My Teaching Philosophy

What interests me the most about teaching, I would have to say, is knowing that I am involved in the process of molding children on an educational, emotional, and personal level. The thought that I am playing a part in how a student will approach learning in the future truly excites me. As we all know, being a mentor and role model are as much a part of ‘educating’ a student as the actual instruction and curriculum. Being a mother of a son with OCD and ADHD, I have come to learn that not all students learn the same. In the 3rd grade, he was fortunate enough to have a teacher who was trained in and promoted a program called 'Brain Gym', which augmented childrens' learning through the use of movement, or 'kinesthetic' learning. As a result of this personal experience, and witnessing how effective it was in the classroom's learning process, I would like to encorporate kinesthetics in some capacity in my own classroom someday.

If I were to explain what has brought me to the decision at this juncture to become a teacher, I would have to go back to my childhood. My father was a principal of a K-5 elementary school at Lincoln School in Caldwell from 1975-1998. Therefore my influence to become an educator, albeit subconsciously one can say, started at a very young age. When my father ‘retired’ in 1998, he went on to become an undergraduate and graduate professor at Caldwell University in their education program, mentoring and aspiring teachers and administrators. He retired for the second time, just one year ago at the age of 81. Relinquishing his final role as an ‘educator’ was not easy; he truly loved the 'art of teaching', and being an educator was as much a part of my father as being alive.

I only recently realized to what extent my father was respected and admired by students and colleagues alike; The notion that one person could make that much of a positive, long-lasting impact on the lives of so many people, was amazing to me. Unequivocally, my father’s influence, both as an educator and role model, was the impetus behind my ultimate decision in becoming a teacher. If I can make half of the difference as an educator that my father made, then I will have succeeded.