Kaila VanDuisen

28 April 2019

Philosophy Paper

Teaching is not for everyone. However, my goal is to make a classroom that every
student can go to for a reliable, safe, educational and encouraging environment. There are many
wonderful teachers out there who touch the minds of young ones and I aspire to be one of them.
When I went to elementary school, I had a teacher that would start every morning with telling
our class that “we are smart, we are kind, and we are important”, those words have stayed with
me all these later. I plan to remind my students of the same every day. So many students during
this time period struggle with being reminded they are important and matter to this world. I want
to help aid this problem with at the very least, they matter to me. Some of my personal skill sets
has come from becoming a mother myself. I know how I would want my child to be treated and I
plan to be that example for every mom out there. Having someone else spending time with your
child for any length of time is a scary thought and I want to make sure to not only investigate the
child’s needs, but the parents needs as well. My teaching education has just begun, and I look
forward to gaining a better understanding of the school system through more college education,
volunteering, and teaching experiences I do have.
My perspective towards various aspects of teaching has changed tremendously due to this
course and my observations in the classroom. After doing the coursework, I found that the role of
a special education teacher is to maximize the learning of the students by making sure their
individual needs are met and understanding each of their learning strengths and/or weaknesses.
Students with special needs learn best in a smaller environment with less distractions that a
general education can sometimes have. The ability to have the utmost patience and
understanding towards those who do not learn the same way as other students is key when
deciding to go into special education. I used to believe that all students can learn. Before you
gasp in dismay, I still believe this statement however with a minor adjustment. All students can
learn when placed in their correct learning environment. After observing, I would say that my
goal for those students with disabilities is not to avoid their struggles. I noticed some teachers
just focusing on the students who were on track and letting the others get left behind. I know
teachers are not perfect and regardless every teacher will have some students who do not do well.
Even though this is true, I want the reasons behind them struggling to never include me.
However, I want to remain focused on all of my students not just the “star pupils” by figuring out
where each of them stands, where they need to be, and how I can get them there. As I mentioned
in my first philosophy statement, I still am going to make sure that my classroom has a warm
nature with the flexibility to teach students with different aspects of learning. I am aiming to be a
flexible educator that will use different tools that can teach each way of learning. In my
classroom, I want students to have freedom that lets them use expression and creativity towards
their work. Students should be able to experiment with likes and dislikes and to realize their
strengths and weaknesses. After this is developed, I can mold my lesson plans to shape each
learning experience.
My knowledge of the history has made me believe that too many educators are just
putting assignment after assignment on students load without engaging with them through life
experiences to make the lesson real. My educational philosophy is that students learn faster and
better with learning by doing. Having activities that get kids out of their seats will provide a
well-rounded way of learning versus just using the common ways. While doing my observation
hours I enjoyed how much the teacher had her students get up and move while learning.
Historically, it has been that instruction time is for sitting down and being very serious and then
recess was their time. Why not make both areas as enjoyable for both parties? This way the
students are retaining more while also not being confined to their seat the entire day. The
observation teacher I was with also told me this is a great tool to use when its Monday mornings
and your students tend to be on the sluggish side.
To move forward with my teaching career, I need to exercise certain qualities to make
sure that I am giving every child the correct approach. Patience, understanding, motivational
skills, warm nature, etc. are just a few of the important qualities I believe every student wants in
a teacher. My specific steps to make it towards my goals are to first get my associates through
CSN to start substituting for several schools to really get an understanding of what grade works
for me and the students (with of course respecting their current teachers’ boundaries). Secondly,
I will go to UNLV to get my Bachelor’s. My focus would be elementary education and I can’t
wait to begin student teaching. During all this time as well, I plan to volunteer regularly with a
family member who is also a teacher to give me the proper advice of a person who does it every
day. Most recently I have decided to continue with my master’s as well because I genuinely
enjoy this work and why not take it that step further!