My teaching Philosophy:

Teaching philosophy is not a universal statement but rather the beliefs of the respective teacher.
Every teacher has different ideas and ways that he uses in his process of teaching. The outcome
given by students is very much dependent upon these ideas and thinking. I myself in my teaching
experience have learned that my behavior and way of interaction had greater impact on the
students then the content provided. Here I have explained some of the key factors which in my
opinion should be paid attention to in a teaching field.

“Those that know, do. Those that understand teach.” [ CITATION DSO16 \l 1033 ]

Professional – development opportunities:

Experience is the best teacher there is. Learning develops the mind and experience prepares it to
engage timely in situations a person is dealt with. The experience I have gained during my
teaching period has played a vital role in developing my professional skills. It has given me the
insight on how I can deal with yet to develop infant minds. I have gained patience and learned
the fact that whenever you have to teach someone something you have to first think from their
level of intellect.

Feedback from students:

Learning is a never-ending process and there is always room for improvement, in teacher and in
student alike. Feedbacks are the way teachers learn just like how students learn from books.
Teaching is a two-way road in which the teacher is responsible for delivering knowledge and the
student should in return give proper response and inform the teacher about whether his or her
teaching style and way of interacting with the students is sufficient for them or does it lack
something that should be looked upon. I have implemented this in my teaching as a vital organ of
the classroom.
Methods of feedback:

1. The feedback should be anonymous because many students hesitate in properly

expressing their true point of view. This is due to the fact that they fear the teacher might
get angry on their opinions.
2. The feedback must include a column that asks the students whether the material
provided is enough to give them a detailed insight of the course or does the teacher need
to include more content.
3. The opinion of the students on the behavior of the teacher is just as important as their
opinion on academic perspective. Students should be allowed to freely express their
feelings on what they think of the teacher as a person.
4. A column should be included in which the student should be asked to write a 5 to 10 line
paragraph on anything they feel like. This gives the teacher an insight to what the student
mind gives most priority to and helps him or her in analyzing the common thinking of
the class.

I am in the favor of reading every feedback and then putting myself in place of the student. I
have improved myself by these feedbacks and they have helped me in exceling my teaching
skills.

Engagement with students:

Jim Henson quoted in It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider

“Kids don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you
are.”[ CITATION Hen05 \l 1033 ]

The way of delivery is just as important as the material provided to the students. This is not the
generation that demands material in bulk but rather it aims to learn more in lesser time. I have
realized that during deliverance of lecture, focusing on the key points and explaining them with
relatable life like examples helps the students to better understand it in the classroom and
remember them after. Only reading from a book or rehearsing from formerly made slides can
deliver to the students the outer concept of the topic but cannot explain to them the pedestal on
which the concept is based upon and how they should perceive it. The points should be broken
down to the fundamentals and like a house being build the teacher should work his way up to the
roof. This guarantees stability of the topic being taught. I have followed this during my teaching
and it has yielded results in terms of about logical and conceptual growth. Strictly sticking to the
course content does not construct a friendly teacher student environment. Classroom should not
be seen as a restricted area for opening expressing your thoughts and ideas but rather than this,
the teacher should encourage the students to freely speak his or her mind and express to the
teacher the concepts he or she holds in reference to the content being taught. Even if the question
is not related to the topic but is morally and ethically appropriate and the student deeply requires
an answer to clear his or her understanding, the question has to be answered to make the student
feel comfortable. I have always considered the teacher student relation as a playground in which
the two parties are allowed to freely roam. My engagement with my students has been really
helpful in making them realize the importance of asking question related to what they do not
understand and elimination of the stereotypical concept of being deemed stupid if a student asks
a question. This action is a very necessary tool in character building and confidence boosting of
the students.

Think-Pair Share Strategy:

“Think-pair-share is a collaborative teaching strategy that can be used to aid students in forming
original ideas by having those ideas discussed and analyzed in a group setting”[ CITATION Thi20 \l
1033 ]. This strategy is useful in developing the individual thinking of the students and along
with this also teaching them how to boldly express their thoughts to their fellow students. It helps
in training them to collaborate with others and accept the fact that the concepts and perception of
others is just as important as theirs.

KWL Strategy:

KWL strategy is the technique of analyzing the information that a student formerly holds
regarding the topic. Students are asked to write about their understanding of the topic before the
teacher teaches it to them. This allows the teacher to narrow down the sections he needs to focus
most upon.

Conclusion:

‘Education is not the filling of a pot but the lighting of a fire.’[ CITATION Tim08 \l 1033 ]

To sum it all up, I have come to the realization that teaching is without doubt no different than
parenting. It demands devotion, passion and radiant love towards the students. A person who is
not able to connect with students should not blame the students for their poor performance but
rather himself. In conclusion to my teaching period I have matured in both personal and
professional perspectives.

References
DSOUZA, J. (2016, Mar 14). KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING VS DOING & TEACHING:. Retrieved Nov 23,
2020, from medium: https://medium.com/@johnharrydsouza/knowing-understanding-vs-doing-
teaching-dbeb86149695

Henson, J. (2005). Retrieved Nov 23, 2020, from askideas: https://www.askideas.com/kids-dont-

remember-what-you-try-to-teach-them-they-remember-what-you-are-2/

Think-Pair-Share. (n.d.). Retrieved Nov 23, 2020, from tophat: https://tophat.com/glossary/t/think-pair-

share/

Timothy , A. (2008, May 10). "Education Is Not the Filling of a Pail, But the Lighting of a Fire". Retrieved
Nov 23, 2020, from psychologytoday: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/dont-
delay/200805/education-is-not-the-filling-pail-the-lighting-fire?quicktabs_5=1