Showcase - Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy

I would have to say that the majority of my beliefs about teaching have come from my childhood and the values instilled in me from my parents and other family members.

Growing up on a farm in a rural community, there was always work to be done. It didn’t matter whether you were up to it or not, the work had to be done. When the crops needed water and the well wasn’t working, you had to get it up and going again, even if that met missing an episode of your favorite TV show. And we didn’t have a VCR to record it!

Situations like this and the way in which my family approached them showed me the value of a good work ethic. This is something that I expect in my classroom. I tell my students that yes, there are times you don’t feel like working, or you may have something else “better” to do. But, you have to have the ability to evaluate the situation and realize the importance of completing the task at hand. You also have to realize the consequences of not completing the task. I have come to learn that your work ethic is a quality that no one can ever take from you.

I feel that some of my intrinsic motivation as a child came from knowing what would happen if I didn’t do what was expected of me at school. My parents had set forth these expectations and in the process of meeting them, I learned the satisfaction of doing something and doing it well. It’s easy for me to say that intrinsic motivation is an expectation I have for my students, but I have discovered over the years that it is sometimes more of a hope. I believe a student who has a good work ethic also has a level of intrinsic motivation. They are able to see the value of completing a task or challenge. These students do not require a reward for doing something. They merely enjoy the personal satisfaction.

Humor is another value found every day in my classroom. This value is a product of the relationship I had with my grandfather. I was fortunate in the fact that I lived across the driveway from my paternal grandparents. There was rarely a day that went by when I didn’t see my grandpa. Meeting me when I stepped off the school bus or playing a game of “Horse,” he always had a joke to tell. I was always his “little kook” and no matter what the situation, he could always put a smile on my face. He taught me to not take things too seriously. In my classroom, laughter and/or humor is a great problem solver, tension breaker, and all-around fun thing to do. Kids are growing up so quickly in today’s world and have to face negative and adult-type situations that they need time to be a kid and see the less serious side of life. I also use humor as an opportunity to connect with my students. They see how learning and school can, and should be, fun and something that they look forward to.

Honesty is a value that is often overlooked in today’s society. I recall hours of sitting at the dining room table with my sisters waiting for one of us to crack and tell the truth. We slowly began to realize that accepting responsibility for our actions from the beginning and telling the truth up front yielded less severe consequences. I let my students know that I will always trust them unless they show me I can’t. They learn that honesty can sometimes be difficult, but it is a quality they value as well. Just like my sisters and me, they have discovered that honesty, from the start, pays.
Finally, I value teamwork and problem solving. Growing up with two younger sisters caused these values to go hand-in-hand. We were not allowed to use violence as a solution to any of our problems or disagreements. We learned from an early age that hitting, kicking, and screaming accomplished nothing and were not appropriate ways to treat your family. Whether it was sharing toys as small children or the bathroom as teenagers, we had to work together in order to solve our problems and disagreements. We had to find win-win situations. This is the exact same approach I use in the classroom with my students. As a class, or family, we discuss what the expectations are and what needs to be done to make our classroom run smoothly. Students all take an individual role in this and do their part to contribute. My classroom is often physically arranged so that students are sitting in small groups. This gives them the opportunity to work together, share their ideas, and learn from each other. When our class has a problem, we come together to solve it. The students are directly involved in finding and implementing the win-win situation.

As for the technological aspect of my classroom, my interest in technology started at an early age. I can still remember the day my family bought our first computer. It was so large, it had its own “special” desk…the counter top! Everyone handled the floppy disks with great care. We thought we were on the cutting edge of technology.
I never did have a computer in any of my elementary or middle school classrooms. When I reached high school, I had my first academic interactions with technology. I still had no experiences with the Internet or email. Unfortunately, my college years were a mirror image of my earlier academic career. I was fortunate to have my own desktop computer during college that I used only for word processing. I was still oblivious to the incredible digital tools that were out there.

The Internet door finally opened shortly after my college graduation and has never shut. I began exploring the World Wide Web through AOL and was quickly drawn into the world of technology. Over the next couple of years, I went through several computer upgrades and I evolved into a user of a standard Internet service provider.

I made my personal mark on the World Wide Web in 1998 when I launched The Teacher’s Corner (http://www.theteacherscorner.net). I was like a small child in a candy store, always looking for new ideas to add and better programs to display my information. When I first began designing my site, I was using Netscape Composer and then moved onto FrontPage. I am currently using Dreamweaver. My web presence continues today with the addition of another Web site, Lesson Plan Search (http://www.lessonplansearch.com). Both of these sites are popular educational resources for educators, receiving a million-page views a month.
I believe that technology can be an avenue to reach struggling students. Offering students the opportunity to learn through interesting and hands-on activities such as web quests can curb many learning and behavior difficulties. Students see this interactive learning as a new and exciting way to learn and explore the world around them. I feel that I can create meaningful lessons and units to not only meet the needs of these specific students, but of all the students in my classroom.
As a teacher and an advocate of technology, my efforts ultimately focus on my students. To meet the needs of my students, as well as the Colorado content standards, I work to embed technology within daily curricula and learning. I also look towards strengthen my students’ understanding of and ability to flourish in a global society. This can be accomplished by integrating effective and creative project-based technologies in my classroom. In the future, I hope to continue developing web quests for various subject areas, as well as utilizing additional educational software. I believe that my students learn best when I am able to tap into their personal learning styles. Project-based technology activities cannot only reach students in a variety of ways, but they also provide exciting and unique learning opportunities.

As stated earlier, I encountered many technology roadblocks throughout my educational career. My goal is to break down those barriers for my students, open doors to new opportunities, while also encouraging them to always be lifelong learners.