Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is centered around inspiring curiosity and motivation towards inquiry in the students. I want to be able to give my students the tools they need to discover their interests, passions, and calling. Education is definitely composed of the knowledge that the students learn, but more than that, it is about their personal relationship with learning and their peers. Rather than just making sure that the information necessary is conveyed to the students, it is of more importance to me to build a foundation for the students that they can rely on in terms of their education and their desire to learn. Witnessing my mentor teacher’s personal approach to teaching has shifted my teaching perspective. He made sure to emphasize that the students were of the most importance in his classroom, and I felt that it was a very powerful statement and action to place the power of education and learning back into the control of the students. A second experience that was of importance to me was a student during the second day of the lesson who started excitedly talking about how he was excited that we were using baking soda in the lab. He expresses that he loved baking since baking soda was an ingredient he used so often in his recipes, he was really excited to see the outcome of the lab and how that might translate to baking. I thought that that instance of inquiry was a great example of what I was trying to accomplish and I felt really proud that I had helped inspire that curiosity within him. A third instance that was really impactful was my interactions with a student who had received 504 accommodations. The student struggled with regulating his frustration in regard to learning. I was awed by his dedication to learning and interacting with the lesson, even though he experienced some roadblocks along the way. This experience underscored the importance of the role of the teacher as a guide for the students to develop their socioemotional skills just as much as their guide to learning information. My strengths at this point are my ability to devise lessons that facilitate student comprehension of the lesson material. I was very proud of the lessons I had developed and contributed to this semester in that they were devised to be introductory lessons and have been implemented as such. My ability to take the time to assess a student’s needs is also one of my strengths. My weaknesses at this point are my ability to make personal connections with the students while balancing teaching and adhering to the structure of the lesson plan as previously planned. I struggle with balancing these many roles and adapting to unforeseen circumstances while teaching. This is something that I will improve upon with more teaching experience in the field. My goals for PBI are as follows: to develop more concise and accomplishable lessons, develop more personal connections with the students, and improve my ability to adapt to the classroom environment. I chose these goals as I regard them as deficits in my current teaching abilities. I also think that working on developing these skills is important to be an effective teacher and mentor to the students.