La’Doris Conrod

November 14, 2019

ETEC-424-02W
Robert R Wolfe

Educational Philosophy

I believe that Aristotle said it best when he stated that “Educating the mind without educating

the heart is no education at all”. I like this statement because people tend to follow their hearts a

lot more than they follow logic. This could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing, but at the end

of the day, knowing I touched someone's heart leads me to believe I have helped shaped their

mind.

The reason I teach is because when I was in school, I had a few teachers who cared about me

as a person and who took time outside of the classroom to deal with me. If it wasn’t for them, I

probably wouldn’t even have made it out of high school. This is why one of my main educational

principles is acknowledging the individual and who they are as a person. I can personally attest

that when a teacher goes out of their way to help you succeed, you are bound to see

development. When a teacher shows that they care and our being genuine with you, it's easier to

let down your walls and listen to what they have to say. When students enter the threshold of my

classroom it is considered a safe zone. I want children to feel safe in my presence. I want them to

feel safe from bullying, judgement, and harassment. None of these things will be tolerated in my

classroom. I want students to be able to feel confident and comfortable in answering in front of

the class. I want my students to know that there is nothing but love in my classroom.

Another one of my educational principles is enforcing honest feedback between students and

teachers. I want to hear their opinions as well as give them my own. I want to ensure that

students understand the material fully. I want them to be able to express their troubles to me so I
can understand how to teach them more efficiently. I think it’s important to love what you do, if

not it’s going to be too easy to walk away from it.

My purpose is to help students develop a good character. I want to establish a good

relationship with my students because I believe it’s important. When you get to know someone,

it's easier to learn from them, they become more open to you and trust you. When I substituted

for high school, I mentored three young ladies. Even to this day I still keep in contact with them.

Before my influence, they were very depressed and couldn’t trust anyone but I let them know

that I cared and I took them under my wing. After showing them my heart, I can proudly say that

I impacted them for the better, that is my goal for all of my students. I want them to succeed and

do great things.

My purpose in teaching is to help students learn not only about class but also about

themselves. When I was in school, I had a teacher who didn’t engaged with me as much as the

others. I noticed that I wasn't as active in this class and didn’t do as well because of this. That

being said I always go out of my way to ensure that my students understand and retain the

material. I want them to be able to show me confidently what they have learned. I think that if

you simplify the topic enough it’s easy for anyone to learn it. For someone to truly learn they

must confidently understand the material. For them to understand completely, the concept must

be broken down or simplified. Most importantly a teacher is nothing without a teaching strategy.

My strategies are to make the lesson fun, active and hands-on. I like to put all the kids in

groups after finishing a worksheet to review the lesson with Kahoot. Using Kahoot lets the kids

have fun as they are truly learning. Usually, the winner gets a prize so they all try extra hard to

win and participate. I believe it is also very important to accommodate certain students to make

sure they retain the information and to find multiple ways to teach something. As a teacher you
need to center yourself and bring yourself down to their level to truly understand their needs, this

is what I believe teaching is truly about.