Philosophy of Education
As a teacher, I believe one of the most important jobs I have is to teach students to embrace the job of directing their own learning. To do this, I seek to structure experiences that will open minds, create curiosity and motivate students to seek and construct a knowledge that will benefit them, and their community. If I can teach students to love to learn and how to learn, I have done my job. This thinking represents a shift I have experienced, over the years, from a content driven perspective to a process driven one. While content is critical, it does not supersede the ability to acquire transferrable skills that are useful for life: problem solving, communicating, and having grit and empathy.
I struggle with being judgmental. No, actually, I am judgmental. I have lived over six decades and my experience easily colors my expectations of the students in my classes. And I always think I am right. I counter these shortcomings by attempting to put away, as much as possible, assumptions. I want to start out open to each student and to who they might become. I endeavor to build everything I teach on a foundation of respect. I first seek to treat students kindly and to establish a framework for each: who he/she is and how he/she thinks. The sign over the exit out of my room states, “Anything is possible,” and I have come to believe it prudent to operate within that framework.
Second, I strive for kindness. This means I eschew sarcasm and negative criticism. I find kindness builds trust which I need students to possess as I teach them. Finally I create structure. Students need structure which provides security and direction. I find that I am more challenged to hold to firmness than kindness but I have grown in my ability to implement effective management strategies.
I made the conscious decision to learn about educational technology several years ago. I saw technology changing education and I did not want to be left in the digital dust. It has been a vertical learning curve, but well worth the effort. Technology has allowed me to help students connect with new ideas and new ways of constructing knowledge. Rather than simply digitally replicating paper and pen, technology gives access to information and the ability to manipulate content and make new connections.
But I have needed to learn how to find resources and how to use them. The Information Technology program has guided me in this regard. And the teaching within the program has been excellent; a model for me. I often think, “How can I lead students into the type of thinking, processing, and learning that I have experienced in this class?”
Like everything else, technology is not good or bad: it is a means to an end. When handled with skill, in whatever learning environment, it can facilitate meaningful learning and foster great student growth.
On Kindness/Firmness:
Every Kid Needs a Champion
On Sarcasm
