Because I am already in my third year of education, I have a pretty solid idea of what my teaching philosophy is. When I first started out in education I had no clue if I was cut out to be a teacher. The first day that I stepped into my two week practicum in my second year, I knew that this was the profession for me. You have an idea in your head about what the perfect teacher would look like and who you want to be. I have encountered a lot of great and horrible teachers throughout my educational career. I now know who I am as a teacher and I can not wait to let that shine through in my internship. Students gravitate towards me because of my philosophy.
I believe that everyone is equal and that everybody deserves the same education. I was bullied throughout my entire schooling career and I had teacher who went along with it. I NEVER want to be that kind of teacher. I want my students to know that they can come to me whenever they need and they can talk to me about anything. I also strive on my humour. I have been told my whole life and I tend to believe that I can be quite funny. I think that when you are lighthearted, fun, and humorous, you are able to connect with teenagers and younger kids easier. I like to think of myself as the cool teacher who can make meaningful connections and relationships with her students. Just because I want to be a ‘cool’ teacher does not mean that I will be laid back all of the time. I believe that when you create relationships with your students, they respect you, and will want to do the work and assignments that you give them. When you create a relationship with someone, you do not want to disappoint them by not doing what they ask of you.
Every student learns a different way and I know that it can be hard to incorporate every learning style into a classroom. I want to give every student a fair chance at education. They should not fail or do terribly on something because their learning style or learning disability was not accommodated. If any one of my students are struggling with something because they can not comprehend it, I want them to come to me and I can adjust the assignment to fit their learning style needs. Every students has the ability to achieve the same outcomes, they just need the tools to do so. When I think about how I will approach assessments, I feel like I already know what I will do. I love doing fun activities where I can assess students prior knowledge. I also thrive on conversations and discussions. I believe that there is not better way to assess a students whereabouts in the class than having a conversation with them. Some students can not fully articulate what they mean by writing it down. I am not a huge fan of formal tests and essay assignments. I think doing fun formative assignments where can students can be creative is the best. For instruction I do not plan on being at the front of the classroom instructing all of the time. I want my classroom to be student inquiry based and activity based. Knowledge does seed and accumulate through me blabbering on for 50 minutes.
Shanae's Blog 