Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of mathematics education is that ALL students can learn and be successful at math. It is a travesty that our society finds it acceptable to not understand math. High expectation of math skills is the key, as is a culture shift away from the acceptance that some people can’t ‘do math’. I want to make a difference in my student’s life. I strive to make my classroom have a culture of mutual respect with serious working to achieve our curriculum goals.

In every level of mathematics, students need to learn the concepts to a deep level and not simply memorize isolated facts. We need to teach our students to be life long learners and problem solvers. When a student is able to apply what they have learned to new situations they not only show they have the math skills, but more importantly, improve their critical thinking skills of synthesis and analysis. My goal is for them to learn how to learn in order to adapt and thrive in life.

Learning is best when it occurs in an active environment. I believe that as an effective teacher I should engage the learner and make

the lesson educational and fun. It is important that I am comfortable, confident and enthusiastic about my lesson, and the students will adopt the same feelings about learning. I must be strong in the curriculum content, but also incorporate something in each lesson to make it more than repetitive practice. When a lesson is made interesting and fun, my students are more motivated and more able to make connections with past ideas.

A teacher needs to continually adjust the bar for achievement. By differentiating instruction, I can assure that each student uses their own strengths and weaknesses to reach their potential. It is important that I match the instruction to the learners in my classroom. My goal is to teach with multiple representations of concepts (numeric, graphic, algebraic and analytic) because students learn in a variety of ways.

I hope that when my students leave my classroom they are not only stronger in their mathematics skills, but also more confident in their ability to be successful and know that I care about them.