Naomi

Philosophy of Education

I have a strong desire to be a life-learner and to share that ambition with students, providing a positive influence and desire to learn. My goal as a teacher, is to be able to teach students anywhere in the world; providing the values, and a comfortable environment to empower the pursuit of learning and knowledge. It is my responsibility to make my classroom a place where each student feels they can succeed and where "I can't" is replaced by "I will try," or "I can." I believe each child has a unique style of learning, and my goal is to be able to reach each and every one of them to cater to their own abilities. As a firm believer in differentiated instruction, it is important to utilize the array of strategies in teaching. I respect each students learning styles and learning needs and strive to be flexible enough to incorporate that knowledge in my curriculum. By getting to know each and every one of my students, I will be able to acquire the knowledge needed to plan lessons, learn what my students interests are, and what learning style best suites them. I have realized that this is the most effective for students to feel comfortable in my classroom, with me as their teacher and mentor and comfortable with their classmates. Being a Social Studies teacher, I think comfort level is extremely important as I would like to be able to have an open dialogue with a class, small or large, in which a student and myself feel challenged and excited to candidly discuss tough or uncomfortable topics.

I believe the future of children and education relies heavily on communal relationships. Relationships between teachers, parents, students, administrators and the community. It is a shared effort to prepare students to becoming literate, respectful, independent, self-disciplined members of society. My job as a teacher is to make this happens by any means whether it is inside or outside of the classroom. My mission as a teacher is to bring out each child's strengths and talents in order for them to thrive, hold on to important relationships and continue on a path of life-long learning. 1. ** Environment **. The is the first space a student will see when they walk into that first class. They should feel comfortable and at ease, and provide a warm culture for learning and teaching. The classroom be dynamic and a place where learning should be made inviting and stimulating, promoting achievement and growth. This includes not only warm colors and things to look at, but an enthusiastic, welcoming teacher, one to act as a guide allowing the student's natural curiosity and desire to learn. There should be structure A. //Capturing Attention.// Students have a hard time paying attention as it is, so in my classroom I need to create an environment that influences student attention. Whether it is a eye-catching display or some sort of action to begin a lesson, the classroom needs to be a place for learning and focus. It isimportant that the learning environment maintains attention and helps students stay focused on the learning situation. One way to keep students attention, is __Attention Control.__ There are a few ways to control ones attention. One, and personally the one that works best for me is bracketing unrelated thoughts. Bracketing thoughts helps students "remove" an unrelated thought "out of mind out of sight" for the time being. Whether they write it on a post-it note and move it to the side or write a comment in the margin of their paper, their thought is still there for when they want to be reminded of it, however not distracting during an unrelated lesson. Another method of attention control, is to create meaning to something that otherwise wouldn't have any importance to that student. By putting ideas in ones own words, organizing thoughts and facts in a specific way or elaborating on new information helps put more meaning behind an idea, creating a personal connection with the information, keeping the student interested and //hopefully// focusing attention during class. Sometimes students just need a bit of an energy adjustment to get them back on track. This is a fun and stimulating way to re-focus students attention. Stopping the class for a quick dance-break, a quick stretch or a few deep breaths helps break up a students attention span and "snap" them back to reality only to re-focus them on their studies.

2. ** Positive Attitude **. A positive attitude is important for both students and teachers. A teacher needs to be able to engage their students and encourage learning and the material in a positive manner. In turn, the students should feed off that positive energy and become motivated to learn B. //Encouragement & Diligence//. It is one thing to appear positive and happy all the time. However, painting a smile onyour face and speaking in a higher octave is not the most sincere attitude. I want my students to know that I appreciate their hardwork and I will be diligent in my part and effort to help them in any way possible, whether it is with a homework assignment or a feud with friends. I want them to know I sincerely care and am in their corner. I am committed to building a shared interest with my students, collaborating with them and respecting their work.

3. **Student Knowledge & Development**. I think a lot of preparation goes into teaching, especially gaining knowledge and researching ones students. According to the NYS teaching standards, teachers should work to improve success for each and every student. Teachers should acquire and demonstrate this knowledge of student learning and development in order to promote achievement. Every student has a different learning style and personality and I believe it is a teachers duty to get to know their students in order to teach them effectively.The teacher should respect individual learning styles, get to know what interests their students and be willing to go the extra mile to reach each student. C. //Research//. Each student will have a preferred way to learn, or a different set of skill sets than other students in the class. Other students may have a learning disability or a handicap. //Knowing// about each student's case, may simply not be enough. It is a teacher's responsibility to understand their students and their disabilities or challenges and that may require further research. Whether it is out of a text book, or a set-up IEP or 504 plan. IEP's open a doorway into a channel of communication between parents, administrators, special education teachers and the regular classroom teacher in order to agree upon the best services that they see fit for a student. An IEP is so important and continues with the student throughout their schooling career, it can be updated and revised according to the students changing needs.

4. ** Instructional Preparation **. Based on the information gathered from student research and development, a teacher should be able to plan for a curriculum accordingly in a manner that will ensure growth and challenges for every student. No matter how many different learning styles or intelligences are in one classroom, me as the teacher should be flexible and accommodating for each student. This also includes knowing the content and materials of the class and being able to tailoring it in a way that will promote growth and understand for each student. D. //Differentiated Instruction//. In order to meet the needs of diverse group of learners that I anticipate in one classroom, I know that my lessons have to be well planned out and differentiated. Using the many __differentiated instructional__ strategies, my lesson plans will match content, processes and products based on student differences, learning profiles and interests. My favorite strategy of differentiated instruction is the use of a RAFT worksheet, where students are provided with different options to produce a product that involves various formats of writing. A RAFT chart caters to students with a variety of interests and learning styles and allows for a students individuality to be showcased. In my classroom, there will be a lot of flexible grouping. I think that flexible grouping is essential for students varying in their current performance. Creating groups based on the variables of intersets, learning profiles, and readiness enables students so that they are continuously working within their zone of proximal development and provide and receive scaffolding from their other group members. It is important to frequently change up the groups as achievement and interests change, while cautiously and continuously assessing the progress.



5. ** Acquisition & Application of Knowledge **. An effective teachermust be able to guide their students in learning new information, organizing it and applying it it to what they know based on the varied learning styles of the classroom. Engaging students, using discussion techniques, responding to students questions and comments are some tools to help students apply newly learning knowledge to “the real world. E. //Assessment//. I believe that grading and assessment should be used to motivate the kind of learning I intend for my students to achieve in my classroom. I maintain high standards and hope to give students a chance to meet them. That being said, I believe in a criterion-referenced grading policy where students’ grades are represented by their understanding, performance, participation, creativity and the objectives that are met in my classroom, by providing clear, reliable assessments. This philosophy promotes grading on an individual basis where students are not compared to others and all have the ability to earn an A based on their own learning styles. Grading should be fair, manageable and a way to encourage learning, not just performance This means I will:
 * Check for understanding, meaningful, high quality of work, and a high level of skill development and growth
 * Emphasize the importance of behavior, however evaluate it separately from academic achievement
 * Spell out the criteria for each grade in advance, so students have fair knowledge of their objectives
 * Perform formative assessments for students to help me gage where each students weaknesses and strengths lie
 * I would use a formative test prior to beginning a unit in order to help guide me in planning and improving the instruction of the unit. I would also use formative assessment mid-way through a unit to see what areas of weakness still exist, what needs to be adjusted, clarified or differentiate.
 * Encourage participation, and questioning
 * Give students feedback that they can use
 * Keep an organized system, in which I will be able to track student achievements, troubles, and behavior
 * Create reliable and valid assessments to measure knowledge, motivation and understanding

This means I will not:
 * Unfairly judge a student based on a numerical grade
 * Take away points for speaking out, being late or turning in incomplete work
 * Create assessment that is bias
 * Accept thoughtless, lazy work
 * Provide outlets for students’ opinions, thoughts and personal feedback?

Things I may struggle with:

I think I will struggle with “sticking to my guns,” regarding staying unbiased and/or not basing grades on behavioral issues. I believe that student behavior is essential to a positive learning environment, however don’t necessarily believe grades should be a punishment. However, what other sort of consequences would I put in place to maintain order and behavior in the classroom?

I think I would also struggle with knowing what level of understanding a student has regarding a topic if they turn in incomplete work. Typically incomplete or ignored work would result in a low grade or even a 0, however that doesn’t mean the student doesn’t understand what he or she has been learning. However, how would I know otherwise?

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6. ** Professional Growth .** In any profession, I think it is important to further their education in their field. Teachers, especially should take advantage of the plethora of resources offered outside the classroom. Whether it is attending workshops and seminars, participating in school functions or coaching a school team, professional growth is important to show your support to the school and your students, as well as the commitment to your career. F. //Community Responsibility//. As a teacher, I think it is good practice to set a good and meaningful example for your students. Creating relationships and open communication with members of the community, including your students families, volunteering at local charities and setting a good example outside of the classroom, shows your students you are a respectful and responsible citizen, just as it is my hope as their teacher, to guide them to be.



I LOVE the Olympics. As a history enthusiast the Olympics make me really stop and realize that for a short period of 17 days, the whole world comes together. We all know that other than the Olympics, you can’t really say that too much about any other time in history. I know that each country is technically competing with each other, but for the most part, those two weeks is peaceful. The comradely that occurs every 4 years is something really special, and while I wish it was more than every 4-years, I think that the significance of the Olympic Rings fits well into my framework of education. Just as the 5 rings are inter-locked, and create a union of the 5 participating regions, my first five categories can also be connected and cohesive. Above all, is the standing Olympic flame. I believe successful Professional Growth and community involvement enables the rest of the categories, as the flame signifies the start of the Olympic games and as it stays lite throughout the duration, the flame in my framework should signify a teacher's "fire" to progress their own growth and have it stay lite throughout their teaching career.