my belief that not every child learns the same, but every child can learn if they are motivated. I understand how students differ in their approaches to learning and create instructional opportunities adaptive to diverse learners.

As an Educator, I believe in fostering relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community in an effort to support students' learning and well-being. My ultimate desire is to make a difference, to be that role model, facilitate, motivate, and stimulate the growth of the adolescents mind as they prepare for progression into their next phase in life. Success is a constant endeavor and by being caring, competent, committed, reflective, collaborative, and professional as stated in Conceptual Framework; learning can be rewarding and meaningful to the student. The most rewarding learning occurs when the students are motivated and interested in what they are learning.

My philosophy has been created based on my person life experiences, education, family, and a career working with adults and adolescents. My philosophy of teaching is enhanced by my values, moral, and ethics combined with an excellent diverse learning environment that are essential element to my success. As I cross over in to the profession of education and continue to grow professionally and in my craft, my philosophy will advance on a continuum. Along with age comes wisdom; along with experience comes proficient competent knowledge. As I continue to build with my blocks of experience as a teacher, the foundation of my philosophy will continue to foster and facilitate me in the way I teach and interact with my students in the classroom.

~Ms. Essix