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Leah Yates Duke University Master of Arts in Teaching |
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Initial Teaching Philosophy
My philosophy is that most students can learn and excel in math. Doing math is just like playing a game. To play the game of math effectively, you must know all the rules, and you must practice or play often to succeed. Unfortunately, many students do not accumulate the tools that they need in school to be successful mathematicians in real life.
I believe that math classrooms should be innovative and student-focused. As a teacher, I want to guide my students in their learning, helping them to draw parallels between mathematical concepts and real life examples. Math is all about solving problems and students should be motivated to be good problem solvers. Being a good problem solver is an important skill in every area of life, not just mathematics.
On a typical day in my classroom, you would rarely see me standing at the board writing while students are quietly taking notes. My math classes will be an interactive experience. Students will be asking questions, making predictions, working in small groups, brainstorming on how to solve problems, explaining what they know to others, and truly struggling with the math on a daily basis.
Not only do I want to teach my students, but I also hope to learn from them. As a teacher, I will constantly be giving my students problems to solve. I hope that their ideas and creativity will continuously provide me with new insights into the way that they think. After doing math for so many years, I sometimes find that it is difficult to look at a problem from many different angles. I hope that my students will help me develop many new ideas for problem solving.
As a teacher, I want to constantly assess the improvement of my students. On a daily basis, I want to be checking for their understanding. Every day, I want to collect at least one problem from them, so that I can have a general idea of how the students are progressing individually and as a whole. If it is not possible to collect problems, I would like the students to take a short practice assessment each day, then indicate to me, with a show of hands, how the class is doing. If the class is doing well, I will move on, but if the majority of the class is completing most of the problems incorrectly, I will need to re-teach the concept. Also, I want my students to be well-prepared for standardized tests. I will strive to help them alleviate their test anxiety and perform to their highest ability on such tests.
I want to be my student’s teacher and their mentor. I will always be open to their feelings, thoughts, needs, and suggestions for my improvement as their teacher. By the end of the school year, I hope that my students will grow as young mathematicians and that they will achieve a higher level of autonomy and self-confidence. I also hope that as a teacher, I will grow and learn from my students every day.