My teaching philosophy thus far

Since I am in an environment where the students are younger, my teaching philosophy may vary from others in this class…but then again there may be many similarities.

I think in order to learn students need to be in a safe, caring, and positive environment. I like to create a community in our classroom by singing songs with the students’ names, doing dances with switching partners, and things like that. I like to have opportunities for collaborative and individual learning. This helps bring the students out of their shells and help them get along with others.

I think in teaching, if one can make the learning apply to real life, students are more willing to participate and also remember things better. Projects are an effective way for students to see a culmination of their learning and/or put it into practice or use.

I think it is important to use many different approaches to teaching so the students get more out of it; addressing the multiple intelligences and using left/right brain activities make learning easier and more fun for students. Using Multiple Intelligences theory, “taps into students' intrinsic levels of motivation through natural talents, thus helping teachers construct self-motivating educational experiences and ones which help promote the concept of flow in the classroom,” (http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/wilson1.htm).

An article for tips and resources for putting MI theory into practice can be found at: http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-immersion-enota-how-to.

In my philosophy of teaching, it should be as natural as possible and be applicable to real life and the students’ lives. The less it looks like learning, the better!