I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to try to make a difference in students’ learning. I feel that our education system has its share of problems, but if teachers, administrators, districts, and parents can become excited about what their student is learning and how they are going to use that knowledge in life, I think we can start to make a difference.
I believe students should be responsible for much of their own learning. As a teacher, I want to facilitate student learning in whatever ways that I can, but my goal is to inspire the students to take responsibility for their own learning. I believe learning should be hands-on and minds-on. I believe that students need to be involved by physically manipulating part of the activity, visually watching something, or being able to move around. I want to make sure that I include many different kinds of visuals and opportunities for students to experience the activity in more than one way. By engaging the students instead of always reading from a textbook, then language, social, or any other barriers can be lessened. I also want my students to enjoy their learning. I know that not every lesson is going to be exciting for every student, but overall, I want to get students excited about learning. I think I can do this by offering them the opportunity to choose how they learn. Students should be able to decide what kinds of projects, activities, and research is done based on what they are interested in.
Students spend a great deal of time in my classroom. I believe it is important to make sure that students feel safe and secure when they are in my class. When students feel secure, they can take risks and try something they may not have been willing to try before. Respect is something that more and more students seem to have forgotten. I want to foster a community of respect by showing my students that I respect them. In turn, I expect my students to respect each other. I want every student to know that they are an important part of my classroom and their ideas or opinions are as important as everyone else’s.
Technology is a vital part of education today. Over the past several years, our world has become increasingly dependent on technology. Business can now be conducted entirely on the internet, paperwork is now filled out and filed online, and driver’s licenses can even be ordered online. I think one of the greatest ways we are failing our students is in the lack of technology integration. In order to succeed, our students need to know how to type quickly and accurately, efficiently use programs like Microsoft Office, and be able to intelligently surf the web for information. I plan on integrating technology into as many aspects of my classroom as possible. I want students to get used to typing papers, using the lab for research, and working with programs like Excel to organize data. My goal is for every student who comes through my class to have a better working knowledge of computers and the different ways they can help in everyday life.
I also believe strongly in subject integration. I want students to learn writing skills because they are trying to express their opinion on a topic in History. I want math to relate to something students can really understand. In Science, I want students to use the math skills they are learning to explore the questions they are experimenting with. My goal is to not only connect subjects, but also to show students how they are going to need or use the information or skills they are learning.