My Teaching Philosophy
My ideas of successful teaching, at the current state, are based on what I’ve been learning from other teachers and what has “worked” for them. When I become the teacher, I’m sure that my ideas will shift dramatically based on the practice of these skills in my own classroom.
Young children are constantly changing their means of learning because of their continuous development during these early years and it is the teacher’s job to try to keep up with them and to teach them according to their immediate needs.
Preparation is a huge part of effective teaching to me. I hope that, as a teacher, I will be able to have “back up plans” with my lessons. If my planned lesson is not engaging and getting through to my students, I want to be able to know my subject well enough to teach it in a variety of ways so as to make sure if supports all of the different learning styles of my classroom.
High personal efficacy is another important aspect of teaching. How can a teacher help a student if he/she believes that there is no hope for them? A teacher needs to take responsibility for their own teaching and not blame their students if they are not understanding something. An effective teacher must always find new and interesting ways to teach that will provide opportunities for his/her students to engage in the learning process.
Interactive instruction provides optimal learning experiences. I don’t believe that students will retain any information if the teacher only lectures for her instruction. In order for teaching to be effective, it needs to be hands on and challenging to your students.Listening is an integral element of successful teaching. By listening to your students, you can determine what they are interested in and connect your lessons to their interests. Listening is also important because sometimes a teacher is the only real constant in a child’s life and that child may need adult help that they are not getting at home.
Offering real world examples to create a meaning of relevance in my lessons will help the students engage in the learning process. It will emphasize the importance of learning and the student will be able to self monitor their mastery of the skill based on if they use if correctly outside of school.Styles of learning need to be taken into account in order for learning to be effective and successful. Lessons styles need to be varied and diverse in order to appeal to every student. Teachers need to be aware of what types of learners he/she has in their classroom. They need to try to expand their student’s “go to” way of learning and have them try to stretch their minds around new methods of gaining knowledge.
Optimal learning can occur when a student is engaged in an interactive and relevant lesson. It is the teacher’s job to guide learning with questioning and to promote critical thinking in his/her classroom.
Pragmatism is a philosophy that is important for teachers to remember. It rejects the idea of absolute and encourages the idea that there is no unchanging truth. Every class is different and what works for one class may not work for another. Pragmatism focuses on “what works” in classroom.
Having informal monitoring and constant feedback with my students will help me and my students know how they have improved in their work and where they are still struggling. This will help me, as the teacher, because I will always be aware of which students need help and in what areas they are struggling. It will also help to motivate students who are improving in their work. By looking at their old work and seeing how far they’ve come, they will be motivated to continue down that same road.Yearly, these ideas and concepts will change with each passing class. With each class, I will acquire different philosophies that will guide me in my teaching.