I had to write an essay for my internship application recently asking about my philosophy of teaching and so it forced me to truly sit down, think, and decide what I believe when it comes to me teaching my own classroom. I really enjoyed the assignment and it really made things seem a lot more real.
I feel like I have been in school so long (I really have been!) that the realization that my true career is approaching is very scary but exciting at the same time. I cannot wait to apply what I believe and have learned to my own classroom.
In my classroom, I will make sure I have an individual relationship with each of my students. I want to get to know them as students; what they like, their struggles, what they look forward to, what makes them them, their strengths, and many more things. Some of my favorite teachers were those who really took the time to know me and care for me. I want each of my students to say they know that I care for them and with that all my students are there for each other. I want my classroom to be a welcoming and comfortable environment for everyone where students feel free and open to share. I want to make sure to include everyone no matter what their abilities are. Inclusion is a big goal for me. I want to meet the law of having students be in the least restrictive environment that they possibly can be in. I know it means extra work for me, but I am happy to go the extra mile, make accommodations, and figure out a way for all students to be in the same classroom. I will make adaptions to activities, I will give out tools that may help, I will allow for walks around when a break is needed; I will do whatever I possibly can to help all students succeed accordingly.
When it comes to teaching, I want to make sure that I meet as many different learning styles, differentiate, and make it as interactive as possible. Not all students are the same, so when I am planning or adapting lessons, I will make it my priority to make it interactive with a variety of learning needs for students to learn concepts. For example, if I am in an Early Elementary classroom instead of having students simply be given a subtraction and addition worksheets, I will place bags around the room that they have to calculate as inventory in pairs. There will be a set amount in the bag and a number of items needed for the classroom, their job would be to figure out how many more or less would be needed for the amount in the bags to be correct. This is visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and auditory learning so it meets many learning styles.
Another example, which I have actually used before is with teaching the concept of adjectives. Instead of simply asking students to list, write, or create adjectives to describe objects, I will ask them to walk around the room, find objects, and then write some describing words about them. I may also give them an adjective, which means their job is to find an object that has the describing word. They then have to think of other words for that object. After students have been up and around on their feet for the adjective scavenger hunt, I will encourage them to write a short story/paragraph and/or poem using the adjectives they have scavenged.
With English as a subject too, I know how important reading is, so I believe reading should be a part of students' daily lives in the classroom. I will make sure to have a story time every day in which they will be able to listen to me read and interact while listening. I also will designate specific areas for reading time each day. I think reading sometimes get a bad reputation, so when it is reading time I will allow students to pick out books of interest (within their reading level range), so it relates to them and they might even get excited to read. I also constantly pin various things I find on pinterest for reading areas. I want students to be comfortable when reading so I plan on having fun chairs, areas, and _______ for students to read in during reading time. When students are reading every day their reading scores, comprehension, and literacy will make a huge improvement.
I want to help all of my future students to succeed and so I will be willing to help them in any way that I can. I realize that I will develop more beliefs, teaching styles, and learn of things to avoid as I have more experience in the classroom, but from what I have experienced and learned I have been able to develop my own ideas/philosophies.
So to briefly recap, as a future career, I believe in creating good relationships with my students, creating a comfortable classroom atmosphere, adapting lessons to help all students in an inclusive classroom, make classes interactive with meeting as many learning styles as possible, and stressing reading time in the classroom.
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