PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING ELA 1

Running Head: PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING ELA

Philosophy of Teaching English Language Arts

Kristen Padgett Finucan

Gardner-Webb University
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Philosophy of Teaching English Language Arts

My foremost belief in education is that all children can learn. Beyond this, I believe the

right teacher can help a student learn and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Every

day for the last fifteen years, I have driven myself to be that teacher for every student in my

class. Many years ago, I decided to teach English Language Arts because of my enduring belief

that this subject teaches students vital life skills. As humans, we thrive on communication.

Writing, reading, speaking, and listening are essential communication tools for ELA, school, the

workforce, and life. As students grow in these areas, their potential for future success grows as

well.

I believe the key to teaching writing lies in finding the writing process that works for

each student. While many see writing as a solidary activity, I do not. From the first day, I assert

to my students that they are part of a community of writers in my classroom. Like most teachers,

I have students begin writing activities by brainstorming. I often do this in the form of a

discussion board or personal journal entry. I am a firm believer that writing improves with daily

practice. I engage in writing activities with my students in order to model a more advanced

writers thought process for them. Of course, occasionally I struggle, giving them an opportunity

to see how a more advanced writer moves on from rough patches. For instance, when I read over

my drafts, I often notice that I begin multiple sentences with the same words. My students often

have this same issue in their first drafts. I often project a paragraph from one of my own writing

assignments to demonstrate how to vary sentence patterns. Additionally, I have recently begun to

invest significant class time in peer review and my students have reaped the benefits. As

aforementioned, we are driven by our need to communicate. Our students are social creatures by

nature, I believe in using that to my advantage in the classroom.

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As a voracious reader myself, one of the joys of teaching ELA is introducing students to

works of literature and helping them develop skills to engage complex texts. Literate 21st

century learners are reading, writing, and analyzing more than traditional printed text. While the

classics are a staple in my classroom, I fully recognize new forms of literacy and texts. I include

graphic novels, blogs, and other digital texts.

My English classroom is bigger than the walls of my physical classroom. I have taught in

the one-to-one environment for years and I incorporate technology and the Internet to allow my

students to be part of the real world within their classroom. Research from new media scholars

such as Henry Jenkins and Elizabeth Losh (2012) shows that work students create in their

affinity spaces is just as meaningful as that which they do in the classroom. I work to make my

classroom a type of affinity space where students feel comfortable creating with one another. An

observer may find my students writing fan fiction using characters from the literature we read,

making iMovie adaptations of our short stories, or creating digital stories using iBooks Author. I

embrace the participatory culture that has shaped my students. Speaking and listening skills are

naturally fostered in this cooperative learning environment.

I work diligently to ensure my classroom is a welcoming place for all students. For

instance, one particular population of students I have been working with are English Language

Learners. I teach Honors and AP English. Current research (Kanno and Kangas 2014) shows that

English Language Learners are often steered away from advanced classes because those teachers

considered less likely to offer the support and ELL student would need. I address the challenges

of my ELL students head on. I work to move those students to self-efficacy by supporting them

before during and after reading using strategies such as anticipation guides, dialectical journals,

and question the author activities. I recognize the ELL students often get more practice speaking
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than writing in English. I employ dialogue journals to offer students the opportunity to write

without the stress of worrying about perfection.

The mission of my district is to prepare students to be successful in a global economy.

The skills afforded by the ELA classroom provides a solid foundation for that success. My

personal philosophy springs from my understanding that, as technological advances surge the

world our students inhabit forward, our educational practices must remediate. As I work to

facilitate growth for my students in all aspects of communication, I realize that I am helping to

shape our future nation.

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References

Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014). "I'm Not Going to Be, Like, for the AP": English language

learners' limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high

school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 848-878.

Losh, E., & Jenkins, H. (2012). Can public education coexist with participatory

Culture?. Knowledge Quest, 41(1), 16-21.