My Philosophy Statement on Education:

1. The development of a positive student/teacher relationship is the cornerstone of a successful learning environment.
It’s important for students to feel that you understand their needs, that you have the experience and knowledge that they seek and that they can trust you to be fair and honest with them. In order to build a community of learners, the foundation for a positive student/teacher relationship must be established.

2. Teaching is a creative act.
In order to design a meaningful, stimulating and enjoyable learning environment, teachers need to have great creative energy. Discovering students’ abilities, interests and needs and then designing curriculum to match those needs is a creative act. It takes imaginative thinking; it requires various materials and media; it involves making and creating; and it relies on the teacher expressing conviction, passion and understanding in creative ways.

3. Learning is an active process.
I believe a classroom should be structured to facilitate learning as an active process. Students must get involved with their learning and not simply regurgitate information. I believe that students learn best when actively engaged. In order for meaningful learning to occur, students must confront real problems, make choices, and find solutions in authentic activities.

4. Teachers act principally as facilitators of learning.
I am a facilitator of learning. I create the learning environment; I provide the materials; I create the opportunity for students to use their skills in new ways; I provide the input of new information; and I design activities that allow students to connect new information to past knowledge and then to create for themselves new understandings. I am a guide in the classroom. Students must be provided with opportunities to make discoveries and participate in authentic experiences that reinforce big ideas.

5. The classroom is a community of learners.
Every classroom should be a safe, respectful, supportive and caring place for students to grow. When students feel a sense of belonging and ownership in the classroom, they are willing to contribute and participate. This environment  happens only when teachers and students have supportive and respectful relationships with each other. In order to establish this, I believe open and honest communication is key. Therefore, a caring community should have respect for opinions, opportunities to collaborate, and opportunities to make decisions together as a whole. Establishing a caring community must begin at the start of the year.

My Teaching Philosophy

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