Teaching Philosophy & Mission Statement To be an effective teacher, I believe that educators must strive to inspire their students,

utilize research-based instructional techniques, and to understand the whole child behind each and every student. As educators harness these components of schooling, I believe they enable children to experience success within the classroom. I believe that teachers must understand the motivational forces which drive student effort. Children thrive when they care about their own learning and feel ownership of their studies. I believe that effective teachers inspire their students to engage classroom curriculum by demonstrating their own interest in the topics of study. During my time as an intern Kindergarten teacher, I strove to inspire my students to engage a six day learning unit which focused on the Sun. I expressed my own interest with the Sun by enthusiastically leading classroom discussions which drove a student KWL process. Students identified what they already knew about the Sun, what they would like to know about the Sun, and finally, what they had learned about the Sun during the unit. This KWL process was accompanied by hands on learning opportunities which engaged the entire class. Students observed similarities between a burning candle and the Sun, they predicted where shadows would form in a dark room as I used a flashlight to represent sunlight, and they manipulated a globe and flashlight to explore the day-night cycle. By demonstrating my own interest in the Sun and by engaging students with hands on learning opportunities I believe I inspired my class to take ownership of their learning. I believe that effective teachers utilize research-based instructional techniques as they design and implement their lessons. As a student of educational theory, I know how to enhance instruction with my knowledge of varied learning styles, multiple intelligences, Understanding by Design, and Blooms Taxonomy of Thinking. As I taught handwriting lessons to kindergarten

students I included audio, visual, and bodily kinesthetic components to my daily lessons. When instructing how to write the letter t I began by visually demonstrated how to form the letter on a whiteboard. I continued the lesson by writing the letter t incorrectly, and then asked my students, What did I do wrong? Who can raise their hand and tell me how to correctly form the letter? Students visualized the process, and were always eager to share their thoughts. After this discussion, I asked students to independently practice writing the letter t on a handwriting paper. Every time they wrote a t, I asked students to verbally express the process they used to form the letter. Students recited, I start at the top line and pull to the bottom. I find the mid-line, and slide right. As students verbalized their writing process, they engaged the auditory component of the lesson. Finally, each student graduated from the letter of instruction by approaching a standing white board, and writing the letter t within large handwriting lines on the board. As students moved to the whiteboard and wrote the letter with a marker, they tackled the bodily kinesthetic element of the lesson. By including visual, auditory, and bodily kinesthetic components into daily handwriting lessons I utilized research-based instructional practices. I believe that effective educators continuously work to utilize best practice instruction, and I aspire to continue weaving these practices into my lessons. Successful teachers understand the whole child behind each of their students. Educators must understand the range of emotions which each child experiences during the school day. Teachers must recognize that students may relish competition in some situations, and then feel embarrassed or self-conscious in others. An educator must always respect the emotions of their students and demonstrate empathy and compassion towards children. While interning as a 6th grade humanities teacher I guided my class in a vocabulary game called Slap. This game requires two students to stand in front of a whiteboard which lists many different vocabulary terms. As I

read word definitions to players, each student raced their opponent in an effort to slap the corresponding term with a fly swatter. Many students were delighted with this game because they enjoyed competing with their classmates. As the teacher, I needed to be aware of all of the emotions within this 6th grade classroom. Some students couldnt wait to approach the board and compete with their peers, while other students felt much more tentative about the process. As I paired off students to play Slap I paid strict attention to which students seemed to enjoy competition and which students were not as motivated by gamesmanship. I made sure that exuberant or zealous students were never paired with members of the class who were a bit more timid or shy. I demonstrated empathy and compassion for my students as I considered all of the emotions and personalities within the classroom. Teachers must understand the whole child behind their students be confident that each child feels emotionally secure and safe within the classroom. I believe that effective teachers inspire students to feel a sense of ownership toward their learning process, utilize research-based instructional techniques, and understand the whole child behind each student within their classroom. As teachers embrace these elements of schooling I believe that students are more prepare to succeed within the world around them.