My teaching philosophy is centered as much around what I am teaching as it is the environment I create within my teaching space. I believe in making learning memorable to enable students to dive freely into content and find their passion, have an equitable learning experience, feel safe in their learning space, and be challenged on a daily basis with rigorous lessons. Students do not come to my classroom as empty vessels needing to be filled with my knowledge, rather they are all uniquely qualified to contribute to our class due to their own personal experiences and prior knowledge. As an educator, it is my purpose to treat them as assets to the classroom and to center my teaching around what works best for the students in my class.
I have not always realized the inequities faced by my students and that was evident in my first year of teaching. When assigning work I did not factor in the impact of student's socioeconomic circumstances on their ability to complete the assignment. In most instances my homework would often require internet access at home which was not readily available to all of my students. If I wanted to be an effective educator I needed to take time to understand why they might exhibit specific behaviors in class, and how their home situations impacted those behaviors. Teaching in a Title I school requires a level of mindfulness and willingness to adapt to the circumstances that you, your students, and your school as a whole have been dealt. Without it you will lose any connection to your students. The segregation and subtle oppression that became evident concerning students of all backgrounds within my school, drastically changed my teaching practices along with how I interacted with students and their parents.
Over time, my philosophy has evolved to be more inclusive of the student perspective and the importance environment plays in the learning process. While I have always considered myself an advocate for my students, my understanding of what it means to be an advocate has changed. I value the voice of my students now more than ever. It is essential that kids play an active role in their education because they must have a vested interest in what goes on within the school, so they will be more willing to learn. Lesson are carefully planned to be culturally relevant to as many student groups as possible which means we may discuss their home countries, study kids in the same age range, or learn about a scientist that represents my students’ cultural background.
Overall, my philosophy of the value of learning has stayed the same while my understanding of how that learning should take place has adapted to meet the needs of my eclectic group of students. I am working to learn from them and to let the students lead their own instructional pathways with guidance and clarity from myself along with their peers. I have learned to incorporate various forms of content delivery to better differentiate content while maintaining rigorous standards that are appropriate for every learning level. Working to make standards relatable to my students is a tedious job, but seeing their mastery and willingness to engage in content grow is worth the efforts put in by myself and the professional learning community (PLC) that supports me.