Personal Philosophy on Teaching and Learning

Within any classroom I have taught, I strive as an educator to ensure a holistic education and
learning journey for my students. To achieve a rounded experience, I consider a number of factors to
be paramount.
1.

Structure and Routine:

My classroom operates with a consistent level of routine where expectations of learning and
behaviour are explicit, consistent and reinforced positively. Students will know what is expected of
them to succeed in all areas of the classroom, as I believe that without a well-functioning classroom,
meaningful and individualised learning may not occur. All children require an environment which
they understand and know their boundaries. Psychologically, if a child is uncertain about processes
or expectations within their environment they feel unbalanced and their behaviour and choices are
affected as a result. I discuss and involve the setting of all boundaries, expectations and routines
with my students and have visual displays that support this in our room.
2.

Teamwork

For any workplace to succeed teamwork and communication is important and I believe the
classroom is no different. Within my classroom you will expect to see my School Officers and I
supporting each other and communicating regularly during the day to day running of our room. I
also work closely with the other Year 1 educators to maintain consistency in the playground,
friendship issues and the curriculum. I also believe that the most important relationships I will make
this year will be with you, the parents. For us to ensure that Year 1 2015 is successful for your child
socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically we must work together to meet goals,
communicate and support one another in a positive manner. When school and home are conversely
different in expectations and values on learning, children become confused and development is
hindered. Let us work together to help your child experience as many successes as possible
throughout the coming year.
3.

Learning

My commitment to you as an educator is that I will provide learning experiences that enrich your
child and allow them to develop the skills for learning that continue throughout their lives.
Delivering the Australian Curriculum and Religious Education Curriculum in engaging, meaningful
and diverse ways will look like hands on experiences, focused small group intervention and support,
extension if necessary and monitoring to ensure no child is unsupported in their learning journey.
Catering to different learning styles is also a passion of mine and I continually look for alternate
delivery pathways to ensure that one concept can be taught in a range of ways.
Learning also isnt just about the curriculum. Particularly in the lower years, social and emotional
development is equally as important. You will see me in the playground encouraging and supporting
positive social dialogue and interactions between children and teaching coping skills for resilience.
Teaching appropriate manners for interaction with adults and other children is also important to me.

Experiences in 1 Purple will also nurture the spiritual nature of your child. I will involve your child in a
range of prayer and mediative experiences to allow them to develop skills for breathing,
contemplating and faith formation. We may only be in Year 1 but we can still pray and meditate
meaningfully!
4.

A smile

I hope over the time we have had together that you have begun to see the enthusiasm and passion I
have for learning and for teaching your child. I love to have fun within the classroom and you may
see me doing a happy dance, sending home WOW cards or giving crazy high 5s to celebrate your
childs learning or positive choices within the classroom. I want your child to feel cared for, safe and
valued in my care. My commitment to you is that I will treat them as my own as you have entrusted
me to guide, teach and support your child during the school day.
Success in the lower years may not be measured by copious amounts of writing in a book or
multiplying large numbers on paper, but if I can support your child to develop the skills, passion and
love for learning this year I feel like we are setting a strong foundation for their future schooling.
My dream classroom is one that allows students to enjoy coming to school, to feel safe to make
mistakes and learn from them. Mistakes are such a taboo discussion in life and it is almost ingrained
from birth that not getting something right is terrible. I celebrate mistakes and share mine with my
class regularly. As adults, the best thing we can do is make errors, discuss what we would do
differently and show that it was a positive experience (Ill also use that as my excuse if you ever find
errors in my letters!)
Yours in Learning

Ms Shai McLady

Yours in Learning

Miss McLady