Teaching Philosophy
Why do I want to TEACH?
I wanted to become a teacher because of the struggles I faced while being in school. While in school studying and paying attention was always hard for me because I felt like what I was being taught was boring and having dyslexia made it much harder to understand and keep up with my teachers. However, I wanted to become a teacher to show student’s that learning can be fun and not just memorizing facts. I also wanted to make sure that students who have disabilities were shown that you can conquer any struggle if you just try and keep pushing yourself. I wanted to teach in the inner city because of the struggles I went through of not having enough money or food to eat. I wanted to show to my students that when you do not give up and keep pushing yourself, you can get out of those situations and make one of the best changes in your life. To me, education is your ticket to go anywhere in this world and change the place we live in for the better.
What is a teacher?
A teacher is much more than someone who stands in front of the classroom, talks until you’re tired of listening and then gives you a ton of homework. I believe teachers are much more than that simple statement. Teachers to me are people who help guide students to the right path while helping them find themselves. Teachers are people who remind you that if you put your mind to something you can achieve anything you want. The position of a teacher something that I believe is an important factor in a child's life because we remind them of their greatest even during their weakest times and most importantly we help fuel that hope that is inside them and remind them to never give up because we (YOUR teachers) will always be your biggest cheerleaders!
My Goal for Teaching
Progress Students Toward Their Future Goals.
Teachers will see a large variety of students in their classroom. Some will be interested in the subject that we teach while others are not. Because of this it is important that we teach with various student paths in mind.​
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Help Develop Students Into Life-Long Learners
By teaching the students how to learn and how to seek out knowledge we are empowering them to be able to branch off into topics or fields they are not familiar with or even learning something like a new hobby or skill.
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Foster Self-Directed Learning
By teaching my students to be self-directed learners we are providing them with the tools they need to be able to pursue any interest they currently have or that may arise in the future.
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Case Studies
Each of my lectures are based around a case study that students will have to read. This technique helps students remember the material by relating it back to a real world situation and it also helps students then apply that knowledge to how it might affect them in their situations. This method of teaching can also help develop and build a students ability to do critical thinking. This form of teaching has students find and define the problem along with what information is given and considered important. Students will then fill in the gaps of the case study with the information they were taught during class. This exercise can be done individual or as a group assignment. If transformed to a group assignment, each group will explain their findings and be given the opportunity to present their material in front of the class. Having students present their work in front of the class helps build on the speech and presentation skills that they will need later in life.
Group Work
Group activities are something that is done majority of the time during my class. Group work allows students to develop their social skills along with giving them the opportunity to self-assess their learning. In many professions it is vital for people to be able to work well with others and overcome obstacles within the group while still being professional. Students will learn how to divide up the work evenly and create roles for each person in the group, for example the group leader, note taker, researcher, ect. Understanding and using these techniques is a positive way to combine the learning skills within this course while also developing skills in communication that will be needed in their future.