Education 1010

           I believe that teaching is not for me to mold my students into the form we are most familiar, but rather to help them mold themselves into new forms. Forms better than what was past crafted, and my job is simply to show them the techniques those before them found useful when molding.  The mind is the artist and when its left and the right work together in harmony, true artistry can be performed. It is not my place to limit either. Therefore, I will strive to nurture both art and reason, both acceptance and curiosity, both determination and reflection within my students. I will inspire them by showing them the many windows of the world and be an encouraging role model who happily holds the doors open to their futures.

          All people have the privilege and opportunity to make a difference in the people and world around them. I will endeavor to both be that mode of change in my students as well as push them to become one themselves. Many of us run wild in youth, then with the help of life's lessons learn direction and with a bit of luck we walk on and outward. This is my goal as a teacher; to motivate my students through life’s transitions, to celebrate their differences which enriches their learning,  to captivate them in the many wonders each day has to offer, to illustrate the importance of principal subjects, to regulate or mediate between potential challenges of mind, body and spirit, to communicate that we all must anticipate such challenges but not let them stimulate what drives us on, to facilitate their use of new technologies to gain perspectives and skills in the ever-changing machine of society and most importantly to educate them to follow first whatever captivates them most in this world.

I believe in many of the philosophies of social reconstruction but I also believe that the current age of progressivism has been showing a lot of promise among our student bodies in the past couple of decades. Working on alternate methods to learn materials, not only shows that it can be done but it has also taught us that not everyone can succeed to their full potential by the ‘tried and true’ forms of curriculum in the history of education. This means we need to adapt if that full potential is indeed what we seek from each student whom we ultimately live and breath for within our life's work as teachers. With all that said, if it had not been for ‘the classics’ I would not have found such a desire to teach English and many of its facets. It was Shakespeare with his words, “All the world's a stage,” that began to open my eyes, S. E. Hinton's youth when becoming a published author that inspired me, and Ray Bradbury that taught me to push the envelope in what is possible and what was OK to imagine for myself and within my written works. Without them all I would not even be writing this philosophy let alone the urge, no need, to inspire others. We need these classics to learn from, just as we need to learn to brave creating new ones that will be read in the future. I’ve heard it said, ‘It is the doom of man that we forget,’ but as long as we can learn from the past, learn from each other in the present, and continue to teach for our future, my teaching philosophy, and philosophy itself will be able to ever expand, encompassing the views of all.

By Angela Fields

Education 1010 with Lois Oestreich, EdS

             My philosophy of Classroom Management

To manage my classroom I will promote student involvement both with the lessons but also with each other by involving group assignments and opportunities to share and be peer reviewed. I feel that building relationships within a classroom can be the most effective way to ensure everyone feels welcome, appreciated and understood within a family like environment. Relationships like these can be life long either literally, emotionally or through personal growth and promote a collaboration where everyone wants to see the class as a whole succeed through productive learning. My lessons will be engaging and inclusive where if one should not understand promoting explanation through their peers will inspire feelings of camaraderie and support. “Good try” and “You got this” can be the simple but helpful push, a struggling student needs to succeeds and if a one-on-one explanation is needed I will make time to patiently explain a subject in all the ways available to me until it is understood. I will promote questioning. I will promote listening. Both help and are necessary in learning and in life.

I will involve student parents or guardians in class activities and accomplishments on regular reports and have assignments that promote their involvement in their child's academia. I will also give them a heads up on what is expected within my class such as learning goals, major project deadlines, and activities that their involvement could significantly help their child's ability to retain the information in the long term and improve the class environment as a whole with their added input. Their involvement shows they they care about the education of their child and the success they can achieve being supported by so many facets of their lives in educational endeavors.

If these plans should fail and a student still shows or begins to show signs of misbehavior that interferes with class time or the wellbeing of another student at any time, then I will do my best to remain calm with that student. I will ask questions and listen to the answers. Demonstrate patience and be respectful to their side of the story while also explain how their actions are affecting others around them and provide possible solutions. When appropriate, I will give examples I have had in the past with either other students or myself that may shed light on how they are acting or feeling and also how they can be addressed or resolved in a way that is positive or has more positive outcomes and what can be gained from taking the other choice of action. I may also be able to show them another side to the issue in a way, using ‘withitness,’ that will give the student an opportunity to reflect on the previous events and see them in that new light so the chances they will act in the same way will not occur in the future or, with luck, the misbehavior becomes less severe.

By Angela Fields

Education 1010 with Lois Oestreich, EdS

Philosophy of Assessing Learning

           We assess students to first establish where they are at in their learning, later to make sure they are receiving the lessons we are charged to teach them, and later still, to see if they retained them and are ready to move on. This is important to me because it is a way to find out if the methods I am using to teach are being effective among my students or if a change needs to be made. I was never a fan of testing but through various types of formative assessment, summative assessment, and norm-referenced assessment, I believe I will be able to gage the stage all of my students are at without being “the teacher that tests totally too much.”