Teaching Philosophy 

As an elementary school teacher, there are three things I believe are very important: first, teaching is not only about the content, but also about how to differentiate teaching to make the lesson meaningful to everybody. Secondly, constantly reflect on your teaching. Third, a good question is more valuable than a good answer. Encouraging students to ask questions is the art of education.

First of all, educating the students while teaching the content is the major goal for myself. As my mentor stated, “the content is less, but the teaching is huge! You need to think about how to differentiate your teaching, how to engage the whole class, how to work in a small group, and how to manage the class. That’s why teaching is not a science, it is an art.” When I think about her words, it is so powerful. I applied it when I taught math. I directed students to small groups based on their ability level. In their groups, I differentiate my teaching by giving them different tasks. This really helped me and my students participate in a math class. Thus, teaching the content is important, but as a teacher, we need to pay more attention to our kids. 

Second, a good teacher is a reflective teacher. I reflect on my teaching every day, every class. I keep a journal where I record daily what goes well, and what I can improve on. This helps me build a habit to reflect on myself as an educator. I also like to take notes on what I observe from my kids, can be as small as Leo wrote a paragraph with the hamburger model. This motivates me to use what I learn from my kids to guide my instruction. Constantly reflecting my teaching provides a space for growth in which I can step back from teaching, reflect on my teacher moves, pedagogy and practices, and seek ways to improve.  

Finally, I believe a good question is more valuable than a good answer. Taking students’ questions seriously, but also acknowledge that there is not one answer to something. There are different answers and perspectives of things. Encouraging students to ask questions, creating an environment that is safe to share different ideas, and eliciting students’ thinking in the class is the core part of education.