6th Grade ELA - Vikan Middle School
How do I know what I think until I read what I've written?
My best and favorite teachers were masters of their content and real life people. They taught out of genuine care for their students and diligence to their subject matter. And most importantly, they were honest.
Without honesty there can be no trust. Without trust, no relationship. And without relationships, there can be no learning. It is no wonder that the best relationships I had with past teachers are ones that were rooted in honesty and trust. I learned a lot in those classes and we all had fun doing it. My goal is create a classroom environment where I can build and maintain similar relationships with my students in the service of deep learning. My rules are short and simple: Respect yourself and others, and worry about yourself, not others. Teachers need to be responsible for their students and students need to be responsible for themselves.
All students are capable of learning. How much responsibility they are willing to take for their education and how much hard work they are willing to put in to achieve their goals are the two factors that will determine how much they will learn. Through positive relationships, founded in trust, I can help my students achieve and succeed if they truly want to.
I teach to develop critical thinkers, to help students mature by taking responsibility their themselves, and to have fun. Honesty, responsibility, and humor are essential to my practice and inform every decision I make within the classroom. I greet my students every day and get to know them as people. I ask about their baseball games and cousins' birthday parties. I look them in the eyes and say good morning. I let them talk nonsense when they need to, and laugh when I overhear it. I tell them to be respectful, but not to take me too seriously. I let them know it is okay to not be perfect.
Of all the high stress jobs, teaching is definitely one of them. And of all the positive coping mechanisms, laughter is the best. My classroom is a place of learning and laughter, where students feel comfortable enough to challenge themselves and where they know it is also okay to be themselves. My classroom is a place where my students know we are all - myself included - learning together.