Teaching Philosophy Padlet by Brian Kinsley

Beliefs about Learning

4011817 — 2024-09-02 21:14:37 UTC

To me, the most important thing, at least in the math classroom, is putting emphasis on understanding rather than mimicking a procedure the teacher demonstrates. I want to stray away from having students going straight into working on problems right after taking notes. I want students to get good grades for truly demonstrating understanding rather than arriving at the right answer.

From a student point of view, I always find that absorbing myself in the math and pondering got me much farther in the classroom than worrying about grades ever did. Learning to appreciate what I was learning made concepts and ideas really stick with me, and sometimes I had to find the meaning myself if an instructor did not bring it up in the classroom.

As a future teacher, I'd like to incorporate more classroom wide discussions where students share their perspectives and opinions on lessons. In this setting, students may share how they personally understand the current topics, and bounce ideas off each other. The main goal of these exercises to get students to wrestle with concepts and produce breakthrough moments in the classroom, in a guided-discovery-esque manner.

Part 1: Values of Education

4011817 — 2024-09-02 21:31:33 UTC

My greatest value of teaching is having positive student teacher relationships. I believe the teacher should be more than a vessel of knowledge for the student. Getting to know each student and building a relationship with them to the point where they feel comfortable asking for help is integral to their learning. School is not easy, it requires a lot of critical thinking, active participation, and motivation. As Kellough and Kellough state on page 111, you need to know your students well enough to provide experiences they will find interesting, valuable, intrinsically motivating, challenging and rewarding.

Communication

4011817 — 2024-09-02 22:35:11 UTC

I will communicate my values and beliefs to my classroom on day one. It is very common for math teachers nowadays to just lecture and then have students solve problems. I will make it clear to my students that at the very least we will be doing much more than that, explaining my philosophy to them. I will also have a classroom activity to create universally agreed upon norms that everyone will follow throughout the year. This builds community in the classroom where students should always respect each other and develop positive math identities. I will also do this myself through actively interacting with my students throughout the year in casual conversation and tutoring. A rough draft I have for a first day activity is to have students introduce themselves to each other in groups while somehow not being able to see what everyone looks like. The idea behind this is to eliminate any implicit biases that students may make up in their head about others before getting to know them. After that, students may work in groups on a simple math puzzle, getting them to talk to each other and break the ice.

Part 2: Classroom Environment Plan

4011817 — 2024-09-04 05:19:36 UTC

Building off of what I said in my Communication tab, having a set of norms and rules for the classroom created by the students (and me) helps build a sense of community in the classroom by creating a space where students feel comfortable sharing. While I expect students to follow such norms, in the case where they are broken, I'd call out behavior and remind everyone of the class norms rather than single out any student. I want the classroom to be a place where students aren't embarrassed to be wrong, rather, a place where everyone feels like they're collectively working towards a common goal. I really resonate with Kellough and Kellough state on page 110 when describing how to create a positive ambiance in the classroom, that is, attending to classroom appearance, being an optimistic and enthusiastic teacher, and making learning enjoyable.

Classroom Management

4011817 — 2024-09-04 05:46:24 UTC

I believe that establishing routines and procedures from the very beginning and consistently sticking with them for the whole year is crucial to maintaining order and having control over the classroom. Specific routines for calling on students, absences, or collecting homework I haven't worked out yet, but I'll put a lot of effort into staying consistent with them in order to get students into good habits. On top of that, when I do get to the point of creating such expectations, I'll try my best to be as detailed as possible as to avoid vagueness with the students. I think a good exercise to do with students is to have demonstrations of routines and short practice sessions so that everyone is clear on them.

Part 3: Technology

4011817 — 2024-09-05 03:16:48 UTC

I think technology can be used in ways that increase efficiency and provide quality of life improvements in the classroom. For example, tablets lead to not only theoretically infinite pages for taking notes, but easily expandable pages sizes allowing for students to organize their writing in ways not possible on a physical piece of paper. To add on, there are many websites such as Desmos and PhET that can easily clearly visualize mathematical concepts by graphing of animated simulations. These methods are otherwise not possible for teachers to do by hand in a suitable amount of time. My mentor teacher also does a screen recording of her lectures on her tablet, which is very useful for students who are absent for a day.

Incorporation of Technology

4011817 — 2024-09-05 03:53:58 UTC

As a math teacher, I'm responsible for teaching my students basic literacy with technology as it relates to math in our current day. Simple tools such as calculators or websites that graph functions or evaluate equations are high priority items that I will make sure all my students know how to use. I also want them to be comfortable navigating the web, such as using classroom websites, or properly finding help online when stuck instead of searching up answers. As a teacher, I'd like to use technology to create a space where students can access any notes or worksheets they need for the class online. On top of that, I'd like to use some kind of discussion board where students may collaborate online with each other.