Teaching Philosophy Statement
I am a firm believer in the value of public education. Equal access to education and equitable treatment in schools is not only crucial for empowering students, but it is also the best interest of our society of have a critical and skilled population. The language arts support every other element of education, and literacy is the necessary cornerstone for all human endeavors. However, students will need to know many things that fall outside of the traditional purview of the language arts and perhaps outside of school altogether. So my most important mission is to help my students be lifelong learners to prepare them for where ever they may go when they leave my classroom. If students are to become lifelong learners, they need the skills and the passion to become lifelong readers as well. Likewise, they will need to have healthy skepticism, research skills, and the analytical skills necessary to critically consider what they read and experience. Building these skills also calls for an interdisciplinary approach to learning, which I will pursue by collaborating with my colleagues and by using books and projects to form bridges between the disciplines.
Students will not be lifelong learners if they cannot find passion in what they study. I intend to share my passion for the language arts with my student, and likewise I will strive to incorporate my students’ passions as well. I hope to show them that their interests are not isolated outside of the language arts; the language arts can expand and enhance those other interests. One way I will approach this is by having “book talks,” run by myself and my students, to briefly present and promote books students might be interested in for outside reading. Above all, I will work to show students that they have a way in to even the most difficult topics within the language arts through interdisciplinary study and multi-genre projects.
I strive to build relationships with my students which validate their identities as individuals and as learners. That requires knowing what each student needs and values in education, and it involves helping students identify both their strengths and their difficulties. It is important for students to understand how they fit into my classroom and how my course fits into their needs and interests. This requires no small amount of relationship building and individualization on my part. I will support this goal through 1-on-1 reading and writing conferences with students during each unit to help plan outside reading and help students through the writing process. This relationship should always be supportive, but often means firmly holding to high expectations and holding students accountable for their learning, with me as an ally throughout the learning process. This work will form the necessary foundation for effective learning for every student in my classroom.
If students are to be lifelong learners, it is important for them to have a “growth mindset” as put forward by Stanford Professor of Psychology Carol Dweck: to understand that their brain changes, adapts, and grows in response to new challenges. A growth mindset must include understanding that “failure is not a permanent condition,” to quote psychologist Angela Duckworth. For this reason, I support standards-based instruction (SBI). SBI supports a growth mindset by encouraging perseverance, revision, learning from failures, and continued practice. These elements combine to form a recursive approach to learning that does not allow the students or the teacher to opt out of something that is difficult. As students struggle or even fail beyond the classroom, they have the ability to try again and learn from their mistakes, rather than be irreversibly burdened by those errors. Instilling perseverance in my students will help them see that failure is not a permanent state of being and everyone can learn.
No other field is more central to the goals I outline above than the language arts. Reading, writing, and communicating are some of the most important life skills a student needs to acquire. However, the function of reading and writing in lifelong learning must be more than just the basic, mechanical skills. Reading must involve critical analysis and interpretation, and writing must involve a purposeful and rhetorically strong organization of the writer’s thoughts. To achieve these goals, students must be challenged, their voices and passions must be validated, and a teacher must build a classroom culture that encourages inquiry and collaboration. It is my mission to build such a classroom and equip each student with the skills they will need to succeed in my classroom and beyond.
My Philosophy of Technology in the Classroom
Technology use in the classroom, like other instructional methods and tools, should be first and foremost purpose driven. There are plenty of technologies that are exciting and fun, but not all of them are the most effective choice to support student learning. I want to use the technology that is the best choice for the content and work that my students will need to be prepared for. That may mean the technology that is best is not new at all; sometimes pencil and paper could be the best technology for our purpose. Still, there are many exciting new possibilities technology has opened up for collaboration, individualization, access, and empathy, and I strive to take advantage of these possibilities when I can. However, any use of technology must be designed with a keen awareness of students' needs and students must have equal access to any technology that my lessons employ.
