Leah Yates Duke University Master of Arts in Teaching

Final Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy is that every student possesses the capacity to learn and excel in mathematics. As a teacher, it is a daily challenge to convince the students of their abilities and to inspire them to succeed. In order to effectively teach, you must earn the trust and respect of the students. Every child has to be taught as a person and not just as a student. It is impossible to view the class as a whole and be a successful teacher. Every student has to be viewed as an individual.

I want to enter my classroom with the attitude that each student is going to learn something new every day. My ultimate goal is to encourage the students to achieve a higher level of autonomy and self-confidence. If I don’t show the students that I am confident in each of them at all times, then I cannot expect them to have confidence in themselves.

Classroom management is essential to the learning process. If I lose control of the class, I have lost all ability to teach. Effective classroom management requires three steps. These are: provide structure, enforce the structure, and engage the students. From the very first day, I want to establish a routine. Overall, the students will be more receptive in a structured environment than they will in a loose environment. Once the structure of the class is established, it is my responsibility to enforce it and demonstrate consistency. As a teacher, I will always strive to be firm and fair. I need the students to respect me, and in order to earn their respect, I must always respect them. Finally, to maintain classroom management, the students must be engaged at all times. My math classroom will always be student-focused. I will encourage the students to become a community of learners. Each day, students will participate in group work and strive to discover the mathematics. I will try to be less of a “teacher” and more of a “facilitator of learning.”

Two essential parts of each class will be homework checks and daily assessments. During homework checks, I will have an opportunity to speak individually with each student and make them personally accountable to me on a daily basis. I believe that this daily conversation with each student is essential in maintaining a good relationship with the class. At the end of each class, I want to give an assessment that includes a review problem and a problem that was learned in class that day. This will provide me with some insight into each student’s daily growth and retention of the past material. These two activities will help me stay connected to each student as an individual learner on a daily basis.

Finally, I want the students to know that I care about them. I also want the parents to know that I care about their children. The parent, teacher, student relationship is very important and should be nurtured. I believe that students are young adults and should be dealt with as such but their parents should also be a source of support for them. I feel that it is important that the parents have the opportunity to be involved with their child’s education. My goal is to make at least one positive phone call home to the parents of every student. I want each student to know that I am always there for them and always concerned for their well being. I am always open to their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and suggestions for my improvement as their teacher. There is no doubt that math is important and a very necessary subject, but the students are most important. I believe that if the students are always the focus of each day, then every student will learn and succeed.

 

 

Duke University ~ Duke MAT Program ~ Durham Public Schools ~ Email Leah Yates