In terms of my teaching philosophy, I feel I am traditional and intend to always put my

students and their needs above everything else. Overall, the purpose of school is to provide
students with a quality, enjoyable education. By giving them enjoyable lessons and making
social memories to last a lifetime, the teacher is not only entertaining the child for thirty hours a
week, but filling their mind with beneficial information that they will carry with them forever.
The environment that the teacher creates to nurture his or her students plays a crucial role in how
the student will learn. The best way to make a child want to come to class is to create a
welcoming, comforting environment where he or she will feel safe and free to express
themselves no matter what. For example, a classroom that has an atmosphere that is dull, rigid,
and all about work will not have children as excited to learn as those that are in a classroom with
fun decorations, helpfulness, and an upbeat aura.
To create said positive learning environment, it is important, as a teacher, to make sure
every student knows there is no judgement at any time, I know for me, as a child I was terrified
of answering a question out loud in fear of being wrong and the whole class laughing at me. If it
is established from the start that no answer is a stupid answer, students will be more willing to
participate in activities and class discussions. Another strategy for making students comfortable
is learning about them and their personal lives and incorporating it into your teaching. It could be
the smallest thing that makes a child’s day; a teacher could simply create a word problem for the
class using the student's name and something they like to do.
Ensuring that your students are learning is without a doubt the most important concept a
teacher should master. Of course it is great if your students are having fun and making memories,
but if the children are not learning anything, school is nothing more than a daycare. Learning is
when a student absorbs knowledge in effective ways and further develops his or her
understanding of a particular concept. For me, learning is all about the look on the child’s face
when they realize they did something right that they were not capable of before. When answering
a question correctly and their eyes sparkle like the stars, you know that student is learning, and
enjoying learning nonetheless.When the student is able to perform tasks without assistance better
than they could before, that student is learning.
While running a classroom, it is vital that you, as a teacher, are aware of every student
and their needs for learning. Different students learn at different levels and, without proper
individualization, can fall behind in the crowd of the student population. Some students may
need extra reading time, while others may need an interactive activity to understand the concept.
Without prior knowledge of what your student needs, it is impossible to know how much time to
spend on lessons, how to teach the lessons, and how many different ways you need to go over it.
Not all students are the same and without knowledge of each student’s educational background,
it is impossible to know how to help them.
A lot of a student’s desire to learn comes from the teacher's ability to engage his or her
students in an effective way. A positive learning environment is one that is not only about
positive energy and a cheerful vibe, but one that is engaging as well, making students want to
learn. John Dewey, educational philosopher, social reformer, and educator says it best when he
says, “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature
as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.”This plays a role in a student’s comfortability
in a classroom. By providing different ways to learn the same lesson, teachers have the ability to
intrigue every type of students, making them curious as to what is coming next. A good teacher
keeps the children on their toes, wondering what kind of fun learning will occur in that particular
class in that particular moment. By changing lesson plans, creating new activities, and changing
up everyday activities in the classroom, a teacher can engage students, making them want to
come back every day. This also plays a role in what a quality curriculum is; a quality curriculum
is one that tailors to every student and their needs in ways that are not repetitive or boring.
Creating lessons that accommodate everyone in new and inventive ways is not an easy task, but
to be a quality, engaging teacher, it is essential to include a variety of ways to teach concepts in a
classroom.
Though engaging students and making them feel welcome is extremely valuable, family
engagement is essential to developing a community within your school/classroom. In Home,
School, and Community Collaborations: Culturally Responsive Family Engagement by Kathy B.
Grant and Julie A. Ray, the sense of community is emphasized. The authors recommend that
schools “Coordinate resources and services from the community for families, students, and the
school, and provide services to the community” (Grant & Ray 2019, page 47). To do this, I
believe in hosting monthly workshops after school hours. During these workshops I would
interact with students and their families and promote topics that are worth focusing on both in
and outside of school. This can include topics such as healthy mindsets, inclusion, bullying, and
several other discussion and activity based concepts. By providing activities for families to do
with one another in a school setting, the school is promoting bonding and positive vibes for all
types of families. Engaging families this way is priority in maintaining the community feel of
the school.
In terms of family engagement in the individualized classroom setting, I firmly believe in
bringing culture and backgrounds into the class in order to make students feel welcome and
understood. To promote this, I would invite parents in to read to the class however they choose.
Families who speak different languages can introduce their dialect and families who are
structurally different (i.e.grandparents as primary caregivers) will represent themselves in a real
way. It is so easy for children to feel like they are falling out of touch with the class community
because they make look or sound different or have grown up differently than the rest of the class.
By inviting in families during the school day, parents feel involved in their child’s education and
students feel a sense of belonging. This is a way to be culturally responsive while also
accommodating every type of student/family both in and outside of the classroom.I believe in
allowing students and families to represent themselves and feel welcomed in the classroom
community, and, as an educator, I will spend the beginning of each year observing my students
and engaging their families as I see fit. The value in family engagement is irreplaceable.
Overall, a classroom environment is a concept that takes a lot of perfecting, but when it is
just right, you will know it. Every teacher knows what works best for him or herself and their
students and what does not, so at the end of the day, a good teacher is one that truly cares about
his or her students and their background. A wise person once said, “Never stop learning, because
life never stops teaching” and I truly feel as a lifelong learner, I will be an educator my students
can rely on, and a person that families can feel connected to. Being able to provide children with
a positive environment and stimulate learning in an effective way should absolutely be the goal
for any teacher.
 References

Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. (2019). Home, school, and community collaboration: culturally
responsive family involvement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

John Dewey. (2019, April 16). Retrieved December 10, 2019, from
https://www.biography.com/scholar/john-dewey.

Juma, N. (2019, November 25). 70 Quotes About Education and the Power of Learning.
Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://everydaypower.com/quotes-about-education/.