My number one goal is to be an educator of impact. Impact, to me, means touching a life and changing it, hopefully for the better, and invoking a passion in others for continued learning. I want to encourage and embolden my students to push their limits and learn as much as they can - knowledge is the most important skill we as humans (as God’s precious Creation) have. My goals for my students are to challenge them to learn something new in every situation and to be able to transfer problem solving strategies in one area to another. For example, if a student reads a book and a character deals with a problem similar to his/her own, he/she can apply problem solving skills to his/her own situation to come up with a solution (also called bibliotherapy).
I will engage my students in hands-on learning and collaborative learning. I will provide concrete examples of problems, tangible manipulatives to gain fuller understandings of topics, group activities so students can learn from one another (one’s understanding of a concept can enhance another’s understanding and vice-versa), and more. I also want to make sure my lessons are interactive and that I’m not just lecturing at my students. I want to engage them and ask questions throughout. I want to allow my students to talk to each other and build off of each other’s ideas. I want them to fully immerse themselves in their learning, and I want to be a guide and help in any way possible.
I believe criterion-referenced grading is best. Grading based on your own rubric/standards is better than grading students against each other and ranking them. That system doesn’t make sense to me - everyone has different skill levels and skill sets, so why is it fair to grade him/her against a peer with different strengths? I think we as teachers need to let students make their learning their own. Comparing oneself to another damages self-esteem, and in turn, mental health. It makes the most sense to individually grade students’ assignments for their own work. I want to know how each individual student is doing, not how they are doing as a group. Yes, a classroom is one unit, but the “catch-all” mindset in the classroom needs to end. Every student has needs that must be met, and every student matters. I care that they are learning and that I am attentive to their needs rather than catering to just the whole. The parts matter in a while. Students are no different; they matter so much on their own, not just when in a big group. I would also rather give forms of assessments that are not written tests. I would rather let my students showcase their understanding through projects and low-stress presentations. I want to give them creative outlets to express what they have learned because they are more likely to remember what they learned if it was episodic and fun for them.
I will attend professional development, local conferences, have discussions with other teachers and foster good relationships with them (How can we better cater to our students' needs? What works? What hasn’t worked?), and I will look at my teaching and evaluate it. I can also have a feedback box out for students to drop slips of paper into that tell me how I can help them, how I can improve my teaching, and what ideas they have for activities to do in the classroom.
Teaching is important to me because every student deserves a fighting chance, and knowledge gives them that. No matter what background every student comes from, they can make good lives for themselves because they have knowledge in their corner; knowledge gives them the ability to make sound decisions and thrive in most environments. I am committed to being the best teacher I can possibly be so that way my students can succeed and thrive in life.