Connor ODonnell

Teaching Facilitation/ Philosophy

Being apart of the college of education, I have been attempting to develop my teaching
philosophy. Interning through LAS 101 has given me a great opportunity to develop my
teaching strategies and skills. Next semester I will be student teaching in the
Champaign area. My philosophy will continue to grow and mature while pursue a
teaching career this summer.

My motivation for teaching comes from my younger brother. He is dyslexic and has
struggled with school. Being the older brother, I was in charge of helping him with
homework every night. It was very rewarding to witness him start with frustration and
end with satisfaction. It took a lot of patience to help him work through his obstacles, but
that made more worthwhile. I believe I did a great job helping my brother through
school, and now I am aiding him apply for colleges. These experiences guided me
towards my interest in pursuing my career path.

While at orientation before the school year started, I really enjoyed the presentation
given by the discussion expert. I have used his discussion techniques in my class. One
quote that stuck of head was, I have done little work. You guys ran the discussion. His
idea of student-based discussion is something that has been successful in my
classrooms and is something I plan on using next semester. During week four, my
lesson plan mostly consisted of student-based discussion. I started with some simple
discussion questions concerning email etiquette. One was: why is it important to to have

an appropriate email address? Along with other questions, students discussed answers
among themselves then shared them with the class. Class was successful because I
covered my lesson goals without lecturing to the students. My class was able to
complete my questions without me giving away the answers. I have been using studentbased discussions throughout the year and it has shown me how valuable it will be for
student teaching.

Finally, I have alluded to this theme all year, professional development. During the first
week of class, I asked my students, as a group, what are their goals for college. Most of
the classes answer was to get a job after college. That being said, I am making my goal
to give my students professional skills that they cant learn through normal college
courses. I plan on contacting the career center to either help me prepare material or
give a quick presentation to my class. I told my class that if I can instill at least one
professional skill into every student, then I have succeeded as an LAS 101 intern.