Opportunities Granted: A Teaching Philosophy
It is very important to me that I provide every student in my classroom the opportunity to be successful. One beautiful characteristic of children is their ability to dream. They have no reason to believe that they cannot fulfill their dreams until someone tells them they cannot. As a future teacher, I will have the great opportunity to create an environment where children feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas and realizing they can succeed in whatever they choose to do. Every child can succeed when given the opportunity to be all that they dream of being and challenged to go beyond all that they know.
Physical and emotional environment, the different styles of learning, safety and a clear discipline plan are key to creating an environment that will stimulate children to explore their minds. Greeting the class daily with enthusiasm shows the students that I am glad to be there. A colorful, age appropriately decorated classroom will be inviting to my students. Bulletin boards will display the students work so they feel a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Changing the boards frequently and hanging a variety of posters and banners will inspire thought. The desks in my classroom will be set in groups encouraging them to work together on several activities to foster cooperation and teamwork. It is essential that students feel comfortable sharing and participating in classroom activities. Each child is unique and has different styles of learning. It will be my job to provide different opportunities for each learning style. Auditory learners will benefit from me explaining and reading aloud. Using music, songs and rhymes will also increase the child’s capability to grasp material. Using overheads, movies and pictures and writing assignments and notes on the board in colored marker will enhance the visual learner’s experience. Kinesthetic learners will enjoy group work and computers. Having opportunities to create projects and models of studied material will stimulate their interests. Each student will have a daily sharing journal in which they will write. On some days I will give them a starter subject like, “My favorite thing I did this summer was…” On other days they will get to freewrite. This will give them the opportunity to be creative and expressive with their writing. The students will get participation points for sharing. Daily sharing journals are declarations of personal feelings and thoughts so there are no wrong answers and the students can feel free to express themselves as individuals. In using methods to reach all styles of learning, I believe my students will thrive educationally.
Utilizing all resources available to inspire and teach the material set in the curriculum will benefit the students. Through my own continued education, I will be up to date on the latest pedagogical skills and have a variety of resources to reach each child. I feel parents are one of the greatest resources available. They can provide insight to the students needs through open communication, including conferences, notes home and phone calls. Parents will also be welcomed into the classroom to participate in activities and projects. Other great resources are the media center and computer lab. The computer lab is so important in teaching the students about technology that is used everyday. The media center can provide reading materials and often has art exhibits and projects displayed by the students in that school. Field trips are a great way to expose children to the world directly around them. Trips to local historical, cultural and scientific centers help them to look at things they see daily in a whole new light. I understand that there will be times when I will need to be creative with my resources. It is to the students’ advantage that I make valuable use of the materials I have to meet the needs of the curriculum and the student.
The optimal way to ensure learning is to create a safe and stable learning environment. In order to maintain a productive classroom, I will have a clear set of behavior standards. Although I cannot make every child like one another, I can ask them to treat each other and myself respectfully. Demonstrating this behavior myself will show it is the only option. By having a clear discipline plan with a fair set of rules that are consistent with the rules of the school, children will know what is expected of them. Consistency with discipline is crucial; it reinforces what is expected school wide. Children in my class will be taught that they have choices and that their actions will have consequences, good and bad. Each child is an individual and deserves to have a structured and stable learning environment.
In creating a stable, well managed classroom, I am providing the opportunity for 
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