Education Philosophy

April 2015
Dear Future Ms.P,
As I sit at the tail end of the infamous student teaching
semester, there is a lot to reflect on. There are a lot of lessons that I
have learned, and a lot of solid concepts that have been tried, and
tested. As a result, I feel fairly confident here as a beginning
teacher, with my first teaching philosophy. Detailed below are the
concepts, skills, ideas and strategies that I feel make an excellent
teacher, a productive and effective teaching method, and the goals
and ideals I hope to promote and provide in my future classroom.
Any teaching practice is multifaceted, and mine has
developed into no less. There are four main components that I
integrate into my teaching practice: communication, community,
collaboration, and content. The first three form a balance that allows
for content to be learned and understood. By having an open line of
communication between me as the teacher, students, their parents,
and any other resources, consistent discussions can be facilitated,
allowing for a solid understanding of what each student needs, what
works and what doesnt. Students are constantly changing and
evolving, and it is my job as their teacher to understand what they
need, and when. Through encouraging communication with each
child, my hope is to have a classroom that builds a strong
community through a lot of collaboration, and discussion. The class
should have the feeling of a team-thats what I think best facilitates
a strong learning environment. In a classroom where
communication is constant, community is a staple, and collaboration
is a daily routine, content is easily conveyed, and thats the end
goal.
Something you struggled with during your student teaching
semester was figuring out where you stood with assessment. It was
this big gory topic thats had a lot of heat recently. Your school
recently adopted a brand new testing system, completely
computerized that put a lot of extra strain on it as well. Throughout
the semester though, there was a lot of trying new forms of
assessment, and you feel solid in your approach. Assessment should
be a two way street. Not only are you assessing your students
knowledge, but also how well they reacted to how you taught (a
form of reflection that well touch on later). This two way street
needs to be fair though, and for that to happen, students absolutely
have to always know what they need to know. Expectations and
goals need to be set out very clearly, and in my case I will always
set my students up with incredibly high standards. Regardless of
background, aptitude, or personality, I thoroughly believe that
students can be capable of top notch work-they just may need it
conveyed or communicated in various ways. Sprinkle in a mix of
formal and informal assessments-often, so that students arent
thrown by the stress of a test- and bingo. Assessment strategy
complete.

Education Philosophy
April 2015
This student teaching semester was the first time you had the
experience of being exposed to all elements of being a teacher, all
the time. This-while a little intimidating-taught you a lot of valuable
things in being a teacher, and amongst everything else, the most
valuable thing you learned was the importance of constant
reflection. Reflecting can take place in a number of ways: through
written journals, post it notes, discussions, mental reflections the
list goes on. Regardless of however it takes form, just make sure to
do it, and to do it often. As a teacher, there are always 1723498
things to do all at once, but make sure to take the time out to reflect
on your practice. Itll be time consuming at times, but it will help
inform thousands of other important decisions. The collaborations
youve had with teachers-not just your lead teacher-have really
impacted how you see teaching as a career, so make sure to take
enough time out to have those conversations, collaborate with
teachers and other resources the school you work at in the future
may offer, and be open to constantly revamping your practice:
students are ever evolving and by association, so is the practice of
being a teacher. Be open-minded.
Above all though, remember that respect is key in this
profession. Whether its talking to fellow teachers, parents,
guardians, other professionals, or students, its the utmost necessity
in communication, and you need to be the best example of that. To
be able to have a community, great communication, and
collaboration on all accounts, respect is key. Treat your students the
way you wanted to be treated as a student: as an individual capable
of making your own decisions. Giving students autonomy was one of
the best ways to have class-wide participation and attentionkeep
that strong.
Remember that despite the hard days that faced you during
student teaching and that will inevitably face you during the future
years of teaching, the excitement you started your major in this
profession with. The fact that you want to be able to aid to the
development of future leaders and collaborators. The idea that
regardless of the hard days and bombed lessons and embarrassing
moments that are bound to happen, that youre contributing to the
newest class of grade A citizens, and that its your job to make sure
they do well. Take that enthusiasm-as hard as it may be to muster
some days-and fly with it, and make sure your students do too.

With much love, tired eyes, and an excited outlook on what the
future holds,
Ms. P