My Educational Philosophy

By: Stephanie M. Greaves

When I was in junior high school and began to babysit and help out in
my churchs nursery, I really enjoyed the connection I felt with younger
children. I soon came to realize that young children learn best from those
who take a real interest in them and make the learning experience enjoyable,
while at the same time provide them with the right amount of guidance,
discipline and motivation. All throughout high school, I was certain that I
wanted to be an elementary school teacher so I tried to take on as many
related experiences as I could handle. In addition to babysitting, I took
education classes in high school, I volunteered to do childrens story time at
the local library, and I helped coach a youth cheerleading squad. Later, I
became the sole classroom teacher for the school age summer camp at a
local child care facility. All of these experiences confirmed what I l already
knew I not only want to teach, but I want to be a teacher who makes a big
difference in my students lives by instilling a love of learning while
successfully giving them the educational foundation needed to excel beyond
elementary school.
I am graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and
my degree and certification will be in pre-kindergarten through 4th grade. I
have had courses and experiences with children with special needs as well as
English language learners. Understanding that todays classrooms are
inclusive of a wide diversity of children, I believe a successful teacher will
balance her time appropriately, giving individual attention and focusing on
each childs level of development, as well as teaching the curriculum to the
class room as a whole. I also believe it is the elementary school teachers job
to identify those students that require more than their share of individual
attention and provide them with the necessary resources to succeed (IEP,
ELL tutor, etc.). This is necessary not only for the student needing the extra
attention, but also to make sure that attention to those students does not
take too much valuable time away from the rest of the students.
I believe younger children need to be engaged to successfully learn,
and my goal as a teacher is to provide a fun learning environment where the
children are active learners. To do this, I will incorporate some of the
HighScope teaching methods in my classroom when possible, giving the
children some choices in how to learn the prescribed curriculum. I will also

use humor and physical activity to help keep them engaged. I am a strong
proponent of learning through play in elementary school. Play provides
children with many opportunities to learn and the social interaction is part of
their growth as well. While my beliefs are that providing a fun and engaging
environment for elementary students is important to their success and
growth, I also believe that at the same time the teacher must be respected
and take control of her classroom. Posting classroom rules and making sure
the children know them and understand the consequences for breaking them
are important.
In an ideal world, children will come to school prepared to learn and
have any assigned home work completed. I believe that children need to be
respectful of teachers and other students. However, l I also understand that
a lot of this impacted by the home environment. As a teacher, while trying to
be understanding of a childs home life, I believe it is important to provide all
children the guidance and motivation to succeed and hold them accountable.
I will include classroom rules on accountability for their work, and I will
include consequences for non-completion of required work.
While teachers are not their students parents, I believe what we teach
them should go way beyond the text book curriculum. It is the teachers job
to also instill values and citizenship. This can be incorporated into the
classroom by modeling kindness, honesty and integrity, by recognizing
students who demonstrate these positive traits (such as Character
Counts), and by including expected values in the classroom rules. I believe
that since teachers are employees of the school, parents and the local
community are our customers and must be treated as such. It is critically
important that we hold ourselves to high standards and that all of our
interactions with parents are always handled professionally.
As someone just entering the teaching profession, I am excited and
enthusiastic to use my knowledge and beliefs to guide me to become the
best teacher I can possibly be. I know the job of a teacher is a very important
one and I believe that I am not only up for the challenge, but ready to
positively impact the lives of the children I will teach. As Brad Henry, former
governor of Oklahoma said, A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the
imagination, and instill a love of learning, and that is what I aspire to do.