Elizabeth+P.

Philosophy of Education: My philosophy of education is based on my main goal for my students, which is for them to become self-sufficient and life-long learners. Teachers should be passionate about their content area, so as to inspire their students. I believe in making every student responsible for and active in his own education. I also believe that every child is capable of learning and deserves an able and caring teacher.

FRAMEWORK: My framework can be explained under three major headings: **ORGANIZATION**, **STRATEGY**, and **EVALUATION.**

1) **//planning//** (What does the student need to know?) 2) **//physical environment//** (How does my classroom affect student learning?) 3) **//teaching tools/supplies//** (What handouts/visual aids/technological tools might help my students learn?).
 * -ORGANIZATION** is the primary step for an educator, and speaks for the organization of internal and external entities. Under **ORGANIZATION**, I will list the following sub-categories:

1) **//methods//** (How can I reach my students? What activities can I utilize to facilitate student understanding?) 2) **//classroom management//** (What techniques will I use to control my classroom? What will my classroom procedures be?)
 * -STRATEGY** is the next step. Once lessons are planned and the classroom and supplies are ready for use, the teacher must develop strategies for his classroom. Under the **STRATEGY** heading, I will list the following sub-categories:

1) **//teacher reflection//** (What was successful? What do I need to improve for next time?) 2) **//student response//** (How did the students respond to the lesson? What did/didn't they understand?) 3) **//student assessment//** (What are the concrete results? How did this lesson translate into a grade?)
 * -EVALUATION** is the final step. Once the lessons have been taught, **EVALUATION** of both the teacher and students is crucial; therefore, this category applies to the evaluation of both teacher and student. The sub-categories under **EVALUATION** are:


 * TYPES OF THINKING** falls under two of the framework categories, **ORGANIZATION** and **STRATEGY**. The physical organization of the classroom and logical organization of the lessons should appeal to each kind of thinker. The teacher should always maintain order, but should be willing to adapt lessons and assignments to appeal to creative, interpretive, and literal thinkers; strategy, therefore, can be malleable (and //should// be varied) so as to adapt to different learners.


 * ASSIMILATION/ACCOMODATION** pertains to **STRATEGY**. When presenting information to the class, it's important to facilitate assimilation when possible by making connections to prior learned information. If a student can mentally organize information so that new information can be added on to an already-learned topic, they may learn more easily. The teacher must strategize and plan how to present information: Is it entirely new, or is it an extension of something the class already understands? Entirely new information must be accomodated rather than assimilated, so the students and teacher should understand this point as well.


 * BRAIN RESEARCH** relates to **STRATEGY**. Teachers should take into account new information on how children learn and process. Ideally, teachers could help their students learn by tailoring their teaching to the processing of the brain-- how much time is needed to process the information? which techniques are most effective? how is new information made memorable? With this information, teachers can develop strategies that cater to the processes of the brain.


 * PIAGET'S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT** relate to **ORGANIZATION** and **STRATEGY**. Developmental stages have a great effect on what the brain can handle. Therefore, it's important to understand at which stages our students are, and how we can best appeal to their current stage. The curriculum must be organized and teaching be planned to serve the student's developmental stage.


 * VYGOTSKY'S ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT** relates to **STRATEGY**. Knowing when a student is capable of solving a problem on his own, or when to offer assistance (or take away assistance), is part of the strategy involved with teaching. A teacher must know what the student is capable of, and what greater things can be accomplished with a little help.


 * SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED MEANING** also relates to **STRATEGY**. Socially constructed meaning may often take place during a group work session, which can be very helpful as part of a lesson. The opportunity for students to talk and work together is an invaluable tool.


 * MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES** relates to **ORGANIZATION** and **STRATEGY.** As teachers, we have to be understanding of students with strengths in areas other than our own. How can we organize our material to best suit these students, and how can we reach them?


 * CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING** relate to **STRATEGY****.** The conditioning of students is often used as a classroom management technique; in other words, conditioning is used as a strategy to control the classroom environment.


 * ATTENTION** pertains to **STRATEGY**. The strategy behind planning a lesson involves knowing the content and knowing how to present it. And sometimes most importantly, how can we present it in a way that will be memorable and interesting for the students? Keeping students' attention and keeping them involved is related to the strategy behind each lesson.


 * MEASUREMENT** and **ASSESSMENT** relate to **EVALUATION.** Measurement and assessment are crucial for lesson planning-- Teachers must know where their students' strengths and weaknesses are in order to determine what needs to be taught.


 * PRETEST** relates to **STRATEGY** and **EVALUATION.** The pretest is given to students to measure their existing level of understanding on a given topic before instruction takes place. Therefore, the pretest can be a helpful tool in devising a strategy for teaching a lesson or unit. The pretest is also an evaluation; again, students' knowledge and understanding is being evaluated so that further instruction can be tailored to their strengths and weaknesses.


 * PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT** relates to **STRATEGY** and **EVALUATION.** In a performance assessment, students actively perform a task or produce a product to be evaluated. Performance assessments may be used when a physical skill or product must be demonstrated. Therefore, the teacher's strategy in teaching the unit determines whether a performance assessment is necessary-- Can the students write about or take a test on the topic, or would an active or real-time demonstration better demonstrate their understanding?


 * GRADES & MOTIVATION** relate to **STRATEGY** and **EVALUATION.** Grades can and should be used to motivate students-- Students who lose sight of the long-term benefits of learning are often motivated by a grade in the short-term. Therefore, we as teachers can use grades as a part of our teaching strategy to motivate our students. Additionally, assignments that we grade might indicate the material to be used on an assessment.