Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day! (Philosophy)

When I first read about this assignment, I thought that it was going to be a pretty easy assignment because I have a philosophy that I have lived by for the past two years. I then began to look at all the areas that our philosophy should address and I began to get nervous. I thought a philosophy was a simple generalization that I could identify with like “All children can learn”, but this assignment required that I go deeper than the everyday educational clichés and really think about my feelings toward education and technology. The writing exercises were an invaluable portion of this development and encouraged me to reflect on the various aspects of my teaching and its methods.

The purpose of education is to ensure that all students receive the skills necessary to work towards their short term and long term goals. The teacher is responsible for using every resource available to them to ensure the success of each and every student. The teacher is responsible for making the learning “real” to student by helping the student to connect their learning to other content areas as well as real world experiences. The best teacher I ever had was Mr. Manson, who taught Chemistry. What made Mr. Manson so wonderful was he had a way of bringing chemistry alive and he showed us how we used it in our everyday lives. Although the content itself was very difficult at times, he had a way of making it so simple, that the vast majority of his students were able to be successful. Mr. Manson exemplifies what a good teacher is. Teachers are supposed to present the content in such a way that all children feel they can learn it and make connections with it.

Although I was a student of Mr. Manson fifteen years ago, I still try to emulate his style of teaching. Meaning, I try to make mathematics so simple that all of my students can understand the content as well as identify the concepts in their everyday lives. One of the most difficult (worst) classes I ever took in my career was a course I took during graduate school. What made this course so painful was the fact that it was all sit and get, it lacked any type of interaction, and the teacher did all the talking. I took this course about two years ago and it helped me tremendously. Whenever I plan a lesson, I think about activities that I can engage my students in that will give them an opportunity to interact with one another as well as learn from one another.

While trying to develop a philosophy, I had to read about the various philosophical schools of thought. After reading about the six schools of thought, I realized that I identified with the Pragmatism school of thought. I truly believe that no matter what a person’s path, education is essential to them being able to fully function in life. Pragmatics also believe that a learner’s life experiences should be incorporated into their learning and the development of their problem solving skills. Most importantly (to me) Pragmatics believe that since no child reaches the same point at the same time, all children should be educated the same way.

There are so many factors that shape every teacher and every student. I teach the way that I do because I feel that it is the most effective method to reach the students that I teach. I choose assignments and activities for that same reason because I feel it is what’s best for the students I teach. So many times students have so much information stored on the inside, but never realize how it all connects together. I always try to keep the information that I teach very simple because I want all of my students to feel the way that I felt taking chemistry from Mr. Manson, that nothing is too hard for me. I want every student of mine to leave my classroom feeling confident about working with mathematics on their grade level.

As I worked to develop a philosophy and went through the various steps, I did realize that I need to incorporate technology into my daily teaching. I do not use technology in my teaching primarily because I am not as literate as I need to be to have produce quality lessons with technology. I am an automater of information and not an informator; however, this exercise helps me examine my areas in need of improvement. I think a great teacher realizes that they can never reach a point where they have perfected their craft, but rather it is a never ending process to perfect their craft. Every time I think I have found the best strategy for teaching a content area, a colleague gives me an even better method or I find a more efficient way on a website. Great teaching is finding a way to reach all learners and help them experience success.

In conclusion, my philosophy although quite simple still holds true, “Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day!” Great teaching is finding a way to reach all learners, and incorporating technology into my lessons could make it that much easier to reach my students. Fear breeds a lot of things, and I can no longer be afraid of technology because my fears could rob my students of an extraordinary learning experience. As Pragmatic school of thoughts has stated we must use processes and the things that help reach the desired outcomes. My desired outcome for all of my students is success and confidence when it comes to mathematics and therefore I must provide every chance for them to reach the desired outcome.

**Just going through the writing excercises and developing a philosophy, has helped me to evaluate my teaching style and methods used. As I stated in my philosophy statement, I have realized how I don't use technology in my teaching because of my own fears and incompetence. I am already loving this course because it helped to explore technology that I have never used before. I have decided that as I learn to use technolgy, I am going to pass on the information to my students and create projects that will allow them to explore the technology of today. Our school has two computer labs with brand new computers that nobody uses. If I am going to give my students every chance to be successful, I have to equip them with everything I have.