Teaching Philosophy
“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.” This is a quote by Patricia Neal that I believe fits perfectly into my beliefs. So many times teachers and adults believe that by telling a child what to do and how to do it will make everyone’s lives easier. To me, this could not be further from the truth. I believe that a child needs to be shown the answers not by simply telling them, but by allowing them to come up with it on their own. This can be done in many different ways, and I will describe them throughout my paper. In doing so, I will describe my beliefs on punishment, discipline, classroom environment and my teaching style.
As mentioned before, a child needs to be awakened with my expectations. When a child does something that they shouldn’t, for example bite another child, should they be punished with me yelling at them and making them sit in a corner, or disciplined by having to write out a plan about why they bit them and what they will do next time they feel the need to. Punishment does nothing for a child except make them scared of adults, or possibly even threatened or challenged. When you punish a child you are not teaching or explaining to them why what they did was wrong; you are simply telling them to stop the behavior while you are there because you do not like it.
The difference between punishment and discipline is black and white. The punishment for biting the child was you (the teacher) yelling at them and then proceeding to put them in time out. All this seems to do is embarrass them, which leads to them retaliating against you later, and allowing them time to think of how they are going to do it. Having a child sit in a chair with their back to the class only gives them time to think about how they are going to get you back for embarrassing them, confuse them about why they are there, and (on a greater note) takes them away from what they are supposed to be learning in class.
Disciplining a child creates a better environment for everyone involved. In disciplining the child who was biting you are teaching them why you are upset and why they are in trouble. You would explain to them that biting hurts and is mean. You could also explain to them that they are old enough to know now to do that, and that you are upset with them. Asking them to make a plan explaining what they are going to do the next time they feel the need to bite someone allows them time not to think about how they are mad at you, but how they can adjust their feelings towards others and themselves.
In my classroom I would establish rules with my students that set the ground rules for everyone. My rules will be fair, but precise. I understand that there needs to be some understanding in the rules, but my students and I will have an agreement with each other: We will teach each other respectfully and be held accountable for our actions. Everyone makes mistakes, and it is in accounting for them that we learn by them and understand where we are in life. In being positive with my guidance with my students I will allow them to have not only a teacher, but a mentor and a friend. I will let them know that I am here for them and that I believe they are great people. A child should never feel like they have no one to talk to.
My classroom environment will be a positive one. I want my students to understand that I am all about having fun, but in moderation. Children need to be motivated, either by myself or their peers. I will do my best to ensure that my students not only care about themselves, but also about their classmates. It is important to me to have my class bond together and become a group. In doing so, I will be allowing my students the opportunity to establish friendships that they may not have formed if not given the push to do so.
I will discipline them with my knowledge and do my best to always think of what my student is doing and why they might be acting like that. I believe that by being leveled headed and disciplining them the right way will help maintain the safe and positive environment. If I am constantly yelling and threatening them, how can they feel safe? If the classroom feels unsafe for them, they are not going to want to come in and learn. Having the classroom feel warm positive will help them feel as though they belong here and want to learn.
Many times in classrooms there are students who are labeled and not treaty fairly by the other students. If I establish a united group, I feel that this will not be as difficult to deal with. I understand that I cannot get rid of this completely, but I will at least have my students understand that everyone can learn and have fun; name calling and acting up does not help the class and all the students in it do so.
I believe that setting up the classroom in a clean and neat matter will help make the students feel comfortable in the environment. Planning ahead is a great thing and I definitely do a lot of that; however, there also needs to be a balance of rethinking the lessons as I go. I need to take into consideration where my students are at and what they might be missing.
If I planned to move on to another lesson, but I have students in my class who are still not understanding what were learning I need to think about them. If the majority of the class is finding it hard to understand I need to take time out of class to re-teach the information. If there are only a few who are struggling, I can ask them to meet with me before or after school (or during a study hour) and I will answer and questions and re-teach them as well. By doing this, I am being flexible and understanding that my students’ needs to learn come before my wanting to finish a lesson.
I also believe that there needs to be definite routines within the classroom. I will provide a steady routine that allows extra time if needed, but also gives my students a stable foundation to work with. I feel that by them understanding where we are and what is coming up, they are able to prepare themselves with what they need to be doing. If they know that they only have fifteen minutes before we start moving on to math and they are not done with their essay yet, they need to start concentrating and work on completing it.
I enjoy teaching… it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I feel like by taking it seriously and understanding that I have a huge part in children’s lives, I can help educate great minds. I can give those students who others thought were hopeless the courage to tell them that they can do it and believe in themselves. By showing them faith and sparking the knowledge in their head, I can give them the understanding of how to learn. It does not good to just hand the student to knowledge, but not tell them how to use it. I want to help them find out for themselves and guide them to find out how they can use their knowledge.