Philosophy

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Philosophy of Education

“Teachers shape tomorrow one curious mind at a time.”

Not everyone can be a teacher it takes a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication to become a successful teacher.  Becoming a successful teacher is not something that can be accomplished in a day, a week, or a year. As a teacher you are faced with many challenges, you must be patient, flexible and understanding the uniqueness in each of your students.  Teaching successfully takes a lot of trial and error, time, and observing to reach that goal.

I feel a teacher should always be there for the students. They are the foundation of their future. They need to guide them and teach them everything they need to know to build that future. I think a teacher is there to be a friend, mentor and a philosopher to every child no matter what. I feel teachers in today’s society are frightened to be a child’s friend but I believe you need to create a trusting relationship with your students within the boundaries of a teacher/student relationship to accomplish success in the classroom. If a student likes their teacher, can trust, and depend on them you will see that child perform better academically and socially. When a student doesn’t like their teacher or there is a barrier between them, that child is going to be an absentee, a disciplinary problem and a failure no matter what their capability may be. A teacher has to be in control of the classroom at all times.  The students need to know who is in charge and the rules that apply within the classroom. For some students your classroom may be the only structure that child has and you the only adult that gives attention to the child.

I believe my role as a teacher is to educate every student even ones with exceptional learning needs. I must learn to use different teaching strategies to make sure I get the lesson across to each student in the classroom. I must work one on one with students that aren’t as gifted as other students are and to make sure they can comprehend the information that I am teaching at their pace. This may mean extra steps that I need to take such as staying  at school later to think of different techniques for me to use in my lesson plans or talking with  other teachers to get there advice especially those that have the experience working with children with needs. I need to do everything within my power to be sure I am giving a hundred percent of myself to teach these students what is required. I will work hard for the success of my students and make sure they know they can come to me if they do not understand something or just need to talk.  

The classroom should be very organized. I prefer that my students sit at tables instead individual desks. This creates a bond between all the students and teaches them how to work together as a group. I want my students to be able to interact and learn from each other.  I would set up my classroom with small learning centers where the students would rotate from one center to another with different students working together. I would not set these groups up by their academic level I would intermix them so they are not categorized as above average, average or below average that way no one group would feel superior than another. This would also allow my students to become acquainted with each other and prevent “cliques”! I hope this makes a healthier learning environment and my students become one tight unit. I find that it is just important to teach children how to succeed socially as it is academically if they are to be successful in life. Students should not only learn science, social studies, language arts, and math, but they should also learn how to share, respect, and interact in a civil manner with each other no matter who they are or what disability they may have. I want all my students to be able to walk out of my classroom feeling that they are more knowledgeable socially and as well as academically.

Teachers too should work together for the success of every student and share their ideas with each other. I believe teachers should feel comfortable asking for help because asking for help is saying you want to improve your classroom. They shouldn’t feel intimidate to reach out for guidance when they are unsure of themselves. A teacher with experience is an asset to a new teacher and every new teacher should take advantage of this tool. They should listen to whatever suggestions one may give and ask questions. We all learn from each other and what better resource than an experience colleague.  As you can see, I am open to constructive criticism and want to keep my ties with other teachers very friendly. I want my colleagues to be able to ask for my help or opinion, and I want to be able to do the same to them.

I feel another step to reach the goal of being a successful teacher is keeping the parents informed. I want the parents of my students involved in their child’s academic and social success. When I first meet with students parents, I want to ask them about their child.  I feel it is important that they tell me what the see as obstacles, as a positive feature, where they need improvement, their social habits and academic habits. A meeting of this sorts is crucial for a students success in a classroom it opens the channel of communication between parent and teacher.  It also gives the teacher some idea of the parent /student relationship.  I plan to send home to parents a monthly newsletter to inform them of what is going on in my classroom. This will keep the parents updated and aware of what is happening. I don’t want to be a teacher that only phones the parent when there is a problem with their child. I will phone them with positive news,  like when they did well on a test, or show consistent improvement with their class work or did something nice for another student, those are the things that parents need to hear it shouldn’t always be a negative conversation.  I want to make the parents fell comfortable and to know my door is opened to them at all times.

I also want to involve the community within my classroom. I want to take field trips to local place of interest, where we would go depends on the grade level I was teaching. I would also invite people from the community in my class to talk to my students about topics that pertain to the subject areas that we may be learning especially Dental Health, Black History, Social Cultures, Government, Fire Prevention, Immigration, Drug and Substance Abuse and Peer Pressure. My class would be involved in community service projects, I think it is important to teach the students that they need to give back to the community and how their effort in any project that they work on does make a difference. This also builds a positive relationship with the community, which will be beneficial to the school when they are looking for work-study sites for their students.

I want to be a successful teacher, I am willing to put forth the effort that I have described in this paper and will always work for the students. I ask myself what defines a successful teacher. I know it’s not the number of years they have taught or the pay scale they have achieved or the number of students that like them, I think it has to be measured by the accomplishments with their students. Did their students succeed?  If a teacher can honestly answer that question with a yes, than that is a successful teacher. I hope that will be me someday!

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