Team 7D Family
- Philosophy Of Education Ms. Schrader's Teaching Portfolio Allocation
- Philosophy Of Education Ms. Schrader's Teaching Portfolio Assessment
Rather than 'teaching to the test', my goal is to teach the students to master the assessments by what is taught through my daily assignments. Comprehension of subjects may not be there if students are reading or investigating topics which are unfamiliar to them. Teaching and learning. Reaching our highest peaks as we climb onwards and upwards mountains of learning. It requires a sense of adventure, perseverance, and a great deal of hard work. Both give the climber lots of pleasure in what they achieve a long with a view of the world that most people don’t get.
Learning through play is a common teaching philosophy for young children. Jean Piaget developed the PILES theme to meet the physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social needs of children. Piaget's constructivist theory emphasizes hands-on educational experiences, giving children the chance to explore and manipulate objects. When the teacher is having fun teaching, students have fun learning! Documenting learning and formative/summative assessment are still possible using these teaching methods - particularly if short exit tickets, 'do nows,' and written work based on prior learning are used throughout each lesson.
Philosophy of Teaching
Emma Thomas
Georgia State University
I will never forget the overwhelming sense of unpreparedness, apprehension, fear, and actual nausea I felt as I walked to room 121 of Price Middle School to teach my very first lesson as a teacher, only two weeks into my teacher preparation program. How could someone possibly let me be alone with 20 eighth graders, let alone allow me to try and teach them algebra? While my lesson on solving for x was not the strongest, within minutes of standing in front of my first group of students in the heart of downtown Atlanta, my sense of fear dissipated and turned into sheer excitement at the possibilities of my future. I knew that deciding to become a teacher was the right choice. When reflecting on my knowledge, understandings, and ideals as a teacher, I must first recognize that many of my ideas about education have been shaped and influenced by my involvement and unconventional teacher preparation training with Teach For America. Before becoming a teacher, I was on track to becoming a television sports journalist. My major in college was Journalism and Electronic Media, and I had multiple internships with news organizations and newspapers. Although I truly have a passion for news, writing, and reporting, I felt a void in my life that could not and was not being filled. I decided to apply to Teach For America after hearing more about the organization and being inspired by their work. It was only after that first day of teaching during our summer training program that I was confident that teaching is what I want to do.
Most of my beliefs stemming from Teach For America center around the idea that I alone can close the achievement gap in my classroom with my group of students. Using pre and post reading Diagnostic of Reading Assessment data, writing data, and ongoing tracking of mastery on learning standards and objectives, Teach For America is firmly grounded in the idea of data driven results and proof that good teachers alone can close the achievement gap between high income and low income students (Farr, 2010). My philosophy of teaching parallels this seemingly highfalutin notion:I truly believe that I can close the achievement gap in my classroom. My students can achieve the same level of academic knowledge and rigor that any student in America can. My students can grow two years in reading comprehension in only one academic year from the day they entered my classroom. And ultimately, my students can have the same life opportunities as any other student living in another area of the United States.
My mission as a teacher is for all of my students to leave my room successful and grow in their reading comprehension skills. I want my eighth graders to be critical and intuitive thinkers; to write with eloquent diction, proper grammar and develop their personal writing style; to read varied grade-level texts with fluency and accuracy; and to articulate scholarly speech and acquire stellar communication skills. I don’t want to just tell my students that I believe they are smart and capable; I want to enable my students to prove to themselves and believe deep down that they are smart, can accomplish great things, and will ultimately be successful. I want every student to leave my classroom each school year with an enhanced belief in their future and know that they are destined to do great things.
Of my five major beliefs in my philosophy of learning, the first and most important idea is that student achievement is my responsibility. No matter where my students come from, what educational background they possess, what reading level they may be on, where their writing skills may be, I am the sole person responsible for how much growth they achieve and what they accomplish in one school year. While many teachers view academically low-performing students and students behind grade level as a burden, I view them as an opportunity. Even though my students might not have had the best education leading up to my class, I can help them catch up and be even more prepared for the next grade level. Above all, I do not and will not ever make excuses for my students, as I know that their learning is my responsibility.
Another pillar in my philosophy of education is the notion that every student can learn. I often hear teachers, administrators and other peers in the field saying that their students “just cannot do it” or “are not capable” of doing rigorous and high-level work. I think just the opposite. I truly believe and have been witness to the ideal that every student can learn any subject when given the adequate support. By differentiating and modifying assignments for individual students, encouraging students to believe that they can do anything they set their mind to, and planning rigorous lessons and material to help students catch up, I know that I can get 100% of my students to a higher academic level than they currently possess (Wormeli, 2006).
Coupled with my belief that every student can learn, I also know that every student can behave. In order to have a safe learning environment, there must be a common expectation of how to act and what to do while students are in the classroom (Jones & Jones, 2006). Every child must know exactly what to do with all of their senses: who and where they should be looking, what their volume or noise level should be, what and where their body should be, and what they should be doing with their brains (Jones & Jones, 2006). In that regard, I believe that behavior largely depends on my instructions and expectations I set in my classroom. By holding high expectations not just academically but also behaviorally, I let my students know that I care about their education and their future.
The next ideal that shapes my philosophy of teaching is my deep-seated belief that the achievement gap is a literacy gap that doesn’t have to exist. I know that the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students has many historical, regional, and racial causes; however, this gap doesn’t have to exist just because of a zip code and the geographical location of where someone is born (Farr, 2010). Closing the achievement gap mainly involves closing the literacy gap, as many of the problems of underperforming students stem from their behind grade level reading scores.
In order for my students to become empowered by the potential they each posses, they will need to master each faction of the English Language Arts curriculum. Teaching English, reading, grammar, and writing in the context of meaningful texts and literature is the last pillar in my philosophy of teaching. I truly believe in what I am teaching and see the utmost value in mastering reading, writing, grammar, and effective communication skills. Of all subjects, I know that mastering English Language Arts is critical as it is a foundation for not only all other subjects, but for being an active and educated member of society. It is also the key and access point for overcoming the achievement gap in education, and can literally change the outcome of a student’s life.
Sources:
Farr, Steve & Teach For America (2010). Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap. San Francisco, California: Jossey- Bass.
Jones, V. & Jones, L. (2006). Comprehensive Classroom Management (8th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.
Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair isn’t always equal: Assessing and grading in a differentiated classroom. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
'The pathway to educational excellence lies withineach school.'
Terrance Deal
Learning is like climbing mountains. A metaphor I use often with my students. Teaching and learning .... reaching our highest peaks as we climb onwards and upwards mountains of learning. It requires asense of adventure, perseverance, and a great deal of hard work.Both give the climber lots of pleasurein what they achieve alongwith a view of the world that most people don’t get.If learning is like mountain climbing then teaching can beseen as the process of facilitating the climb.The role of the guides (teachers, parents, administrators,and the school community) is to assist our youngsters through their educationaljourney.
Theperfect climate for reaching towards their highest peaks is in an atmospherewhere productive learning and positive interactions between the teacher, thestudent, and the classroom environment take place. It is essential that we equip our students with the following tools:
• Achievable goals
• Tools for success
• Instructional strategies
• Differentiated Instruction
• Academic Choice
• Decision making/ problem solving skills
•Challenging, relevant, and creative activities
Along the way, we, as educators,need to continually encourage our students to think about what it takes to bereally good at an activity, whether it is schoolwork, a sport, or a hobby.I believe it is our responsibility toteach students about the importance of effort.We can and should teach students habits of preparedness,mindfulness, and persistence to use and apply when engaging in any task whetherit is challenging or not.As theirguides, we are helping them to realize that developing positive attitudes andbehaviors will help them succeed.It is our role to guide our students as they learn to encourage,reinforce, monitor, and motivate themselves along their journey.As they continue their climb, it is ourresponsibility to provide opportunities for:
•Self-monitoringto check quality of work
•Collaboration with teacher and parents
•Listening and responding to suggestions for improvement
•Usingchecklists and rubrics to guide learning
Philosophy Of Education Ms. Schrader's Teaching Portfolio Allocation
Feedbackis a powerful force and probably the most important tool we can use to improveacademic performance, attitude, and behaviors.Effective learning takes place when students learn toprovide their own feedback, monitor their own feedback, and monitor their ownwork against specific criteria (i.e rubric).Helping our students develop a sense of responsibility formaking decisions about their behaviors, academic goals, and building positiveattitudes about school help all students continuously improve their skills as they are engaged in their life long path towards growth and learning.
Philosophy Of Education Ms. Schrader's Teaching Portfolio Assessment
Our goal aseducators should also be to support and build upon our students’ socialand emotional learning.Providinga positive, secure, and respectful school environment where everyone isvalued for both our similarities and our differences is essential. All students should be exposed to a variety of experiences in theclassroom setting where their instruction is differentiated and they haveopportunities to explore their multiple intelligences.
As we, educators, lead many expeditions,we know that we are not alone.Weare a team. The entire school community is committed to student learning,collaboration, establishing high expectations, and use evidence to show ourschool improvement as we reach towards our highest peaks.