Teach – impart knowledge to a subject



Teacher Philosophy

To teach is defined as, to instruct by precept, example or experience OR to impart the knowledge of a subject, so the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states. What about philosophy? What does “philosophy” mean? Philosophy means the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group, states the Merriam-Webster dictionary. When I arrangement these two words together “Teacher’s Philosophy” my conclusion is the following, the basic beliefs, concepts and attitudes required to instruct by percept, example or experience of Annette Martin. I believe that my instruction changes on a class-by-class basis but my perceptions, examples and experiences or my beliefs, concepts and attitudes of mathematics and teaching remain constant.

I believe school should be exciting, energizing and encouraging. A teacher’s attitude has a lot to do with whether the class’s attitude is exciting or energized. If a teacher is excited about her subject or content for the day, then most students will be excited about the content for the day. If a teacher has a negative attitude then the students will pick up on the teacher’s negative attitude and refuse to learn. I conducted an experiment with two classes, one class had twenty-three students enrolled and the other class had twenty-six students enrolled. Both classes were learning the same concept for the day but one class was a little more advanced mathematically than the other. I chose to be not enthusiastic about the concept with the more advanced class and very enthusiastic with the lower class. Both class learned the same concept, used the same activities in class and I taught the concept the same way basically but one class I showed excitement and the other I did not. Although both classes mastered the concept, the class that I showed no enthusiasms or excitement about the concept for had to work much hard at understanding the concept.

Homework is the next belief that I work constantly to change in other teachers belief system. I do not feel that I should count off when a student is learning a new concept. When I assign homework to a student so that they may practice and master a skill, I do not take points off for wrong answers. The student needs to know if they have the answer correct or not BUT I do not believe I should take a point off because they tried but got the answer is wrong. To me, this is like a young child that is trying to crawl and telling them they must walk first and then getting mad when they can’t walk. Homework is practice. Practice is working on the skills needed to be successful with a concept. How can this be practice when they must get the correct answer while practicing? For this reason, I only accept homework if it is complete and all the steps are shown. Homework is a formative assessment, which allows them to go back and relearn or correct anything that is wrong. So many teachers, especially in mathematics, take off for the right or wrong answer. This teaches the student that they must be perfect to receive credit for their work. The summative assessment or chapter test is meant to show me exactly what the student has mastered and what the student still needs to work on for mastery.

Collaboration is a must in the classroom. The 21st Century learner is what all the businesses are looking for and part of this concept is to work collaboratively amongst colleagues. If I do not teach this concept in the classroom where else are the students going to learn collaboration. Many homes in society today do not teach collaboration in the household. There are so many single parent families that are just trying to survive so teaching collaboration for the success of our society today is a must in the classroom. Kagan strategies are a must in the classroom today because these strategies teach social, independent, group, and partner interactions skills. Many of these types of interactions could be too late to learn when a young adult enters the workforce. Kagan strategies can be incorporated at any level of school from elementary to secondary levels.

Routines are so important in the classroom. Routines should be taught the first few weeks of school so that I can teach for the rest of the year or I will end up teaching routines for the entire semester and not content. If a student knows what the expectations are from the beginning and what the routines are then he or she is able to meet the expectations. If you have high expectations the students will rise up to meet these expectations but usually on if you have a relationship and respect from the students. Most students are eager to reach high if you tell teach them how to succeed.

Teachers must be involved in other activities at their school. Teachers must set the example for our students. If we want our students to be involved with school, then we must be involved with our school. Our students love to see their teachers at their events whether it is a concert or a softball game. Students notice whether the teacher is there or if a teacher has school spirit. We must be available to assist students outside the classroom. Teachers should not be a “ten minutes before school starts and ten minutes after school is out” profession. Teachers are in this profession to assist student to become active members of society. What kind of example are we setting when we don’t care enough to assist students before or after school?

Discipline, yes, discipline, is one of the most versatile strategies we use in the classroom. I try to keep the 3:1 ration meaning, if I give a negative discipline response, then I try to give three meaningful “atta boys” before disciplining again. This is what I strive for but some students need more “atta boys” than others. My discipline strategies are always changing and I am always looking for new Jim Faye ways to handle discipline in my classroom. Some years are better than others as far as discipline goes. Some teachers say grading is the worst part of teaching; I think discipline is the worst part of teaching! I teach a lot of lower level classes and during these classes I vary my classroom strategies every twenty minutes of a ninety-minute block and this helps with discipline. By the end of the day, with this pace, I am just exhausted but the exhaustion is well worth it if the students really learn the concept for the day.

So there you have it my teaching philosophy. Is it the “only” philosophy? I would expect that every student in this class has a different philosophy of what a classroom should look like, act like and sound like. As a teacher, I value relationships in the classroom, routines in the classroom and collaboration in the classroom. My beliefs on homework have been clearly stated and usually not agreed upon by other math teachers. Teachers must be involved in their schools. Teacher must lead our students and show them how to be leaders in our community. The best way to do this is to model our behavior.

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