Teaching Philosophy

The teacher’s goal is not to make sure students have learned content. I believe that a teacher’s responsibility is to build up their students with relevant life skills, self-efficacy, and purpose. Along the road to meeting that goal, students learn content through lessons that their teachers prepare for them. My instruction is aimed at promoting student expression and choice through interactive and creative projects and activities. In a technology classroom, that is easily partnered with content as students learn how to use computers, software, and programming to create.

In today's world, technology literacy is becoming increasingly more important as computers evolve around us. From my observations, students struggle with using certain technologies that are considered commonplace in most higher education institutions, professional workplaces, and industry. In the classroom, I do my best to prioritize building student proficiency with such tools through instruction, practice, and projects. As students practice using technology, they become more prepared for their futures and more confident in their ability to succeed.

The question is always “How am I going to do this?” when it comes to achieving the delicate dance between personal development and content. From my perspective, it all begins with the students and developing a strong relationship with them. If there is no sense of trust between a teacher and their students, then no learning can happen. In my classroom I get to know my students through day-to-day interactions as well as their work. My assignments almost always have elements of self-expression and creativity; a way for students to express their thoughts and feelings. This can be a powerful insight into a student’s life and create a lens through which you can construct a more positive and engaging learning environment.

As a teacher, I do my best to interweave content and relevant skills through my instruction and activities. However, I do have several areas of growth that I have identified and am continuing to work towards improving. The most significant of these is my ability to wait; something that should be simple on paper. When posing questions to the class, working with students 1-to-1, or waiting for student attention, I have found myself to be impatient and wanting to move along with whatever was planned. Over my student teaching, I have been making more of a deliberate effort to implement wait time – letting the students think and do the talking. Those who are doing the talking are doing the learning, and I have been working to encourage students to talk more by implementing more wait time in my instruction.

In summary, my goals as a teacher are to build up students’ life skills, self-efficacy, and purpose through the instruction of content through relevant technology. I encourage student self-expression through creative projects that allow me to better understand my students and develop a deeper relationship with them. As a teacher, I want to continue to do what is best for my students and guide them to a successful, fulfilling future.