Teaching Philosophy Statement
Even from my elementary school days, it seems I was destined to become a teacher. I remember the first time I was asked to tutor a classmate. In fifth grade, my teacher asked me to work with another student who was struggling in reading. During seatwork time, he and I went out into the hall and worked together twice a week. I did not think much about it then, but this event had a profound impact on me. The satisfaction of helping someone to overcome hurdles to learning is something that stayed with me. Though it lay dormant for many years, teaching is a large part of who I am today.
As a teacher, I view my role as that of a guide and a coach. As a guide, I know the terrain of the course. I have explored it and mapped it out myself. I know where certain pitfalls are, and I have developed paths around them. In this role as guide, it is my job to select learning experiences so that the student learns to navigate without me and can map his or her own course, dealing with whatever pitfalls they may encounter. In terms of the composition class, I approach this by teaching the composition process. I explain to my students that good writing simply does not happen; it is planned, reviewed, and revised multiple times.
As a coach, I believe my role is to encourage and push students to achieve as much as they can by providing opportunities to practice foundational skills until they become second-nature. The classroom is the practice field. This is the time and the place to experiment. A large part of this experimentation is self-reflection by the student and conferences with the teacher to evaluate the student's progress throughout the writing process. Continuing the sporting analogy, I explain to students that they will never hit a home-run unless they swing the bat; but with swinging the bat comes the risk of striking out. I emphasize that writing is a process that often comes with trial and error. When something they try does not work and they “strike out,” they have the opportunity to revise and try again for the home-run. I stress with my students that the more intentionally they practice, the better they will perform.
All of the instruction in class is focused on allowing students to progress and to be able to transfer the knowledge learned into future situations, whether these situations are other classes or later in life. The skills we practice and the strategies we learn are tools that we will use in the process of life-long learning.
Even from my elementary school days, it seems I was destined to become a teacher. I remember the first time I was asked to tutor a classmate. In fifth grade, my teacher asked me to work with another student who was struggling in reading. During seatwork time, he and I went out into the hall and worked together twice a week. I did not think much about it then, but this event had a profound impact on me. The satisfaction of helping someone to overcome hurdles to learning is something that stayed with me. Though it lay dormant for many years, teaching is a large part of who I am today.
As a teacher, I view my role as that of a guide and a coach. As a guide, I know the terrain of the course. I have explored it and mapped it out myself. I know where certain pitfalls are, and I have developed paths around them. In this role as guide, it is my job to select learning experiences so that the student learns to navigate without me and can map his or her own course, dealing with whatever pitfalls they may encounter. In terms of the composition class, I approach this by teaching the composition process. I explain to my students that good writing simply does not happen; it is planned, reviewed, and revised multiple times.
As a coach, I believe my role is to encourage and push students to achieve as much as they can by providing opportunities to practice foundational skills until they become second-nature. The classroom is the practice field. This is the time and the place to experiment. A large part of this experimentation is self-reflection by the student and conferences with the teacher to evaluate the student's progress throughout the writing process. Continuing the sporting analogy, I explain to students that they will never hit a home-run unless they swing the bat; but with swinging the bat comes the risk of striking out. I emphasize that writing is a process that often comes with trial and error. When something they try does not work and they “strike out,” they have the opportunity to revise and try again for the home-run. I stress with my students that the more intentionally they practice, the better they will perform.
All of the instruction in class is focused on allowing students to progress and to be able to transfer the knowledge learned into future situations, whether these situations are other classes or later in life. The skills we practice and the strategies we learn are tools that we will use in the process of life-long learning.