Philosophy of Education

All students learn differently. Learning can happen through a multitude of presentations.

Depending on how my students seem to learn best, I will provide instruction through hardcopy

books, PowerPoint lessons, audio books, one on one sessions, visual examples of projects and

assignments, etc. I will do my best to distribute content in every possible way to ensure each

student is able to learn it. I will also try to help my students process the content through being

consistent with each student individually. I hope to be able to direct learning through mini

lessons, independent work, group discussions, workshops, and projects. However, this is subject

to change based on what my students need at the time and what is appropriate for the current

lesson.

Learning only happens when the students are interested and feel like the material has

importance. I will show the long-term importance of what is being taught in my classroom to

further motivate my students to complete the work and help them truly understand it. Student

learning does not only depend on what is happening in the classroom. Every aspect of a student's

personal life will affect how they perform and act in school. This is another reason why the way

learning looks will always be changing in my classroom.

I hope to be able to teach my students parts of English that they will be able to use in

their lives after high school. This may include but is not limited to how to write a resume, how to

write a cover letter, how to write a professional letter, how to write an email, how to make a

professional phone call, how to write APA style essays, how to utilize punctuation and how to

revise their papers, according to what is standard aligned and grade appropriate. I also hope to be

able to read novels with my classes to teach them how to take information from the novels and

write analysis papers with said information. My goal is to prepare my students for life after high
school as much as I possibly can through the subject of English. This is not to say that I will

never teach the conventional curricula that includes multiple forms of essays, analyses, novel

comprehension, etc. My students will learn how to understand different types of novels, write

different forms of papers, analyze characters, understand authors, along with the many other

lessons taught through English classes at the secondary level. But they will also learn how to

take regular English into their everyday lives during and after their school careers in order to

better prepare them for the world and wherever it may take them.

I will encourage my students to present their products of what they have learned in a way

they are most comfortable with, whether that be a hard copy or an online copy or whatever the

student may seem fit. That said, students will be assessed mainly through formative ways. I want

to help them learn and form their assignments into ones that they can be proud of. They will also

be assessed summatively, but I hope for it to not be a constant practice. I hope to be able to

provide students with the opportunity to revise these summative assessments when needed. I also

hope to be able to integrate the idea of learning zones and performance zones. My students will

know that when we are in a learning zone, mistakes are expected, and help is available to

understand them and assist in fixing them. They will also know that when we are in a

performance zone, their goal is to bring forward a work that they can be proud of, in a

presentation form that they are comfortable with. They will not be tested on the content of the

books they read very often. Instead, when tested, it will be on the conventions and mini lessons

we covered during the reading of that book. I do not want my students to see that we have any

sort of assessment coming up and stress themselves over it. I want them to feel comfortable and

able when approaching these moments. Assessing in these ways is important because it can

allow students can feel more of an importance of what they are learning, which will motivate
them to learn, and show more of what they are truly learning and not just that they can read and

follow a prompt.

I believe that some of the best classroom management comes from students feeling

comfortable, ensuring trust in them, and giving them as much academic freedom as possible

within your curricula. That said, at the start of the year, I want my students and I to plan class

expectations. How they are to behave, present themselves and their work, etc. I believe that

including them in this process of planning for the year will keep them more accountable than

simply telling them what is expected of them. After these conversations, they should understand

when it is appropriate to collaborate, talk, work on other classes work, etc. I will continuously

remind my students that I trust them and am always available if they have questions or need

assistance with anything we are going over. I want my students to feel safe and comfortable in

my classroom so that they are able to perform to the best of their ability. All of this comes along

with forming good student-teacher relationships, and good relationships with the students' adults

at home, from the beginning.

Many of my plans for my classroom may not follow the way a typical English classroom

runs. However, every detail planned is for the benefit of my students while taking them and their

lives into account. I cannot simply plan to teach, assess or manage in one particular way because

every student is different with different needs which can and will cause my plans to change

often. As a teacher, my goal is for my students to feel safe, comfortable, confident and

intelligent. While English may not be every student's strong suit, every piece of content will

allow for every student to succeed if they try to. I will not teach because I am knowledgeable in

the area, I will teach because students need someone to believe in them, help them and push

them along.