Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Michelle Loomis

EDU 379

A child’s education is the foundation for the rest of his or her life. It has been said, "Whoever first coined the phrase 'you're the wind beneath my wings' most assuredly was reflecting on the sublime influence of a very special teacher (Frank Trujillo). I believe that as a teacher I have the opportunity to change a child’s life. The influence of a great teacher is likely to stay with a child for the rest of his or her life. Therefore every educator is responsible for providing children with the best teaching practices they are capable of.

Development, Learning and Motivation:

Every child is unique in their own way. Each student develops at a different rate, learns different and is motivated in different ways. A reason students develop at a different rate is because some of their basic needs may not be met. The result to this is that the students who do not have their basic needs met do not succeed as fast or as well as students who do. Abraham Maslow has developed a hierarchy of needs pyramid which shows that in order for a student to think in a higher level the student must have their basic needs met. I believe that if a student’s living situation is inadequate it would be extremely hard for that student to concentrate, while in school. If a child is worrying about when he or she will receive this or her next meal, there is no way the child would be able to worry about passing a math test. Maslow labels this stage the physiological stage. This stage is the foundation to anyone’s life by including food, water, air, and sleep.

The next stage deals with the feeling of security. If a child does not feel safe either at home or in school the child will not be able to concentrate on the aspects of his or her education. A child must also feel like they belong to something in order to succeed in school. Love, friendships, and family are all important aspects to a child’s life. Without those a child will not feel like they have a place in the world and will not see the point of learning.

Another aspect on Maslow’s pyramid is esteem. This means that a child must have confidence and self-esteem. I believe this might be the hardest stage for most elementary school children because they are encountering many new experiences in life at this time. The children are entering new schools, making new friends, and beginning to understand that they have a purpose in this world. However, along with all the new experiences many children do not completely understand who they are, how to act in different situations and why feeling belonged to something or someone is so important. This leaves some children with no confidence and no self-esteem. I believe that these children need extra attention and opportunities to feel appreciated. By doing this, I believe children will be able to reach the highest level on the pyramid, so that they all have a chance to concentrate on learning.

My goal as a teacher is to get every student to the highest level of the pyramid. I know that I cannot personally change the students’ home-life; however I can change the student’s classroom experience. I want the students to be able to put aside their problems at home and come to a classroom where they feel appreciated and safe. I feel the only way to do this is to make them feel belonged in my classroom. This can be done by having the students partake in a series of community builders. This will create an environment where the students feel safe and will let them get to know one another. By having the students feel belonged and safe they will gain confidence and hopefully feel as if they can participate in the classroom.

Every child has their own way of learning. Howard Gardner has developed a model that categorizes students into nine different learning style categories. These categories as a whole are known as the Multiple Intelligences. The students’ ways of being smart can be categorized into verbal-linguistic, math-logic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, inter-personal, intra-personal, naturalist, and existential learners. Many students learn by a combination of the categories but some only learn by one of the categories. Therefore it is important to know the way my students learn best so accommodations can be made to provide an opportunity for each one of my students to learn in their best way.

As I was growing up I always noticed that not everyone learned the same way. I remember loving to create models of things and make up rhymes to help me remember material. Some of my classmates greatly disliked creating models and would rather just write a paper about the topic we were learning. My experiences have taught me a great deal. Not every student learns the same way and therefore one way of teaching and assessing is not acceptable. Teaching for the majority of the students will leave some students behind and feeling frustrated and bored. Therefore, multiple options for students must be created. This should be done throughout each unit, so each student has the chance to learn about the topic to the best of their ability.

Through my experiences thus far working with children I have observed that every child is motivated by different things. Some students like certain topics better and therefore they are motivated to participate in activities relating to those topics. Other students are motivated only when the topic has an activity which involves a competition or a game. Other students only like to work independently so they are not motivated when working in groups or as a class for a project. Other students need reinforcements to complete their work. Therefore, I know, as a teacher, it is important to make opportunities for every student to be motivated.

I believe having a student motivated to do their work is one of the most important aspects in their education. It is also one of the hardest tasks for teachers because every student is motivated in a different way. My plan, as a teacher, will be to create lessons that give the student’s choices for learning the topic. By giving the students choices they will feel like they are a part of the lesson and might just be enough to motivate them to learn the topic.

I also believe the most important thing I can do is to get to know my students. This involves learning their personal lives, how they learn best, and what motivates them in the classroom. By knowing this I will then have the knowledge to create lessons based around all students’ individual needs.

Instruction:

As a result to every child learning at a different rate, different ways, and having different motivations, adaptations in classrooms need to exist. Therefore, teachers need to be able to be flexible to all students’ needs. For generations educators have been teaching based on how the majority of students learn. This technique leaves many students out and is no longer looked at as an acceptable form of teaching. Differentiation is the new way of teaching. This is teaching that is multiple and varied so that every student has the opportunity to learn.

I believe that differentiating lessons should be used, in a classroom, whenever possible. Every child deserves the chance to learn and succeed in school. There are many ways to differentiate lessons for students. There are four main ways I am planning on differentiating lessons in my classroom.

The first is to create a classroom environment where all students feel comfortable. If not addressed properly, diversity in a classroom will severely hinder the learning environment. Therefore, to create an atmosphere where all students feel comfortable, exercises and accommodations need to be made. This will require creating a classroom environment free from stereotyping so that all students feel comfortable speaking in the classroom. This can be done by doing a series of community builders with the class will help to bring them together so they know more about one another. This hopefully will create respect amongst all the classmates. Accommodations in the classroom will also need to be made to have every student feel comfortable. This will require adjusting the arrangement of the classroom so students with physical disabilities can move around just as easily as students without a physical disability.

To differentiate the classroom environment even more areas will be provided for student to learn where they learn best. This will require having an isolated area where students who need isolation to concentrate can go to complete a task, many areas for small groups for students who learn best working with others, and a carpet where the students can be in a relaxed situation and complete tasks.

The next way I am going to differentiate my classroom is to include different types of teaching into each unit. Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, as explained earlier, describes the nine different ways students learn best. An ideal lesson, for students, would include a way of learning for each of the nine categories. However, that is not always possible. Therefore, I will include all nine categories in each unit, for each subject, I teach.

The third way I am going to differentiate is to use the formative teaching strategy. This will require using assessment from previous topics to establish where to start for the next topic. Formative teaching allows the teacher to develop their lessons around how the students learn and what they already know, rather then what the text book says to teach. This way of teaching will connect lessons for students, and also make sure that all students are moving together through the material.

The final way I am going to differentiate in my classroom is to have choices for assessments that adhere to more than one kind of learner. This way of differentiation will accommodate to visual, tactile, and auditory learners. An example for an assessment would be for students to have a choice to create a skit, a model, write a paper, or make a song up. For this assessment students would have the opportunity to choose which one they would want to do and I will still be able to assess how much they know on the given topic.

Another teaching strategy that has been discredited is teaching in a teacher-centered classroom. These classrooms are known as being traditional, where the teacher lectures, the students listen, and then the students take a formal test. These classrooms do not provide much opportunity for students to interact, ask questions, or work together for assignments. Therefore, a new type of classroom is now being looked at as the most beneficial for students.

This student-centered classroom has the teacher provide opportunities for students to work together and interact to learn the material. I plan on using this type of classroom throughout my career. There are many different teaching strategies for this type of classroom that I will address while teaching. One is have the students teach one another. This can be done by doing an activity known as “Think, Pair, Share.” In this activity the students individually come up with answers to a given topic, then they share it with a partner, and then the class comes together and the students have an opportunity to share their answers. Another teaching strategy to use is “Pass the Brainstorm.” In this activity the students are in a small group. The given topic has multiple answers and a sheet with the question is passed around the group. Each student in the group has an opportunity to write down their answer, as the sheet goes around the group. Since the question has multiple answers, not one individual student is right, and each student gets to have a say in the answer. This takes away from the traditional teaching method of having volunteers answer questions.

A student-centered classroom will often have the class working in small groups, rather than a whole group. This will provide for an opportunity for my students to interact with one another while still learning the given topic. Often classrooms will have stations, and each group will move from station to station learning the topic different ways at each station; therefore, providing different ways of learning to accommodate for various types of learners.

Overall, I believe instruction for a classroom needs to be multiple and varied. I will emphasize on the fact that each individual student needs an opportunity to learn, and that can only occur if the lessons are taught various ways. I know and understand that each student is different, which is, I believe, one of the most important things for a teacher to realize.

Assessment:

It has been said, "Assessment and evaluation should not be confused with measurement, testing, or grading.  One can measure without evaluating, evaluate without testing, and assess without grading" (Elliot Eisner). Assessment like instruction can be varied so all students needs are met. A simple multiple choice test will not show how well students know the topic. It will only show how well students pick answers out of group. However, for some students multiple choice tests will show their knowledge for the topic. Therefore, some assessments can be multiple-choice, just not every assessment. In my classroom I plan on using a variety of assessments so that every student has an opportunity. This will be done by giving the students options for each assignment. The options will appeal to all three types of learners: visual, tactile, and auditory.

It is often thought that because students need grades on report cards that formal assessments need to be the main way of assessing in the classroom. However that is not true. Students can be assessed with grades in other ways then just a traditional test. I believe informally assessing students could provide more feedback on what the students know than the traditional formal test assessments. One way I will assess, that would work just as good a test, would be to talk to the student about the topic. By talking to the students I will be able to see if a topic has been understood or not. If a topic has not been understood I will then be able to explain the confused material to the student one on one. Another way of assessing would be to give the students options for a final assessment for the unit. As explained earlier, students will be able to choose a visual, tactile, or auditory way to be assessed. Giving the students the choice will relieve some of the stress of tests and also provide them the opportunity to show their knowledge the way they want to show it off.

However, informal assessment is not always possible. Standardized tests have been implemented into schools curriculums across the nation. These tests usually consist of multiple choice and essay answers. This is the reason multiple choice tests are so prominent in the classroom, today. I believe students must establish these skills and therefore the skills needed for those tests must be practiced throughout the year. One way I will address this issue is to have the students practice their testing skill throughout the year. The important thing to realize here is that just because a test is given to a child it does not mean the test needs to be graded and counted as a form of assessment. Therefore my students will be able to develop testing skills without having the pressure and stress of testing situations. I plan on concentrating more on the previously mentioned forms of assessment and less on standard testing. This will allow my student to learn both the skills needed to succeed on standardized tests and be able to be assessed fairly based on other assessment options.

Professionalism:

A school is a part of a community. The community around a school impacts the diversity of the school, the things the students can do while at school, and some of the funding and support that goes into a school. By knowing the community around the school it will also help a teacher to understand the parents and/or caregivers of the students in their class. This is important because informing and incorporating parents and/or caregivers is the key to a child’s opportunity for success.

I believe a school is also a community itself. While teaching in a school it is equally important, as knowing the community surrounding the school, to know the people in the school and why they do their job the way they do. Understanding each professional within the building will greatly help provide opportunities for collaboration between teachers, and the possibility for whole school learning opportunities. I know this will also help eliminate unnecessary repetition of information to the students because teachers’ will be able to collaborate their curriculum maps with teachers in other grades.

I know that being a teacher is as much about learning as it is about teaching. Throughout my experiences in schools, thus far, I have spent time with, what I would call, effective teachers, and non-effective teachers. I believe that every teacher has something for an aspiring teacher to learn. This means effective teaching strategies, or strategies I know I will never use. My experiences have helped me to see how I want to run a classroom, the way I want to discipline the children, and teaching strategies that work best with all students. I know that the more teachers I observe, and the more teachers I come in contact with, the better teacher I will become.

Overall, I believe that every student can learn as long as they are provided with the opportunity. I am committed fully to providing all students with that opportunity, through differentiating my classroom. I do not think that this will not be an easy task. Differentiating takes time, effort, and support from the school. However, I know it is a necessary task for every teacher, including myself. The minds of children are placed in the hands of a teacher, and I know it is my responsibility to mold their minds to the best of my ability.

http://www.nea.org/teacherday/quotes.html

http://nflrc.iastate.edu/news/200412/homepage.html