My Teaching Philosophy

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the

imagination, and instill a love of learning.” –Brad Henry
Many people define a teacher as “a person whose job is to teach students certain subjects.” I have
learned over the years that being a teacher, and the act of teaching, is so much more than that.
The quote above is a collection of all of the things I believe a teacher should do. “A good teacher
can inspire hope.” A teacher’s job is not only to teach students the facts that they will need in order
to succeed, but also to give them a sense of hope. Teachers inspire hope by showing their
students that they can do absolutely anything they put their minds to. Teachers show their
students the things that they are capable of, how to set goals, and how to reach those goals. The
whole time teachers are doing that, they are giving their students the support they need to know
they can succeed. Teachers inspire hope.
“A good teacher can ignite the imagination.” A teacher’s job is to show their students how to use
their imaginations and how to be creative inside and outside of the classroom. Creativity is so
important to young students. We as teachers need to be able to awaken the minds of our students
instead of just teaching facts so our students can spit them out during the next test we have for
them. We as teachers need to get away from the idea of memorization and teach our students how
to think and come up with their own ideas on how to answer a question. The use of this divergent
thinking will make schools more enjoyable and relaxed for our students and will prepare them in a
better way for their future endeavors. It will take the stress of memorization out of the equation and
students will be able to recall facts because they used their own minds and their own creativity.
We, as teachers, must light the fire that is imagination.
“A good teacher can instill a love of learning.” By being able to inspire hope and ignite imagination,
we can instill a love of learning. It is so sad to me that most children go to school and hate it. If a
student hates school, they won’t try and it will be harder for them to be successful. That is not what
we want for our students. Every student should be given the chance to experience a love for
school. They should be given the chance to enjoy school and to see what going to school can do
for them. I believe that we need to show our students that school can be a fun and safe place for
learning. I want my students to feel as if they are at their second home whenever they are in my
classroom. A good teachers needs to make sure that they give every student a chance to love
school.
“We can teach from our experience, but we cannot teach experience.” - Sasha Azevedo
One of my biggest goals as a teacher is to show my students the difference between right and
wrong. In my mind, teaching morals can be a very tricky thing to do. With society and people the
way they are, it is hard for young children to actually see the different between right and wrong.
That’s why I love this quote so much. We cannot teach experience. We can only give our students
the opportunity to have experiences. This is where the best lessons come from. During my
learning at Grand Valley State University, I have seen this time and time again. For example, I
remember watching a video portraying a classroom where there was a bullying problem. Instead of
their teacher coming right out and saying “don’t do this anymore. It’s not nice,” he gave his
students the opportunity to come out and say who was spreading the rumors and how each and
everyone one of them were responsible because nobody stopped it. One girl even stood up and
talked about how she used to get bullied for a similar reason and how she spread the rumor so
that she wouldn’t get bullied anymore. How powerful is that? To get a student to admit that to her
classmates. It was such a cool thing to watch for me. That lesson will stick with those students for
the rest of their lives. They will always know what bullying looks like and how much it can hurt
someone. I truly believe that this lesson would not have been learned the same way if they were
not given the opportunity that their teacher gave to them.
Students also learn best from the experiences of their teachers. There are so many instances
where I have learned some kind of lesson from a teacher because of some past experiences that
he or she had a long time ago. I want to shape and teach my students to be well rounded human
beings. I want to prepare them for the things that they will encounter at some point in their lives.
That is a powerful thing in teaching to me.

"A person's a person, no matter how small." – Dr. Seuss

When I see this quote, I think about a lot of different people, not just children. It is known that there
are so many people that surround children. Parents, teachers, caretakers, and many more. We
must take into account the things that our students may have learned before coming into the
classroom from the people who surround them. This is an important thing to remember when being
a teacher. One has to respect the values and wishes of their students’ families. We must
remember to treat our students like they are our own children.
This quote also makes me think of the importance of a child’s childhood. This is the time of their
lives when they are beginning to have an understanding of the world. They are beginning to have
their own lives, hopes, and dreams. I am passionate about building on this in schools. Most
children go to school with the thought of learning subject matter and that’s it. For example, they
might go into a math class thinking they’re going to learn about fractions or an English class to
learn about pronouns. School should be so much more than that. I want to be able to teach my
students how to grow as intellectual human beings.
I am passionate about my belief that all children are good. Every teacher knows that one child that
other teachers call “the problem child.” We need to do away with titles like this. How do we know
this child is actually bad? What if he or she had a bad experience that makes them act the way
they do? We cannot assume things about our students when it comes to something so important.
Every student should be cared for in the same way. I know that when I have a classroom full of
students, they will be capable of amazing things.
“If children are apparently unable to learn, we should assume that we have not yet found
the right way to teach them.” - Marie Clay
Most of the time, if a child is not learning, we blame the child. Some teachers use every excuse in
the book! “He or she isn’t trying hard enough,” or “He or she doesn’t care about school.” This
process of thinking needs to be done with. We need to remember that every child is different. They
are at a different level when they come into our classroom. They all learn differently. We need to
remember that every student has individual needs that we as teachers need to accommodate.
This quote also speaks to my heart for Special Education. My mindset has always been ability over
disability and this quote goes hand in hand with that. As teachers, we need to think differently
when it comes to students who have mental disabilities. We need to think of the things they can do
rather than the things they can’t. Going more along with the quote, we need to come up with
different ways of teaching instead of blaming their disability. We are there to help, not hinder.
Many different teachers have many different passions and beliefs when it comes to education.
Overall, education is about shaping our students into becoming the best humans they can be. I
think that using creativity and teaching from experience are two of the best ways to proctor
learning. All students can learn and that all students have the right be taught. We need to make
sure that we are treating our students with care and respect. We, as teachers need to remember
that we are shaping the minds of the next generation.

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MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the

"A person's a person, no matter how small." – Dr. Seuss

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