MyTeachingPhilosophy

Instruction:
Ibelieveinstructionshouldbeclearandconcise,differentiated,andshouldallowas

muchexplorationandcollaborationaspossible.Everystudentisdifferentandshouldbetreated

thatway.Inorderforeachstudenttoreachtheoutcome,theyneedtheinstructionpresentedto

theminthewaythatappealsmosttotheirlearningneeds.Notonlyshouldinstructionbe

differentiatedbasedoffthestudent,instructionshouldalsobedifferentiatedaccordingtothe

outcome.Eachoutcomehasadifferenttechniquethatshouldbeusedinorderforstudentsto

reachthatgoalnotwolessonsshouldbetaughtthesameway.Ibelievecontentshouldbe

representedinmultiplewaysthroughouttheinstruction.Thishelpstheinstructiontoreachacross

theclassroomtofiteachstudentsindividualneedsandhelpsthemseethecontentindifferent

ways.
Ialsobelieveateachershoulduseresearchedbasedinstructionandusemanydifferent

resourcesthroughouttheirinstruction.Thismeansthattheyareusinginstructionstrategiesthat

aretriedandtrueandwillhelpstudentsachievetheoutcome.Thisalsomeansthatteacherswill

havetodotheirresearchonthetopictheyreteachingandlookforstrategiesthatare

successfullyproventohelpstudentsreachtheoutcomeforthatlesson.Teachersshouldscoutout

differentinstructiontechniquesandusedifferentresourcesthatareavailabletothem,suchasthe

locallibrary,localexperts,parents,administration,specialists,etc.Notonlyshouldteachersdo

theirresearchforinstruction,butteachersshouldalsocollaboratewithoneanother.

Collaboratingwithotherteachershelpsyoutobeabetterteacherandinstructorasyouseewhat

workedandwhatdidntworkfortheirclassandwhattheycouldhavedonebetter,andapplyitto

yourinstruction.Teacherscangivetipstooneanotherthatwillhelpthestudentsachievethe

goalforthatlesson.
 Notonlyshouldteacherscollaboratewithoneanother,butstudentsshouldbegiventhe

opportunitytocollaboratewithoneanotherthroughoutinstruction,aswell.Asstudents

collaborate,theyconstructtheirownmeaningandhelpothersconstructmeaningandgain

understanding.Thishelpstakethestressofftheinstructionandstudentsareabletodotheirown

teaching.Throughmystudentteachingexperience,Ilearnedstudentscouldteacheachotherjust

aswellasIcouldteachthem.Iheardmanygreatconversationsbeingheldbetweenstudentsthat

helpedstudentsclarifymeaningformathtopics,scienceexperiments,andreadingstrategies

studentswereaskingeachothermeaningfulquestionsandtheirpeersweregivingmeaningful

answers!TheseconversationsalloweddeeperandhigherlevelthinkingandIwasabletosee

howImayneedtoadaptmyinstructionasateacherandwhatImayhaveneededtoreaddressas

awholeclass.
Anotherbeliefwhenitcomestoinstructionisthatmanipulativesandinteractive

technologiesshouldbeused.Boththesethingshelpstudentsgainthatfoundationand

backgroundknowledgeonmanydifferenttopics;manipulativesinmathhelpstudentstogain

numbersense,computershelpstudentsgainthatbackgroundknowledgeandallowstudentsto

researchmanytopics,etc.Notonlydothesemakelearningfun,butalsohelpstudentsgain

understandingthroughoutinstructionastheyapplyandinquiredifferentcontentacrossmultiple

subjects.Computersareagreatandusefultoolthatcanbeutilizedthroughoutinstructionfor

manysubjectareaswhenusedappropriately.Therearemanyprogramsavailableforteachersto

usethatworkgreatinhelpingstudentsachievetheoutcome.Computersalsohelpinstructionbe

differentiatedthroughoutthelessonbasedoffstudentslearningneeds.Duringmystudent

teachingexperience,usingcomputersforvocabularythroughouttheweekincreasedstudents
vocabularyscoresby20%.Thishelpedtomakevocabularyafunlearningexperiencethat

studentslookedforwardtoeveryweekthathelpedthemtoexploreandapplynewwords.
Ialsobelieveinstructionshouldbeadaptable.Teachersshouldbereadytoadaptto

studentsneedsandadjusttheinstructionasappropriateduringthelesson;ifthelessonistoo

hard,bereadytobreakdownthecontentandtrysomethingelsebreakstudentsintogroups,use

theaidetoyouradvantageandhavethemworkwithasmallgroupintheback,havethe

advancedstudentsdoonething,whileyouworkwithagroupofftotheside,etc.Someofthe

bestlessonsIhavetaughtarethosethatdidnotgoaccordingtothelessonplan.Ratherthan

havingonesetlesson,bepreparedforanydirectiontheinstructionmaytakeandletthestudents

leadtheway!

Assessment:
Ibelievethewholepointofassessmentistoknowwhatyourstudentsunderstandabout

thelesson,andinordertoaccomplishthis,assessments(bothformativeandsummative)should

bedirectlyalignedtotheoutcome(s)ofthelesson.Ifassessmentsaredirectlyalignedtothe

outcome,thishelpsyoutoknowifstudentsachievedtheoutcomeornotandwhatyouwantthe

studentstoaccomplish.Teachersshouldaskthemselvesthesequestionswhencreatingan

assessmentforaunitorcompletingformativeassessmentthroughoutthelessonplan:1)Whatdo

Iwantmystudentstoaccomplish?and2)HowwillIknowtheyaccomplishedthis?Thisway,

teachersknowwhattheyareexpectingoftheirstudentsandhowtheirstudentsaregoingtoshow

theirunderstanding.
Ialsobelieveformativeassessmentsshouldbedonethroughoutthelessonandarejustas

importantassummativeassessments.Formativeassessmenthelpstoguidethelessonandtells

youifstudentsareontracktoachievingtheoutcome,ifthelessonistoohardortooeasy,andif

adjustmentstothelessonarenecessary.Formativeassessmentalsotellsyouifthepacingofthe
lessonistoofastortooslow.Thishelpsteacherstoseewhatadjustmentstheyneedtomake.Not

onlydoingformativeassessmenthelpguidethelesson,butIalsobelievesummativeassessments

helpguidetheinstruction,aswell.Whengiventheresultsofasummativeassessment,teachers

shouldaskthemselves:WheredoIgofromhere?Thishelpsthemtocreateaplananddecide

whethertheyneedtoreteachatopicorclarifymisconceptionsthatwerefoundoriftheyare

goingtomoveontothenextlessonorunit.
Ibelievesummativeassessmentsshouldbebothvalidandreliable.Thismeansthat

studentsshouldntbetakingatestondividingfractionswhentheunitwasonsubtractingwhole

numbers,becausethisdoesnottellyouwhatstudentsunderstandaboutsubtractingwhole

numbers.Studentsshouldknowexactlywhatisgoingtobeonthetestandwhattoexpect.When

studentsknowwhattoexpectonthetest,thishelpstocreatealearningenvironmentwhere

studentsarecomfortableandconfidentinboththemselvesandinyou.Thisalsohelpstoincrease

therelationshipbetweenteacherandstudent.Ibelievestudentsscoresshouldalsocorrectly

indicatetheirunderstanding.Forexample,astudentthatisdoingwelloneachlessonanddoes

wellduringformativeassessment,shouldntgoontofailthesummativeassessmentorvice

versa.Thisindicatesthattheassessmentwasntareliablesourceofshowingstudent

understandingorthattheformativeassessmentwasntaccurate.Teachersshouldthentakeastep

backandanalyzewheretheywentwrongandhowtheycanaccuratelyassessstudents

understanding.
Ialsobelievestudentsshouldbegivenmultipleopportunitiestodemonstrateand

representtheirunderstanding.Somestudentsarebetteratshowingtheirunderstandingthrough

writing,whileothersarebetteratverballycommunicatingtheirunderstanding.Thisiswhere

askingopenendedandproblemsolvingquestionscomein,andstudentsareabletodemonstrate
theirknowledgeindifferentways.Ibelieveproblemsolvingquestionsareanessentialpartof

assessingstudentsknowledge.Askingproblemsolvingquestionsgivesstudentstheopportunity

toexplainandshowtheirthinking.Thishelpstheteacherseeexactlywherestudentsmayhave

gonewrongorthemisconceptionstheymayhave.Thisalsoallowstheteacherstolookfor

patternswithinstudentsandseehowtheycanadjusttheirinstructionorwhattheymayneedto

reteach.Problemsolvingquestionsalsoallowstudentstousetheirstrategiesorexpresstheir

thoughtsusingmeansthatappealmosttothem.Thisalsohelpsteachersgainagood

understandingofwhatstudentsdoanddonotknowastheycaneitherexplainitandwork

throughtheproblem,orcant(whereas,onamultiplechoicequestionstudentshavea25%

chanceofguessingthecorrectanswer).
Ibelieveassessmentisanessentialpartinthelearningprocess.Teachersshouldassess

theirteachingjustasmuchastheyassesstheirstudentsunderstanding.Teachersshouldanalyze

theirinstructionandshouldreflectoneachandeverylessoninordertobecomeabetterteacher.

Assessmentisaneverendingcycleofreporting,analyzing,andplanning.Teachersshouldalso

assessstudentsunderstandingandincludestudentsintheassessmentprocessfrequently.

Assessmenthelpsustoseeimprovementinstudentsandtoshowhowfartheyhavecome.

Studentscanseetheirareasofimprovementandallthattheyhavelearnedthroughouttheweek,

throughouttheunit,throughoutthemonth,andthroughouttheentireschoolyear.Thishelps

studentsfindasenseofaccomplishmentandpridewithinthemselvesandpushesthemto

continuetoworkandchallengethemselvestobecomelifelonglearners.

Management:
Successfullessonsandawellmanagedclassroomgohandinhandwithoneanother.The

mostessentialpartofhavingawellmanagedclassroomishavingapositiveclassroom.Ibelieve
havingapositiveclassroomenvironmenthelpsstudentsfeelsafeandsecurebothtwo

importantthingsinorderforstudentstosucceedbothinandoutoftheclassroom.Positive

reinforcementiscrucialtohavingawellmanagedclassroomandsuccessfulstudents.Forevery

negativebehavior,thereareatleast8appropriatebehaviorsbeingdisplayed.Thepositive

behaviorshouldalwaysbeaddressedfirst.Ifanegativebehaviorisbeingdisplayed,ateacher

shouldstopthenegativebehaviorbyredirectingthefocustotheappropriatebehaviorforthetask

athandandreinforcingthepositivebehavior.Thisdrawstheattentiontothepositive,ratherthan

focusingonthenegative.Thosestudentsthataredisplayingthepositivebehavior,setthe

examplewhilefeelinggoodaboutthemselvesandfindaccomplishmentindoingso,andthose

studentsthataredisplayingthenegativebehavior,knowwhattodotochangetheirbehaviorto

theappropriatebehaviorwithoutgettingyelledatorfeelingembarrassed.Thishelpssetthetone

fortheenvironmentintheclassroomandfortherestofthelesson.
Teachersshouldalsoignoreinconsequentialbehavior.Ifitisnotharmfultoothersorto

themselvesanddoesnottakeawayfromthelearningenvironmentignoreit!Sometimes

teachersfocustoomuchonhavingthequietestormoststillclassroom,thattheyforgettheyjust

arekids!Kidsaregoingtobeantsy,theyaregoingtobetappingpencils,andeverynowand

then,theyaregoingtomovearound!Ateacherneedstolearnhowtoignorethosebehaviorsthat

arentnecessarilynegative,butalsoarentpositive.Thistakestimefromthelessonandpatience

awayfromtheteacher.
Ibelieveitisimportantthatstudentsknowwhatisexpectedofthemsotheyknow

exactlywhatisappropriateandwhatisnt.Thiscanbeaccomplishedbysettingtheexpectations

anddescribingtheappropriatebehaviorbeforegettingstudentsstartedonthetask.Thisway,

studentsknowhowtheyshouldgoaboutataskandtheexpectationstheyshouldfollow.
Teachersshouldalsohonortheseexpectationsbyholdingstudentstothemiftheywant

studentstoraisetheirhand,donotlistenoracknowledgethosethatarentorareshoutingout,

andacknowledgethosethatare!
Ialsobelieveroutinesandproceduresareimportanttohavingawellmanagedclassroom.

Teachersshouldmodelanddemonstratetheseroutinesandproceduresstartingonthefirstdayof

school.Astheseroutinesandproceduresaredemonstratedfromdayone,studentsfeel

comfortableandconfidentwiththeirroleintheclassroomandfeelasenseofresponsibility

whencompletingthesetasks.Notonlydoeshavingroutinesandprocedureseliminatewasted

timeandmaketransitionsfromonesubjecttoanotherandtransitionsinoutoftheclassroom

easierandsmoother,butitalsoallowsmoretimetobefocusedontheinstruction.Routinesand

proceduresshouldinclude:howandwherestudentslineupwhenenteringandexitingthe

classroom,howstudentsgettheirmaterials,howstudentsshouldgoaboutsharpeningtheir

pencils,whatstudentsshoulddoiftheyneedtousetherestroom,etc.Asstudentsknowthese

routinesandprocedures,theyknowexactlywhattodoandwhatisexpectedofthemwhenthey

needtocompletethesetasks.Thishelpstoeliminatedistractionsanddisruptionsbefore,during,

andafterinstructionthattakeawayfromthelesson.Thisalsohelpspreventdistractionsand

disruptionsfromhappening.
Ibelievetherearemanytechniquesthatateachercanusetomanagetheirclassroomand

theirstudentsandthatitisamatteroftrialanderror.Eachstudentisdifferentandshould

managedandtreatedassuch.Teachersshouldbewillingtoadjusttheirinterventionsover(and

over)againinordertoreceivethedesiredbehavior.Ialsobelievethatateacherneedstolove

whattheyaredoing.Thisincludeslovefortheirstudents,loveforlearning,andloveforthe

classroom.Asteachershavethislove,theyaimtodowhatevernecessarytoenhancestudent
learningandreceivedesiredbehaviorwhilepassingthatloveforlearningontotheirstudentsand

creatingafun,positivelearningexperiencewhiledoingso.