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Education plays an important role in shaping the future generations, whether negative or positive. Unfortunately, poor teaching impacts students outlook on the importance of learning. As the need for education through schooling specifically decreases, my hope for myself as a teacher is to build incredible people who passionately impact the world.
My Beliefs surrounding Education
My Beliefs surrounding Education
I believe...
Learning is a fundamental human right and continues beyond the confinements of school
Educators are responsible for encouraging curiosity within students
Each child presents different strengths and unique abilities that each need to be supported and valued
By creating a positive learning environment, students feel safe to share their opinions and beliefs freely
Students gain self confidence through challenging their own knowledge
Growth in knowledge is more important that assessment scores
What Values Do I Hold About Teaching?
As someone who lives guided by my values, I have a strong belief that building individual and unique values within students is necessary as an educator. In doing this, inclusivity and safety are two vital values that shape the quality of education in each child. Schools are become more and more diverse and students backgrounds are differing more and more, creating the need for changing the narrative of education. Including diverse perspectives and stories within the curriculum demonstrates to students that their lives are valued just as much as the student next to them. Antiracist practices are more vital than ever, to demonstrate to students that every person holds the same immense value to the classroom and communities they belong in. Through this, a sense of safety is gained in the ability to have pride in who they are and where they come from, opening up about and being willing to sharing their voice, experiences, opinions, and thoughts. Classes that hold the values of safety, inclusivity, openness, personal growth, and curiosity tend to lead students to be more conscious and self-aware of their own beliefs and values to guide them through their lives.
Teachers are apart of the most impactful group of people to students during their childhood. Their role is vital in shaping students views on the world and expanding the students knowledge through educational curriculum and developing life skills. Effective teachers understand the importance of teaching curriculum to meet standards while building skills and characteristics within each student to help them succeed as citizens in the future. The worst thing for a teacher to do is to simply teach from a textbook, disregarding the diversity of learning styles and the desire to cooperate to build understanding. Most students look for role models in their teachers. Therefore, leading by example, with a positive outlook on life and understanding the students deeper than surface level information provided is what creates a good teacher in my mind.
Role of a Good Teacher
Role of a Good Teacher
Nature of Children
Nature of Children
The nature of children is curiosity. They are curious about their surroundings, the world, and the people around them. Really anything they encounter, they are curious about. I hope to not let that curiosity die through the need to meet curriculum standards as an educator. Approaching students curious about materials or issues separate from the current curriculum with a neutral and encouraging tone allows them to feel validated and eager to fulfilling their curiosity. Children learn best through enrichment and freedom to choose what they are interested in and doing. Some require more structure than others, but the goal is to let them come to their own conclusions and answers to their own curiosity. There is some diversity in how students learn best; some through hands-on, some through visual, others through lecture. Overall, curiosity leads them to the desire to learn and by diminishing and disregarding that, educators fail to attend to the nature of children.
MY FUNDAMENTAL FOUR
These are the four core fundamentals that I personally connect with and will guide me during my time as an educator.
Person before student
Person before student
While the success of students knowledge is how teachers are based, truly impactful teachers are remembered for their dedication to empowering the person over the academic performance. My most memorable teachers are those who dedicate time getting to know me beyond my academic abilities, understanding my hobbies, passions, opinions, values, and experiences that have shaped me into who I am today.
Encourage Curiosity
Encourage Curiosity
Per my opinion of the nature of children, curiosity is the central motivator for learning within students. Excitement about topics, issues, or materials leads to fun and the urge to continue learning. When my curiosity was supported most in the classroom, I experienced my most opinionated, driven, and creative self. As curiosity flourishes, other important traits are built and developed by the students.
"I don't know" is a legitimate answer
"I don't know" is a legitimate answer
This comes from Ms. Annadel Dong's Philosophy of Education but I really resonated with it, because, throughout my education, I would answer "I don't know" to questions from teachers, but often felt discouraged to answer that. When considering my own philosophy of education, this responses signifies that the student is eager to learn the content and develop their own answer.
Effort over Perfection
Effort over Perfection
Academic performance is often thought of as the measure for student success. As someone who struggled with testing environments and exams, my grades didn't fully reflect my own comprehension of the content. While exams and tests are the easiest form of measurement, they don't showcase student's growth in knowledge of the content. The effort students put into learning demonstrates more to myself than perfection on a test does.
Working with Special Education
Spring 2024 served as the ignition point for my desire to work with Special Education students. Working with a day program specialized in individualized learning for students with mental disorders that effective their ability to be in a general classroom, I immersed myself in a field I was unfamiliar with. The students, while rambunctious and extremely energetic at times, demonstrated a space of freedom to be themselves and learn at their own pace, without judgement from other students. The one-on-one work I did helped show me their personalities and the ease to have them get to know me. I celebrated their successes right along side them, something I noticed would get overshadowed in a general education classroom. Because of my experience at fieldwork, I have come to be passionate about finding the best fit of education for each student, knowing that some excel in general education classes, with standards to meet and structured routines, and others thrive in smaller environments, more personalized learning, a less overwhelming schedule, and specialized professionals, like an Occupational Therapist or Psychiatrist.
Beliefs about Classroom Curriculum
Beliefs about Classroom Curriculum
Curriculum is the foundation of knowledge. As much as students want freedom to learn anything they desire, curriculum and curriculum standards provide a framework to guide educators and students to fully encapsulate and learn all knowledge surrounding a subject. However, simply following a standards requirements dismisses the uniqueness and individuality each student holds as well as an understanding that student's learning styles differ. There are parallels between all of the learning styles that, when included in lessons, provide a universal understanding of the content. The eight intelligences, created by Howard Gardner, provides insight into how students can learn, and how the collaboration of intelligences within students aids in demonstrating who each student is and their individuality. Hands-on, enriching activities paired with written or oral presentations give students multiple ways for gaining an understanding of the curriculum and add fun, excitement, and positive energy to the classroom.
Teaching science effectively requires aligning instruction with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which emphasize three-dimensional learning: disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Central to this approach is inquiry-based learning, where students actively engage in asking questions, conducting investigations, and analyzing data to construct their understanding. Teachers can facilitate this by designing lessons that encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and hands-on exploration, allowing students to experience science as a dynamic, problem-solving process. By fostering collaboration, real-world applications, and student-driven discovery, educators can create engaging science instruction that builds both content knowledge and essential skills. The presentation to the left encapsulates these ideas into a 2-week unit plan for 2nd grade.
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