Teaching Philosophy

When I think about teaching the first thing that comes to my mind is the
environment. How can teachers create and establish a place that is inviting, safe,
encouraging and full of learning activities that engage children. When children are
engaged, the role of a teacher as a guide and educator get easier. There are less
behavior issues and teachers can concentrate on educating students more. [Of course
all these can be created by educators who are making ethical and intelligent decisions
and do their best to empower children].
I believe that development greatly impacts behavior. When children grow up in a
safe, healthy and stable home they have much better behavior than those who do not. It
is the job of an educator to find a solution for those who need help. One way to do this
is to create a fun and effective learning environment in which these children slowly
come around and improve their behaviors.
The goal I have as a future teacher is to help children learn how to make better
choices so they can grow into strong, confident, and independent adults. I would teach
them self-management. As self-management is more realistic then self-regulations,
(Bronson, 2000). Children have difficulty saying no to bad feelings right away. They
need time to calm down and think he added. For example, last week one of my
students didnt want to share the computer with a classmate. She said through tears I
dont like to sit next to him. I pulled her out of the group and told her to sit in the reading
area to think about what she said to the boy and calm down. I told her when she was
ready she could go to the computer and sit next to him. She cried for five minutes.
When she stopped I went up to her and asked her if she was ready she said no. I said,

Let me know when you are. She came up to me soon after and said I am ready. She
controlled her feelings and calmed down then went back to the activity. I believe that
self-regulation is better suited for older children than young ones.
One of the theorist that inspired me the most is, Vygotsky writing about private
speech. In addition to his emphasis on a collaborative relationship between child and
teachers via scaffolding, Vygotsky made a direct contribution to guidance in the area of
private speech. He argues that private speech serves as a vehicle for social emotional
problem solving. He says in situations like this private speech becomes an aid in
developing skills such as self- awareness, handling strong feelings, empathy, and social
competence. If these abilities constitute in children the democratic life style emerging
and the teaching practices that underline them constitute guidance, he said.
Teachers should help children to achieve a positive sense of self by providing an
anti-bias environment where everyone feels accepted. Also making sure to treat
everyone with equality including those who come from various cultures whose first
language is not English, and children who have disabilities. To help the youngsters build
social skills teachers should encourage children to develop empathy by reading books
and asking children how they think the characters feel. Creating an activity that requires
cooperation and group work and helps children make positive choices and be
independent are also ways to support their social skills.
Children watch adults to learn behaviors, like saying please and thank you in
conversations. When children use their parents favorite curse words that reminds adults
the importance of modeling appropriate behavior in front of children. Their little eyes are
always observing and watching every move adults make and unfortunately most of us

are unaware of this. However, adults can change their behavior to model a good
character for the children, they even model the way adults are talking. When my
younger daughter was in high school, I had noticed that when she was talking she was
moving her hands a lot and also the phrases she was using were new to me. Until I
went to the parent-teacher conference and noticed one of her favorite teacher was
using her hands a lot while talking, and using the same phrases that my daughter was
using. There is even a saying that your children turn into what you are, not what you
want. While teachers are working with students or parents are raising their children,
they should be mindful of age appropriate modeling that offers successful lessons.
These lessons could teach young children to learn acceptable behavior. Adults always
will be good role model for children, regardless of their age. According to the National
Association of school psychologist, talking to children is the best way to teach them how
to resist bad behavior, and encouraging them to practice self-regulation, selfmanagement and modeling appropriate behavior through action and role play.
The role of families in their childs education process is essential as they are the
first role model for them. Teachers should build a positive relationship with the parents
to help the guidance approach be successful. It goes back at least as far as Froebels
kindergarten, as the book mentioned. When teachers are communicating with parents
they would got to know them and learned about their cultural back ground. This way
they could find ways to guide their students. Childrens personalities are shaped at
home. When they start school they face an environment that might be so different from
home, and that can be overwhelming. The teachers job is to make the transition go

smoothly and to get the parents and families involved from the beginning, so there will
be less behavior issues in my opinion in the future.
In my classroom one day I would like to use these strategies for positive classroom
environment.
1. Know the child: watching, listening, and learning about childs temperament,
interests, home life and learning style often clarifies behavior and helps adults to
teach the child better.
2. Be honest: sometimes adults tweak the truth to expedite issues, for example
taking the toy that makes noise and they are annoyed by it, and telling the child
they lost it, or we are not going on the computer today, because its broken. I
would make sure to build trust with my students from the beginning.
3. Show respect: showing children respect will help them know they are being
guided not punished.
4. Use humor: most children enjoy seeing adults being silly and respond to that with
joy. One thing adults must not do is to laugh at the students, instead laugh with
them.
Although I have many years of experience working with children, but I am still
learning about teaching and how to create an environment that is safe, healthy,
educational and inviting. I know one thing, and it is that teachers alone cant do this by
themselves. Educators must get the families involve with their children education. As
Hillary Clinton Said once It takes a village to raise a child. Families have a big role on
shaping the life of their children. When children start school they come from families that
have different cultures and religious beliefs. My philosophy is to welcome them all,
regardless of their ethnicity, and cultural background. I also believe that by collaborating
with my colleagues I can be more confident and getting feedback from them will support

me to become better teacher. Teachers should be respectful, honest, and

knowledgeable and be able to teach the child in whole. Moreover, teach them that they
can learn from their mistakes, empower them, and to create an environment that is
affective, safe, and encouraging, they will blossom beautifully.