Philosophy of Teaching

Tyler Powell
College of Southern Idaho
When I was a student in middle school and high school, there were classes that I absolutely
dreaded going to. Often this was not because the subject was too hard for me to understand
(unless it was science...). The reason that I often found that I was dreading those classes was the
teacher sharing the information. Sometimes I felt that my teacher did not want to be there or
there were even teachers who I could tell knew the information but were unable to share it in a
way that kept the students engaged. I feel that this does not always have to be a teacher that does
super fun activities but can still be a teacher who loves to lecture. I have a teacher in college right
now that all this teacher does is lecture. Even though we as students know that all he is going to
do is stand up front and lecture for fifty minutes, we still all make the choice to be there. This is
because this teacher keeps his lectures engaging with us as students along with being
entertaining. With the subject I want to teach being high school history this becomes a big
challenge.
History has always been my favorite subject. I learned to love it from a young age simply due to
my learning style. I am the type of learner than can listen to a lecture or presentation just once
and soak up most of the information without writing much down. Because most history teachers
teach through lecture, I was easily successful in that class. Throughout high school history
became my favorite because of the teachers I had, the success, and the interest I had in
understanding why things happen. I love the idea that everything that has happened before us,
still affects us. I also loved the ability to form my own opinion based on facts rather than an
elementary school teacher. For example, we are taught that the Civil War was over slavery but
when you look at it closer, it really could’ve been about states rights. Discussion will be a huge
part of my classroom. When I participate in those discussions, I will do my best to add, “In my
opinion…” so that my students know that does not mean it has to be their opinion.
When I began my coaching career, I realized that I really did not know what “being prepared”
meant. I quickly learned exactly what that meant. About two weeks in, I was asked to run a
practice as the only coach with eleven 13-year-old boys. I really didn’t think much of it and
figure I really didn’t need any kind of practice plan like my coaches had when I played. I had the
players go through their normal warm up, do their baserunning drills and then quickly went
through the infield/outfield drills. After finishing those tasks, I realized that there is a lot of time
left and I had no more for my players to do. This experience helped me realize that I needed to
be much more prepared if I am going to teach students for an entire fifty minutes. As a student, I
hated when my teacher would only teach for 20 minutes and then sit behind their desk with
nothing for me to do. I want to be prepared with enough information to teach for at least 75% of
a class. I believe that I am cheating my students out of their best education if I am not giving
them all the information that I have. I will do my best to create lessons plans that I follow that
allow me to have the material to do this. I will take my own notes about how the plan goes and
then at the end of the semester or school year I will update those plans to improve my teaching
and lessons.
While teaching I always want to keep my students interested what we are learning. I understand
that some students learn much differently than others and that is where I think becoming creative
with the way I share information is important. I do not think that there is not just one set way to
teach that is better than others. I want to use multiple different ways to share information so that
my students are better engaged and interested what they are learning. I believe that when most
students think of history they think of how boring or nonimportant that class will be. I think that
the history class is one of the most important to differ your teaching strategies. I love the idea of
diverse teaching strategies. I think that this will keep my classroom fresh and new. Maybe one
day I’ll lecture about the subject with a PowerPoint and then the next day I’ll turn the classroom
into a discussion where my students can tell me how they feel about the subject. Then later in the
week we could learn a lesson through an object lesson or a project.
As the teacher, I want to facilitate an open learning environment for my students. Students
should feel that their opinions are taken into account when it comes to how I teach. I will create a
community in a classroom by asking students to step outside of their box in my classroom and
become vulnerable. As a teacher in high school, it becomes tough to create that sense community
in a classroom of students that I meet with once a day for fifty minutes. These students may
never see their classmates any other part of the day besides my classroom. Constant activities
that challenge my students to think or even act outside the box are important for my classroom.
Some examples of activities that I’d like to use is sports like kickball, board games, and games
where a class is looking to reach one goal. I believe that if those experiences are created, it
becomes easier for students to trust their classmates during group projects and also take away a
bit of the nerves the comes with presenting in front of the class.
I believe the most important part of teaching is relationship building. This is why I really enjoy
Maslow’s theory of teaching. No matter what teacher I observe, I always notice the relationships
they have with their students. I notice if they seem annoyed with certain students, if they don’t
really know a student, or when they have a great relationship with one. I want to strive hard to
have a relationship with students throughout my classroom. While some will be easier to connect
with than others, I think being able to create what I can for every students’ needs are important.
Sometimes that could be talking to parents and asking about the home life. Other options could
be to connect with those who have similar likes and hobbies as me. Another option could be that
students just need to feel like their hard work is being recognized and that it is going to pay off.
It’s huge to me to be able to learn every student’s name quickly so that they understand their
importance to me. I think making a student feel like they are just as important to any other
student will change their participation and focus in my classroom.