My Educational Philosophy

After reading the assignments and the different philosophical schools of thought, it made me really think about how I would like to see my future classroom to run.  I loved doing the written assignments because it really made the wheels in my head spin.

To start off my 5th grade math, 8th grade math and Algebra II teachers were the best teachers I had during my years in school.  My 5th and 8th grade math teachers always had activities that were hands on and it seemed that we always worked in groups.  They made learning a lot of fun and they seemed to care about you as an individual.  My Algebra II teacher was hard, but what I loved about her class was she made us think outside the box, we weren't allowed to use a calculator at all; and she prepared us for college.  She made us accountable for all of our work.

Thinking back all of my history teachers were not great teachers at all.  It seemed like all we ever did was listen to lecture, write pages of notes over and over again, and they would pop in a movie.  It was almost like we never learned anything, I think that is one reason I don't like history.  They would also, get mad at us if we failed a test, but the reason no one seemed to past is because we weren't retaining any information.

From my experience in with my best teachers; you have to make learning fun, hands on, keep it interesting, and make student learning a big part of it all.  She also held us accountable for ourselves.  These are things I will implement in my classroom. 

Constructivism and Pragmatism are ones I closely relate too, because looking at the teachers that did a great job teaching, they seemed to use these philosophies in the classroom.

I want to be able to help my students to be better prepared for the future that lies ahead of them.  Thinking of all the ways I can implement technology in my classroom to help students become more aware of what is out in the real world.

I believe I would teach this way because I feel students should have that social interaction and working in groups is a great way for students to learn.  Along with making them be held accountable for what needs to be done by them.

A great teacher is someone who lets student learning occurs naturally.  Helping the students take real world situations into consideration when teaching. 

I want my students to discover that they learn differently than others and to gain the confidence needed to work well with others and to learn that it is okay to speak up when something is wrong or right.

I chose constructivism and pragmatism strategies because thinking about when I was in school and looking at how I plan on teaching my students, I believe these two are ideal for the perfect classroom.

I would select different assignments for different learners because of the knowledge some students have that the others may not have acquired yet.  If I were to take this a step further and split up my groups so there are a variety of different learners in each group. 

My definition of great teacher is someone who is hard working, thinks outside the box, open to new ideas and criticism, and someone that has a student lead classroom.

I would love to take technology to the next step and possibly use Skype in the classroom.  I would love to possibly Skype another class across the world or across the United States.  Maybe make this into one of my stations and have to students be set up with a pen pal and they can share what they have been learning or even share what it is like where they live.  This could even be a great use for research for a project. 

I believe we need to be prepared for the changing future in our classrooms or work environments.  I know I will keep my mind open to new ways of teaching and new ways of implementing technology in my classroom and making sure our students are ready to take on the world by the time the graduate.  But that is up to each and every one of us teachers to keep that going.