Your teaching philosophy was more than likely gained from the mentors you had during the early years of your teaching career. Although you can learn a great deal from the individuals you have observed over the years, it is important that you remain open to new ideas and methods. If you are a new educator, you are currently in the process of forming the teaching philosophy that will work best for you and your classroom. There are several elements that should be taken into consideration, when determining the teaching philosophy that you will incorporate into your curriculum.
Reading is the most fundamental element for learning. Children, who read poorly, will struggle in other classes. Therefore, it is imperative that a strong template for education be established for reading curriculums. There are some basic principles that can increase your student’s success rate in reading. The teaching philosophy focuses on activating the pupil’s prior knowledge, clarifying the reading material, providing context clues, and drawing conclusions. In addition, it also includes evaluating, inferring, predicting, and several other features. This may seem a bit overwhelming, but these steps are less complicated than they appear. In fact, most of this teaching philosophy uses common sense responses to reading. These are the things that you might do without even considering them. The challenge is to install these principles into your student, so they become second nature and create more proficient readers. For example, seasoned readers evaluate without even thinking about it, but young students will need your help in acquiring these skills. You can include these items in your classroom by creating worksheets that encourage pupils to formulate opinions about what they are reading and restate what has happened in the story to this point.
Visualizing is the most important part of this teaching philosophy, because it encourages children to use their imaginations and immerse themselves in the story. Visualization can create lifelong lovers of reading. Many educators combine reading and writing within their teaching philosophy. Children should learn the fundamentals of writing, as they learn to read. This will help them understand the material, as well as encourage their imagination. This learning concept will produce both stronger readers and writers.
Regardless, the most important teaching philosophy you adapt in your classroom will depend on your ability to be an effective educator. These individuals possess certain characteristics, which help their students to thrive. They include positive expectations, enthusiasm, effective classroom management/organization, the ability to design lessons, along with activities, and a genuine rapport with their students. This is a tall order for a new educator, but your attitude will either encourage or discourage your students from learning. If your teaching philosophy includes being excited about a subject, your pupils will sense your attitude and respond with enthusiasm.
The dreaded parent teacher conference is where your teaching philosophy will be challenged the most. If you are well prepared, these meetings can be very productive and rewarding. When you schedule parent teacher conferences, you will need to be flexible, especially with working parents. You should greet the parents in a pleasant, appreciative manner. Parental involvement is vital to achieving success with students and they should know how much their participation means. Begin any discussion by highlighting the positives of the student then acknowledge areas, which need improvement and provide measured goals of success. This will give the parents something tangible to work with to improve their child’s progress.
There is a teaching philosophy that will fit within your ideal classroom scenario. The challenge is discovering what works for you, and then incorporating crucial elements that will produce educated pupils. By understanding the challenges and the areas that are most critical, you can determine which methods work best for you. The teaching philosophy is not as important, as the eventual education. By keeping your mind open to new ways of educating, your students will reap the ultimate benefits.
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