I began the MAT program with many concepts about teaching and how to be a successful teacher. I developed most of these concepts during my many experiences as a student as well as through my teaching experiences through high school and college. Though many of these ideas remain the same today, I have realized that my teaching style and my approach to teaching really varies class by class. At the same time, I feel that there are some absolutes: ideas, concepts and strategies that I take to any classroom. It is then, these absolutes that I hold myself accountable to. Thus, my teaching philosophy necessarily includes multiple components including foundations for establishing a classroom environment, responsibilities of the teacher, progressive teaching strategies, and finally, approaches to teaching English.
I want to stress that I see teaching as both an art and a performance, and believe that any teaching philosophy necessarily fails in that it does not capture the importance of learning from those around you and of always being ready to refine your art and enhance your performance. I approach each day with a new philosophy and a fresh outlook on the classroom. There is always room for development and change and I value those moments when I suddenly realize that something that I have been using for weeks or even months simply is not working. It is during those moments, when I am forced to reevaluate and change my stage directions, that I perceive my growth as a teacher and a learner.
That said I do believe that there are essentials to creating a positive classroom environment. I value strong classroom management skills and, along with that, believe that establishing consistency and routine in the classroom is a vital part of creating an atmosphere primed for success. In order to be as clear and effective as possible, I believe I must befriend organization and provide my students with a set understanding of my expectations. It is always easier to relax guidelines and structure later on than it is to try to add structure after already beginning.
But, as well organized and consistent as I try to be, I must also realize that I do not have control over my students’ lives. Honestly, I relish in this realization. I recognize that my students have complex and full lives in ways that I may not be able to imagine. Every moment in and out of classrooms reminds me of how much learning occurs outside of the classroom and outside of class time. Therefore, I depend upon students’ prior knowledge as a way to contextualize the material and prepare students to make connections throughout their lives. In this way, I hope that my in-class teaching will complement and complicate their understandings of their out-of-class lives.
Related to acknowledging that my students learn outside of the classroom is my commitment to preparing my students to be strong members of society. I try to approach teaching as an opportunity and a responsibility: I have the opportunity to guide my students through the process of becoming psychologically mature and the responsibility to foster their development as citizens of a society. In order to be an appropriate model and guide as a teacher, I believe that I need to be realistic, empathic and honest as I work with my students. I strive to approach my students with compassion while working to make them question what they already know and reach new levels of understanding about their lives, their society and their personal goals. I also know that I cannot restrain my own passion for learning and English, but that I need to balance that passion with flexibility and an open mind.
Part of having an open mind is a willingness to take risks and to try a variety of methods. I always strive to individualize my teaching, and thus turn to strategies for incorporating and valuing multiple intelligences in the classroom. While maintaining consistent expectations and classroom guidelines, I hope to explore with my students visual, spatial, kinesthetic and other ways of learning and showing that learning has occurred. I know that each student is capable of learning and I am committed to working to discover how best each student learns. I embrace multiple intelligences through interdisciplinary and cooperative learning methods. I strongly advocate creating a community of learners and think that by developing opportunities for students to interact and learn from each other, I can form a learning environment that allows all students to draw from their own strengths and learn from others’ strengths. I push my students to see each other as knowledgeable resources and encourage them through group work and peer editing to learn from each other. I am always happy to see students taking notes based on what their classmates say in discussion and believe in encouraging conversations between the students about the ideas we are covering.
Without a strong base in reading and
writing, though, no English classroom can truly succeed. Therefore, I work to provide my students with
guided writing instruction and multiple opportunities to write, to edit others’
writing and to revise their own. I
believe that students learn by doing, and that learning to write well must
happen at the high school level if students are to become lifelong writers and
readers. Additionally, I acknowledge
that in any classroom, there will be students with widely different interests
and passions. Though I strongly believe
in teaching students how to decode and analyze many types of texts, I also
believe in letting them practice this skill in small and realistic groups. I try always to keep in mind the types of
reading and writing that students will encounter after high school and to offer
opportunities to practice the skills necessary for these later forms of reading
and writing. Finally, often I will
bring secondary texts to the classroom to share with my students. I do this because I acknowledge that
literature was not written in a vacuum and that other writings from the time
can elucidate aspects of the reading.
English class should provide the tools for reading and
writing, and the opportunity to practice using those tools with the whole
class, in small literature groups, and individually. Students need the opportunity to process what they read, and often
the most effective processing occurs through conversations with their
peers. Therefore, as much as I value
close reading the text in a large group setting, I think small group analysis
really adds to the experience of reading and learning. Though I certainly structure my teaching with
the traditional forms of literature (poetry, short story and novel), I also
believe that students can learn much from exploring a variety of texts,
including nonfiction essays, personal memoir, film, magazines, newspapers or
comics. English classrooms should be
enjoyable as well as places to pick up the skills necessary to find success
beyond high school. The English canon
will always be essential, but I also strongly support exposing students to contemporary
and minority literatures that do not fit within the canon.
Teaching then, involves an awareness
of the students’ past and present and a willingness to guide students to be
successful in both envisioning their future and attaining their future
goals. It requires a willingness to
learn, develop and change. Finally, it
demands whole-hearted dedication: to
teach well, I believe that I need to lead from my gut, hold back nothing and be
ready to do what is best for the interlocking communities of the students, the
school and society.