I believe my role as a teacher is to guide and learn alongside students as they acquire knowledge through experimentation, observation, and questioning. I strive to be an educator that students find approachable and trustworthy through my teaching practices and interactions with others. I approach teaching with a variety of ideas, a positive attitude, and a sense of humor.
Social constructivism ideals drive my classroom environment. I believe the learning environment should be dynamic and interactive to foster collaborative work, discourse, and hands-on activities. The classroom should not limit the exploratory nature of the learning, but instead serve as just one of the places where learning happens. Students also come to school with a variety of experiences based on their sociocultural ecology. These experiences should be not be discounted from the curriculum, but used to enhance to it.
Current educational literature says students learn in a variety of ways and these different ways need to taken into consideration when creating lessons. I use backward design to plan my units and lessons to ensure that all the learning activities are scaffolded and relate to what I want the students to know by the end of the unit. I know I have a very particular learning style, but not everyone learns the same as me. Therefore, differentiating my lessons to meet the needs of various students ensures that each type of learner has an opportunity understand the concepts addressed. The material in every lesson is reviewed/re-explained in subsequent lessons so that the students have more than just the initial exposure to become familiar with the concepts.
I incorporate manipulatives, visuals, and audio into my instruction so that students have a chance to feel, see, and hear what they are learning about. I ask that students and parents bring relevant materials to class that they think would encourage student learning. In order to make my teaching relevant and interesting for the students, I stay abreast of best learning practices and educational theories through continual professional development.
It is my job to create a safe and inviting learning environment where it is explicit that all students can and will learn without the expectation of failure. All students have the right to a quality education regardless of their sex, race, and socio-economic status. Nonetheless, I place a certain amount of responsibility on the students to take charge of their own learning.
Teaching is a dynamic and taxing job, yet inherently rewarding and gratifying. It is especially encouraging when students make connections between their learning and their world, when they continue to talk about what they have learned about long after the lessons have stopped, and when they work out, or attempt to solve, problems (academic or social) for themselves. I hope that when my students leave school, they will possess not only skills and an extensive body of knowledge, but are driving towards further learning journeys. The acquisition of knowledge and skills is a journey where students should want to willingly take the wheel instead of being backseat passengers.
