TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
As a teacher, I am entrusted with the ability to change each of my students’ lives in a unique and positive way. In order to have such an impact, I base my teaching around two important principles: I provide my students with the tools to gain the knowledge they will need, and I inspire my students’ passion to learn. As a result, my students become leaders who continue to drive their own education. By cultivating my students’ interests in learning, I can truly serve as their mentor and guide in the learning process.
Before I can expect a student to retain any knowledge, I must instill in them a love for the learning process. To foster this love for learning, I strongly feel that students need to interact both mentally and physically with class material. In my classes, I often implement the Socratic method in order to keep the students talking, analyzing, and questioning the material being presented. This method encourages the students to become involved and engaged in their own learning process. Because every student learns in a different and unique way, I also implement active “hands-on” learning through a variety of approaches such as collaboration with peers and engaging with visual, auditory, and kinetic learning modalities. I believe that visual imagery is highly effective in helping students understand complex ideas regarding the body, and I use ideokinesis to aid in this process. I also believe that students must learn to relate new concepts and ideas to their daily lives and interests. As such, I draw connections between new concepts to ideas my students already understand and relate to easily. This approach helps my students synthesize information and find similarities across broad concepts. My goal as a teacher is not only to impart knowledge upon my students, but to also stimulate their interests in learning for themselves. This way, each student can discover how they learn best and continually relate their learning to their own lives and personal interests.
Once a student discovers how to learn, the learning process becomes fun! My students embark on a journey of discoveries about the world and themselves. In turn, I am able to serve as their guide, shaping and molding their experiences within a positive environment in which each student feels his/her presence is important. I foster a close, yet professional rapport with each student. In this way, my students feel they can approach me with questions, concerns, or any other discussions related to their learning. By creating this open flow of communication, I provide a safe environment for the students to take calculated risks; their potential to learn beyond normal boundaries increases.
To maintain a positive and friendly learning environment, I often use humor to diffuse a confusing subject. I strongly feel that the power of laughter can unite students in the common bond and help to minimize the stress of learning new concepts. Through humor, students learn to laugh about their mistakes and move towards correcting themselves without self-doubt. When students can learn without judging themselves or others, they create a positive classroom atmosphere which leads to better instances of cooperative learning. Even when my attempts at humor occasionally fail, I believe that the students learn to appreciate that I too make mistakes. I emphasize that “fail” stands for “first attempt in learning.” I am honest about who I am as person when I teach, and I share my own passions, discoveries, and mistakes with my students. In relating honestly to my students, I aim to demystify my role as the teacher. I truly believe that students feel more comfortable learning when the teacher, and therefore the knowledge the teacher has to offer, is accessible. I want my students to know that our class is a positive learning experience where together, we search for knowledge and truth.
Before I can expect a student to retain any knowledge, I must instill in them a love for the learning process. To foster this love for learning, I strongly feel that students need to interact both mentally and physically with class material. In my classes, I often implement the Socratic method in order to keep the students talking, analyzing, and questioning the material being presented. This method encourages the students to become involved and engaged in their own learning process. Because every student learns in a different and unique way, I also implement active “hands-on” learning through a variety of approaches such as collaboration with peers and engaging with visual, auditory, and kinetic learning modalities. I believe that visual imagery is highly effective in helping students understand complex ideas regarding the body, and I use ideokinesis to aid in this process. I also believe that students must learn to relate new concepts and ideas to their daily lives and interests. As such, I draw connections between new concepts to ideas my students already understand and relate to easily. This approach helps my students synthesize information and find similarities across broad concepts. My goal as a teacher is not only to impart knowledge upon my students, but to also stimulate their interests in learning for themselves. This way, each student can discover how they learn best and continually relate their learning to their own lives and personal interests.
Once a student discovers how to learn, the learning process becomes fun! My students embark on a journey of discoveries about the world and themselves. In turn, I am able to serve as their guide, shaping and molding their experiences within a positive environment in which each student feels his/her presence is important. I foster a close, yet professional rapport with each student. In this way, my students feel they can approach me with questions, concerns, or any other discussions related to their learning. By creating this open flow of communication, I provide a safe environment for the students to take calculated risks; their potential to learn beyond normal boundaries increases.
To maintain a positive and friendly learning environment, I often use humor to diffuse a confusing subject. I strongly feel that the power of laughter can unite students in the common bond and help to minimize the stress of learning new concepts. Through humor, students learn to laugh about their mistakes and move towards correcting themselves without self-doubt. When students can learn without judging themselves or others, they create a positive classroom atmosphere which leads to better instances of cooperative learning. Even when my attempts at humor occasionally fail, I believe that the students learn to appreciate that I too make mistakes. I emphasize that “fail” stands for “first attempt in learning.” I am honest about who I am as person when I teach, and I share my own passions, discoveries, and mistakes with my students. In relating honestly to my students, I aim to demystify my role as the teacher. I truly believe that students feel more comfortable learning when the teacher, and therefore the knowledge the teacher has to offer, is accessible. I want my students to know that our class is a positive learning experience where together, we search for knowledge and truth.
