My Teaching Philosophy and Experience

Currently, I am working as a co-teacher in a 7th/8th grade self -contained class, teaching a variety of subjects. Additionally, I worked with autistic children for the past two summers and worked on behavior programs and advancing their ADL skills.
Attached you will find my teaching philosophy.


My Teaching Philosophy
As I embark on the next phase of my journey towards attaining professional teaching certification. I am both excited and anxious. Excited about using my talents and passion to effectively educate youngsters of all cultures. At the same time, I am somewhat anxious as I realize the impact a teacher can have on the future of a child and want to be certain that I am properly trained to excel in every situation.
I believe a teacher has many roles and functions. First and for most, to cover the curriculum and ensure that each student masters the knowledge and information being presented. Beyond this I strongly feel that it is imperative for the teacher not only to instruct their students in the content of the lesson, but to facilitate their thinking, knowledge and learning skills in a way that encourages my students to become creative and independent learners.
Additionally, as a classroom teacher I try my utmost to modify my lessons to the individual learning styles of my students. Using Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences as a foundation, I intend to tailor and differentiate my lessons to the varied learning modes of my students. I believe I can use my love for art and music as an effective tool to reach students that are not stimulated by conventional teaching methods. I enjoy challenge and look forward to creating original lessons that will effectively stimulate my students.
My teaching methods are based on Vygotzky’s theory of scaffolding, following the model of “I do, we do, you do.” For example, when teaching a math principle, I first demonstrate it myself, then follow with a practice that includes the entire class. Once they seem to have grasped the concept each individual student is given an assignment to work on, and those who require some reinforcement receive it on a one to one basis.I teach my students according to their zone of proximal development, making the lessons challenging, yet attainable.
As part of my career development and professional responsibility I have taken various steps to perfect my skill and meet my goals. First, I regularly attend professional development courses to make sure all my methods are current and up to date. Additionally, I use reflective teaching, to assure that my teaching is effective, and I am reaching all my students.
Furthermore, I regularly collaborate with other teachers and professionals to share ideas and suggestions. I find this to be instrumental in finetuning my lesson planning and motivating my students. I have developed relationships with several experienced teachers that are mentoring guiding my career development.
In order to keep up with our rapid changing times I have integrated modern day technology into my classroom. Although the school I work in has a limited budget, I have been fortunate to have access to both smartboard as well as the computer lab. This allows me the ability to reinforce my lessons with real life images and power point presentations. In addition, the students are able to utilize and research the technology to facilitate further discovery on the topics we are studying.
To gauge the success of my own teaching as well as the performance of my own students, I constantly utilize various assessment tools. These include Response to Intervention (RTI) which allows me to monitor my students on a regular basis. In order to limit my student’s anxiety, I give each student a rubric tailored to his/ her capabilities so that they will know in advance what they will be assessed for, and what they should strive for to achieve success. At the same that I am assessing my students, I am able to use this information to assess my own teaching based on their performances.
  Above all, I make every effort to make a positive impact on my students. Using methods such as positive reinforcement and confidence building. I challenge them to try new task and reach higher goals. I believe this will give them an important tool that will help them attain success in many areas.
AS I stand in front of the classroom I feel that I am fulfilling a lifelong dream of making a positive contribution to the children that I am entrusted with. I want my students to mot only consider me as a teacher for one year, rather as a teacher for their lifetime. I realize that each student has the potential to grow and develop into a future leader of our society. To this end, I make every effort to energize each student to grow and give them the tools for success in all areas of future life.


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