Personal Philosophy

 Personal Philosophy of Teaching Statement

PART 1: Personal Educational History

(*Please write a concise and detailed response to each of the three prompts. One to two (5-8 sentence) paragraphs per prompt.)

Describe the world you come from--for example, your family, community or school.

When I was a child, I remember coming home everyday from school and unloading all the papers from my backpack.  I would show my parents the papers then I would go into my room and set my dolls up at their desks and I would be the teacher.  I would do this for hours everyday.    Eventually, I was a tutor after school, and I realized that I wanted to be a real teacher, not just with dolls.  This would be my dream. 

When I was in high school I was told by many people that I needed to go into a field that I would be able to support myself and be independent.  After my parents were divorced, my mother’s mental illness, and moving schools twice, I decided that maybe I should listen to others and put my dreams aside.  For so many years I just went through life.  One day I met my husband and we started a family.  I was told by several teachers that I should become a paraprofessional.  So I did and I loved working with the students.  I was happier than I had been in a long time.  Then a principal told me that she thought I would make a great teacher and that I should substitute teach.  That was eight years ago and I have loved every minute of it.  

Tell us about a time when your worldview has been informed and/or been challenged by working with children/youth.

Working with children is the easy part.  I think that when covid hit back in 2019, the world went insane.  At first, teachers were on the front line doing everything we could to get the students educated.  We were working so hard and doing everything we possibly could do for the students.  Within a few months, parents were blaming us for districts going to a hybrid or virtual model.  Parents were furious with teachers saying that we were lazy and did not want to work, that parents should be paid our salary since they are teaching their students at home, or that we wanted time off.  My view of the world was rocked for a few weeks by this outrage.  But then I realized that I did not get into this profession for the parents, I got into this for the students.  I turned off facebook, the news, and walked away from rough conversations between school boards/principals and parents.  On the first days of the 2019-2020 school year, I was so happy to see those little faces walk through the doors, even with masks on.  We had great days in person.  It was not always easy but the students made it work.  The students were fine with the masks, for the most part.  We

all worked through technology issues together.  It turned out to be a good year not a great year but a year that the students taught the teachers a great deal.

 

Reflecting on this and other experiences, how do you hope to grow as a reflective teacher through our program?

This program has given me many opportunities to grow as a teacher.  Mindfulness, overcoming stress, working through what it means to be a teacher, diversity issues and how to handle them, and slowing down and teaching the students what they need to learn and enjoying what we are doing.

 

 

PART 2: Personal Philosophy Statements

(*All you need to do is revisit your philosophy statements from the summer and copy and paste your "I believe..." TOPIC SENTENCES from your writing and place them below in a series of bullet-pointed statements for each core question prompt.)

As a teacher, I believe...

PEDAGOGY

• How do you define “pedagogy?”

• I believe.... I believe that pedagogy is the culmination of my core beliefs, teaching styles, opinions, feelings, and desire to support and educate today’s youth.    

• Pedagogy is the foundation for all teaching and learning of curriculum with the understanding that all children do not learn the same ways. 

• I believe....Pedagogy is the foundation for all teaching and learning of curriculum with the understanding that all children do not learn the same ways. 

• What is the “goal” of pedagogy?

• I believe....promote efficient student learning, increase student motivation, help students to grow socially and emotionally, and inspire students to always want more, in a well managed classroom where my students feel safe, brave and loved. 

• What does it mean to you to be a prophetic, tactful pedagogue?

• • I believe....As a teacher, being a prophetic tactful pedagogue means having the ability to imagine and create possibilities and attainable goals with my students, act with sensitivity in all situations, assist students in questioning and challenging their beliefs and education and inwantingmore, and in helping students, but also being able to let the child help themself.  

  • I believe....A good pedagogue is someone who is caring, flexible, supportive, responsive, authentic, knowledgeable, reflective, organized and creative to focus on guiding students to the understanding they will need to be successful in life.  

   

  GOOD TEACHING

  • How do you define and envision “good” teaching?

  • I believe...a pedagogue who encompases the ability to guide students to want to understand and gain knowledge and then have the drive to continue learning especially in difficult times.

  • I believe... a pedagogue in a classroom where there is collaborative learning, students sharing ideas and helping each other.  I see a pedagogue who is using mindfulness to encourage and engage all students at all times. 

  • I believe...envision differentiated learning in a supportive environment while focusing on strengths. A good pedagogue would have put into place ways for students to be creative, share ideas, grow emotionally, feel safe, included, and understood all while learning life skills. 

  • My core values as a teacher are....Belonging, Flexibility, High Expectations, Joy and Simplicity.  

  • My core purpose as a teacher is....In my work with students I am called to develop positive and kind relationships with students and families while generating a creative, flexible and high expectation learning environment where everyone belongs, feels safe to learn and develop their educational skills. 

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  • Why do you believe your mental and emotional health as a teacher is crucial to enacting and embodying your definition of “good teaching?”

  • I believe...As teachers we face different challenges and needs daily for students and ourselves. 

  • I believe...We care and support to the point of being overwhelmed, stressed, and sometimes burned out.    

  I believe...Strong mental and emotional health is vitally important for teachers.  When teachers look at their physical, emotional, intellectual and

• spiritual domains and slow down to understand what is actually going on things are put into a clearer perspective. 

 

TEACHABLE MOMENT

• How do you define a teachable moment?

• I believe...a teachable moment as a complex, yet subtle teaching situation when another thought, experience, or impulse takes over as an immediate moment of chance.

• I believe...This teachable moment, even though not planned, is full of deep learning opportunities and if seized the chance will provide unprecedented learning opportunities for both students and teachers.

• I believe..These Kairos moments are rare in most classrooms unfortunately, so it is vitally important that a teacher uses these opportunities to go off task and let the knowledge of the moment flow where it needs to go.




• How do you believe teachable moments are best created?

• I believe...Once a teacher has established a safe, collaborative learning environment only then can teachable moments happen.

• I believe... If the relationship between the teacher and the students is a positive, authentic, safe, collaborative one and the subject is the right one, then yes it can be. 

• I believe...

KNOWLEDGE

• What are your beliefs about how students learn best?

• I believe....children start their lives on a quest for knowledge.  They love to explore and try new things on their own terms everyday.  This type of learning brings them pure joy. 

• I believe...I believe that an inquiry based learning atmosphere is one that will benefit all students.  

• I believe...I would also like to see a collaborative learning environment in which pairs or small groups of students can have discussions, plan, question, experiment and explore options to different assignments. 

• What are your beliefs about how students display knowledge?

• I believe....that students display their knowledge in their joy of learning.