Teaching Philosophy

I recently saw Rita Pearson’s closing remarks on TED Talks that registered with me deeply. “Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understand the power of connection and insist that they become the best that they can possibly be… We can do this. We are educators. We are born to make a difference.” (TED Talks, 2013).

I became an educator because this profession has a direct, long-term impact on the citizens of our world. Teachers influence future leaders, encourage future artists, and challenge future visionaries. I am investing my time and skills in my students today, so that I can make a difference. My goal is to produce global citizens in my classroom and inspire them to create a sustainable world.

At the heart of Ms. Pearson’s speech is a humanistic view of learning, a view that I advocate. The core elements of my teaching philosophy are Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, Flemming’s VARK learning styles and student autonomy. While I started as a general education teacher, I have since pivoted to teaching a specific content, which is mathematics. Regardless of the content I teach, my routines, procedures, learning environment, assessments and instructional strategies exhibit the elements of my teaching philosophy.

Students come into my room with different needs and experiences. Consequently, their learning motivation also varies. However, according to Abraham Maslow, even though we are at different levels of needs, everyone still has basic needs (1943). Students cannot reach the next level until the bottom level is met. Therefore, it is imperative for me to know what level each of my students is at. To understand more about their motivation, I conduct brief one-on-one conferences with my students. I ask about their home situation, aspirations, and interests. Fostering genuine connections with my students is essential to have a successful year. Of course, students would not open up to a teacher that they are not comfortable with. Hence, rules and routines are established to provide a safe learning environment for all my students.

Just as students have different needs, students also learn differently. For this reason, my instruction is not one-size fits all. Neil Flemming (1987) discovered that there are four modalities of learning techniques: visual, aural, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic (VARK). For my students to reach their maximum potential, I differentiate my instruction to meet all my students’ needs. For instance, when I teach abstract Math concepts, I apply the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) approach. Some of my students need to start with the concrete step. This means I utilize manipulatives during small group instruction and work through the progression. However, some students are more visual and prefer modeling a math problem with pictures. Ultimately, multimodal learning increases student engagement, as well as students' self-esteem.

The last element of my teaching philosophy is student autonomy. When students are in control of their own learning, their feeling of achievement is heightened, and they take more risks. To make their own choices, students should have access to all tools and strategies. For example, I always introduce different problem-solving strategies at the beginning of the unit, and I strongly encourage students to choose the one that they feel is most effective. However, I do encourage them to find a different solution, a more efficient strategy. I also implement different type of assessments to show their content mastery. While my students utilize different stations of their own choosing during small group instruction, I provide students self-monitoring tools so they can self-evaluate their progress towards mastery.

To measure my effectiveness as a teacher, I conduct student interviews, collect and analyze student data, and self-evaluate using video-based self-observation. I utilized benchmark assessments to evaluate student growth. Likewise, I use formative assessments to drive my instruction and to measure student learning outcomes. Furthermore, I administer summative assessment to analyze academic achievement. On the other hand, I employ student interviews to get feedback from students and use the evidence to guide my improvement efforts. I conduct formal and informal interviews thrice a year. Some of the questions I ask are: What was your favorite lesson, and why was it your favorite? What routine or procedure would you like to improve or change? Finally, to reflect on my performance and learning environment, I apply video-based self-reflection. While pictures say a thousand words, videos provide me with information that I was not even looking for before I watched them. As teachers, we are lifelong learners. These recordings help me develop professionally. I can look for more effective ways of increasing student engagement and achievement. More importantly, these recordings give me insights into my needs as a teacher. They exhibit the level of my progress as an educator, and therefore, I seek professional development courses that will further increase my skillset.

I believe that all students are capable and have potential. My goal is to support these students to realize their potential. My motivation is to be their champion. To make a difference, I teach the future!