My Teaching Philosophy

As an educator, I have several goals that I wish to achieve that influence my teaching style, my lesson plan structure, and the environment I create. These goals are inclusivity and offering opportunities for active learning, as I believe these are essential for creating an engaged, respectful classroom that fosters curiosity and personal growth. This means giving every student the chance to be heard and ensuring them that their knowledge and ideas are validated. To create an inclusive environment, I offer many opportunities within lessons for students to speak up and share their thoughts, including in class and small group discussions, and while working one-on-one with myself. For example, when my lessons introduce a new environmental concept, I will  give students a chance to share with a partner their observations and questions. After this, I offer the chance for students to raise their hands and share with the class the ideas they discussed. This structure allows quieter, more shy students to practice observation skills in a smaller setting, as they are only speaking to one other person, while also giving more extroverted students a chance to be heard by a larger group. Additionally, I ask follow up questions when students share their thoughts and ask open-ended questions to engage their critical thinking skills. This encourages students to think beyond their limits and be inspired to learn more about their environments, both in and out of the classroom. 

Another important action I take as a teacher to achieve these goals is practicing situational awareness and reading the room. More specifically, I try to work closer with the students who may be working slower on a task by sitting next to them and helping them individually. This simple action reassures the student that their education is important, and that I am there to support them throughout the lessons. As I do this, I notice that these students get more comfortable coming to me with questions and their confidence increases with each instruction that is given to them. Furthermore, I also give direct attention to the more outgoing or outspoken students, as these children deserve validation, as well. For instance, I will implement peer learning opportunities, such as having faster-learning students help their classmates. This allows me to spend more time with students individually, and gives more advanced students a specific task to keep them engaged. Opportunities for inclusivity and motivating activities allows teachers to captivate their classrooms’ attention and ensure every student understands the value of their knowledge and ideas.