June 2011 Teaching Philosophy

The new vision for schools is to better prepare the students for a changing world. The schools have not changed much since the days when they were designed for white males. But with globalization, environmental, financial, and political problems, the pressure is put on schools to adapt in order to produce American citizens who can solve these problems.

Students need an effective and efficient teacher to give them the tools they need. To be effective and efficient, the teacher needs to be prepared yet flexible. It is my philosophy that good teaching requires a constant cycle of self-evaluation followed by actively seeking solutions. Good teachers constantly ask themselves, “How am I doing? Is this working?” and can adjust when their current strategy doesn't work. It is my philosophy that a teacher needs to build an arsenal of strategies that deliver content so that every child in the room has the chance to learn in the style in which they are most comfortable. When things aren't working, it is time to try a new teaching strategy. Instead of working against the skittish attention spans of kids (and adults!) of today, work with them. When kids won't stop talking to each other in class, perhaps it is time to have them work on that project in groups. After all, humans are social animals, and they might even come up with more innovative ideas that way. When they won't put their tech-y devices down, have them “google” the day's focus of the lesson in a Webquest.

Sure, these things are easier said than done. New teachers are the only professionals who are expected to perform on their first day the same duties that an experienced teacher performs. In the business world, people are trained extensively and gradually work up to the responsibilities that the senior level employees have. An electrician or plumber is an apprentice first. A teacher, however, needs to learn his duties and perform them at the same time. The job of a teacher is difficult and there is nothing a single college or university class can do to prepare us completely for our first year of teaching. But as teachers, we need to take the initiative to educate ourselves and seek ways to improve the delivery of our content to better suit our students.

It is my philosophy that teachers must be able to improve and change to adapt to our students. When a teacher finds that he or she doesn't have an alternative strategy to try in order to reach a particular student, it is his or her job to be able to adapt the classroom to the students and the surrounding world. In order to successfully prepare our students for a changing world, mustn't we teachers must learn how to adapt, too?