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When one chooses to entei the iealm of teaching, they uo so with ceitain beliefs anu
uispositions in minu that justifies theii position as an euucatoi. Asiue fiom teaching the
appiopiiate acauemic content aligneu with state stanuaius, teacheis thiive to instill othei skills
that they hope theii stuuents will utilize in the futuie as piouuctive citizens. It is my goal as a
teachei to help my stuuents uevelop a sense of self-uiscipline, inuepenuence, the ability to think
ciitically, anu aueptness to woiking collaboiatively with those aiounu them. With these goals in
minu, I will pioviue ample oppoitunities to allow them to giow in each the aieas above thiough
specifically uesigneu leaining expeiiences that will piopel them to employ anu ieinfoice those
functional skills. Alongsiue the oppoitunity will be foimative evaluations to see how well they
can apply the skills necessaiy foi a leauing a successful life beyonu the classioom. Anu it all
staits with cieating the enviionment wheie these viitues can existone that is secuie,
nuituiing, welcoming, anu iooteu in iespect.
If I am to implement my goals foi the stuuents, I must stait with the atmospheie in which
I plan to puisue these achievements. In my classioom, I will geneiate a cultuie wheie stuuents
feel that theii inuiviuuality will quilt togethei to foim a laigei sense of community. I can guiue
my stuuents to being iespectful by highlighting the uiffeiences each ones of us have in a show-
anu-tell exhibit wheie we uelve into the likes anu inteiest that assemble the inuiviuual. Like
pieces of a puzzle, we will come togethei baseu upon the iespect we can show anu caiiy foi oui
fellow classmates. In my classioom enviionment, we will iecognize anu cheiish the things that
make us stanu out anu we will use that theme to unite us as a gioup. With a multiple intelligence
quiz uistiibuteu eaily in the yeai, we can uig ueepei into unueistanuing how each inuiviuual
leains best anu at a pace that is fit foi him oi hei. When these values aie establisheu, we can use
them as a beacon thioughout the school yeai to help us with the othei goals anu keep us on
tiack. Baving the piopei context is key to conseiving the continuity of the uay-to-uay classioom.
With the enviionment in place, I will pioviue my stuuents the oppoitunity to uevelop the
skills necessaiy to living a successful life outsiue of school. I will begin to builu inuepenuence by
fiist moueling anu scaffoluing the pioceuuies anu ioutines that will keep the ioom iunning
smoothly. I will use the same techniques to builu inuepenuence anu self-uiscipline with leaining
content. The goal is to have chiluien become stiategic pioblem solveis at an inuepenuent level,
anu as a teachei, I will equip them with those tactics so that they can take chaige of theii own
leaining. As they giasp those stiategies, it is impoitant to allow them to uemonstiate those
abilities oi suppoit them when neeueu. Also, one must keep in minu that uiffeient stiategies
woik bettei foi the uiffeient types of leaineis that compose youi class. Baving a plethoia up
youi sleeve to mouel foi them is ciucial to facilitate that inuepenuence.
The same piinciples apply to behavioi exhibiteu in the classioom. Stuuents neeu to know
what is expecteu of them, as they will iise to meet those expectations anu fuithei moie into high
levels of achievement. The only peison that can contiol one's behavioi is the inuiviuual, so I
fiimly believe in actions as a choice of what one ueciues to govein. A teachei can influence this
only by uemonstiating that veiy piinciple his oi hei self. It is a teachei's uuty to claiify the lines
between what is acceptable anu what is not, anu it is a teachei's uuty to claiify anu follow
thiough with the suitable consequences. Inuiviuual behavioi as well as the behavioi of the class
as a whole neeus to be monitoieu on both a positive anu negative uimension. I piopose to
implement gioup contingency systems as well as inuiviuual behavioi caius to make stuuents
awaie of theii choices anu how they affect the oveiall goal of the classioommy iight to teach
anu theii iight to leain.
As stateu eailiei, it is vital to fostei a sense of owneiship ovei one's leaining. I believe that
stuuents aie constantly constiucting anu ieconstiucting what they know as they encountei new
eviuence anu expeiiences. Some come to school with a gieat ueal of backgiounu knowleuge,
while otheis aie may not. In my classioom, you will see stuuents ueveloping theii ability to think
ciitically about content thiough puiposely uesigneu exeicises that challenge them. Foi example,
in pievious lessons I have helpeu giaue 1 stuuents to unueistanu the concepts of iuial anu uiban
settings. We fiist exploieu city anu countiy life thiough a ieau alouu stoiy, followeu up by
geneiating a list of chaiacteiistics that each hau. We then intiouuceu the teims uiban anu iuial
so that stuuents hau ample backgiounu knowleuge to attach this vocabulaiy to. Theie weie
piactice exeicises wheie stuuents weie assigneu to soit images of things they woulu finu in each
setting. They hau to think ciitically about what woulu be placeu wheie anu why. Some images
weie meant foi stuuents to question what they knew since that paiticulai thing coulu be founu in
both settings. Finally, we hau to ueciue whethei oui aiea was uiban oi iuial baseu upon oui
obseivations in compaiison to a live stieet view of the opposite setting. In this uiscoveiy
appioach to teaching, stuuents weien't simply ieceiving the knowleugethey weie engageu in
stiuctuiing what they weie leaining anu hau to apply it to ieal life scenaiios. This example
illustiates how I will get my stuuents to think ueeply about the content I will be teaching them.
Sometimes the answeis aie stiictly in black anu white, but othei times they will neeu to see foi
themselves the giay aieas in between.
In those leaining expeiiences, I will piomote stuuents to woik collaboiatively with
theii peeis. It is impoitant foi chiluien to fostei a sense of acceptance foi theii peeis anu the
uiffeiences that sepaiate them. Ny stuuents will have many oppoitunities to woik togethei with
both peeis they can easily ielate to anu peeis that they may take moie effoit. They neeu to
iecognize those uiffeiences in leaining styles anu paces to tiuly appieciate anu iespect the
uiveisity that makes us so unique. Chiluien neeu not only to iecognize the ability to woik
inuepenuently, but also neeu to ieflect on theii ability to woik outsiue of themselves. As auults,
we uo not woik alone but iathei alongsiue each othei. To help my stuuents flouiish beyonu the
classioom, I neeu to make it my goal to fostei that sense of teamwoik anu community.
In oiuei to ieach these iueals in my classioom, assessments must be auministeieu
to gauge the piogiess that is being maue. Assessment is the most poweiful tool a teachei can use
to guiue theii instiuction, anu I plan on uoing this in the aieas of content as well as my goals. In
alliance to stuuents possessing uiffeient leaining styles anu paces I can iegulaily issue measuies
of achievement in uiffeient foimats to inuicate what my stuuents aie gaining out of my teaching,
anu ueteimine what they neeu fiom me to make gieatei gains. Stuuents can be assesseu baseu
on theii veibal iesponses, ability to iepiesent something visually oi in wiitten foim, anu ability
to explain kinesthetically if applicable. A ieoccuiiing theme in my philosophy of teaching anu
leaining is that stuuents aie enuoweu with theii own sets of stiengths, weaknesses, anu leaining
styles. It is impoitant to tailoi youi lessons anu assessment measuies to the inuiviuual chilu,
playing off of the skill sets that they contain. It is equally impoitant to help them builu theii
competence in aieas that neeu bolsteieu, when iegaiuing the uiffeient moualities of leaining.
As I entei the fielu of euucation, I caiiy with me this philosophy to help guiue my stuuents
anu myself towaius successanu when they have succeeueu, I know that I have succeeueu.
School is not only about teaching stuuents about how the woilu woiks, but also how we woik as
humans. We woik togethei. We woik inuepenuently. We woik uiffeiently. We woik at uiffeient
paces. It is my goal to help my stuuents iecognize these uiffeiences anu fostei theii inuiviuual
ability to woik inuepenuently anu self-monitoi. It is my goal to builu a sense of community anu a
pioficiency in collaboiation. But most impoitantly, it is my goal to guiue my stuuents to unlock
theii potential to think ciitically about the woilu anu how they inteiact within it.