I believe my role as an elementary teacher is to nurture and encourage the lifelong learning of my students. Through student-centered learning built upon open-ended questions , hands-on activities, and classroom discussions, I hope to prompt students to think creatively and explore their natural curiosity. By utilizing multiple strategies and allowing for multiple entry points, I believe in activating and building on students prior knowledge at the start of every lesson. My style of teaching, Facilitator, focuses how students come to meet the demands of various learning tasks. Many lessons involve group activities that stress active learning, student-to-student collaboration, and problem solving. While this particular style works best for students who are comfortable with independent learning, as I am, it also works for those able to work together and collaborate with others.
At the very start of the school year, I set my classroom expectations and rules so that there are no surprises. We review these expectations before, and during every lesson. Some expectations include, staying in your seat during a lesson, raising your hand and waiting quietly for the teacher to call on you, encouraging your classmates to do their best, and listening to what each other has to say before correcting someone. I will also utilize call and responses as a form of classroom management, when I need to get the entire classes attention. While it is expected that mid year students understand and know what is expected of them, I believe it is important to review them throughout the year, as it keeps them on task and prevents future behavior issues. With these in mind, my students will have a say in their reward system. While there will be consequences to their behavior, such as a phone call home, students will have the opportunity to decide what they would like to work towards as a class.
