Carin Jordan - Philosophy of Teaching

When I consider my Philosophy of Teaching, the first thing that always enters my mind is What kind of people do I want my students to become and how can I contribute to that goal? I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who asserted that intelligence plus character that is the goal of true education. I want my students to grow into ethical, creative, logical and productive citizens of the world. I believe that a strong academic foundation is essential to this goal since a mind that has been well trained in reason and logical thinking is an essential component of good character because it facilitates the ability to make good choices. However, I also believe that learning cannot simply be bestowed upon a student. Student learning must be fueled by motivation. One of the most important jobs of any teacher is to learn what motivates her students and how to make learning relevant to them. Factors that have influenced my philosophy thus far include my own background and personal experiences pertaining to education, Reinhardt University M.A.T. class lectures and assignments, team projects and activities. The Reinhardt University Price School of Education (PSOE) mission and

proficiencies have also had a strong influence on my thinking. Perhaps the strongest influence this far has been learning about the PSOE Differentiated Approaches to Teaching and Assessment (DATA) model and its foundational philosophy of constructivism. The theory of constructivism proposes that people build understanding through a process of experiencing things and then thinking about those experiences, asking questions, and determining how this new knowledge may be assimilated into their existing mental database. While working on the constructivism museum project this semester, I had the opportunity to see how exciting learning can become when a concept is taken out of a textbook and given to a group of students to whom the essential question has been made relevant. The museum project demonstrated to me how the deepest learning occurs when the teacher acts as a facilitator to students who are asking questions and constructing their own learning. I am looking forward to learning more about how to become a constructivist teacher. Clearly, in order for this process to function optimally in school it must occur in an environment where students feel safe to ask questions and participate in this type of constructed learning. To that end, it is imperative that my classroom be a nurturing learning environment of care and challenge as stated

in PSOE Candidate Proficiency 4.5. This tenet also forms the starting point of the DATA model. The POSE mission statement also emphasizes that as a teacher I shall provide instruction to students within a nurturing environment. How can I ensure that my classroom provides this nurturing environment? In her article Learning in an inclusive community Sapon-Shevin emphasizes that mutual respect and understanding is the foundation of an effective classroom. I agree. An essential element of a respectful classroom is the creation of an inclusive classroom community. One of the ways to build rapport within my classroom might be to give my students choices to give students the opportunity to create their own class rules, motto, mascot, and goals for each new school year. The students may be more receptive to these classroom guidelines since they feel ownership of them. Also, because they worked together to create the guidelines they may already start thinking of themselves as a team. Additionally, I believe that it may be beneficial for students to participate in activities at the beginning of the school year designed to identify and assess their particular learning styles. Information gleaned from such activities would not only provide invaluable pre-assessment information for me as their teacher but would also provide an excellent starting point for a class discussion on personal differences as well as why we will be offering assignment and assessment choices within our classroom. Part of the PSOE mission calls for me to respond to the diversity of student needs through differentiated instruction. Although my students dont need to know the specific term differentiated instruction per se, it seems appropriate to discuss with them the concept that even students who seem the same superficially are different in essential ways and that our classroom will work to meet those needs. This learning difference exercise can then lead to a discussion of other ways in which we all differ from one another and why it is critical to treat these differences with dignity and respect. PSOE Candidate Proficiency 4.0 states that the teacher should establish positive, respectful, and collaborative relationships with students. It is my intent to show this respect to my students and ensure that they show the same manner of regard to me and to each other. Constructivism theorist, Jerome Bruner, notes attitude towards learning as the first of his four significant aspects of learning. The creation of a

respectful classroom environment should help facilitate a positive attitude to learning. One of the most 2

important ways that I can demonstrate respect to my students is by providing meaningful work and ensuring that my students have all available avenues open to them for processing information in their own way. As noted previously, all students have different learning styles. This seems like such a simple

concept. However, it is human nature to think that people are (or ought to be) like us and therefore that students would like to be taught in the same way that we would. However, it is so critical to keep learner differences at the forefront of our attention that it forms the heart and center of the PSOE DATA model. One of the key ways to address learner differences is through the practice of differentiated instruction. In fact, PSOE Candidate Proficiency 1.0 states that I have an obligation to my students to use knowledge of curriculum, learner differences, and ongoing assessment data to plan for student access to the same essential content. In other words the core concept of differentiated instruction is that people often take difference routes and still arrive that the same destination. Similarly, PSOE Candidate Proficiency 2.0 notes that I will use knowledge of curriculum, learner differences, and ongoing assessment data to plan for student access in their own way. As a teacher, I will have many ways to make learning accessible to students. For example, integrating constructivist theories of learning is a natural fit for differentiated instruction. In my classroom, I can use constructivist teachings to evaluate and preasses student understanding and create active lessons and experiments that allow students to first create knowledge and then reflect upon it. The lessons and the process of reflection may be differentiated based on individual student needs and learning styles but they should ultimately achieve the same educational objective. In my classroom, I plan to use a blend of whole-class, individual, and group instruction. Proficiency 2.4 encourages teachers to provide for flexible grouping, and I believe that team projects allow students to learn important lessons about respectful peer interaction and group dynamics as well as to contribute to improved learning. When working as a group, teams have the opportunity to create synergy whereby a group effort will create an overall better result than if team members worked toward the same goal individually. Lev Vygotsky, a key figure in the theory of constructivism, noted that students could indeed solve problems beyond their own developmental level when working in small 3

groups with more capable peers. This makes sense because teamwork encourages responsibility by making students accountable to peers who they often wish to impress. A student, apathetic about his own grades, may put forth additional work knowing that his teammates are counting on him. Moreover, once students begin articulating their own ideas, other students build upon those ideas and the students can posit questions that lead to further discussion at a higher level of thought. Thus a virtuous circle of learning has occurred. I will also attempt to include choice into my lesson plans in order to allow students to choose activities based on their interests in alignment with differentiation of content in the PSOE DATA model and PSOE Proficiency 2.1. Tapping into areas of student interest is essential to create real depth of learning. When a student learns about something that they are interested in, they will have broader background knowledge on which to build. The student will be more attentive and actively engaged during the lesson and more likely to continue to mull over the learning throughout the rest of the day. These concepts reflect the ideas of relevancy and thought consolidation as noted by constructivist theorists. How will I become knowledgeable about my student interests and skill levels so that I may attempt to build lesson plans with appropriate levels of choice and challenge? Clearly, I need to utilize assessment information. Ideally, I must become as much a student to my students as they are to their lessons! Pre-assessment activities will allow me to understand what knowledge my students have as their starting point, while ongoing and summative assessments will allow me to evaluate student progress and make changes to future lesson plans as needed. This concept is tied to Proficiency 1.5 which challenges teachers to pre-assesses student prior knowledge for planned instructional tasks. Assessment information also allows me to impact student learning as stated in Proficiency 3.0 by reminding me to use systematic formal/informal assessment as an ongoing diagnostic activity to measure student growth to guide, differentiate, and adjust instruction. In fact, assessment information forms both an endpoint in the PSOE DATA model as well as circling back around to become a new data feed for addressing learner differences. 4

Proficiency 3.1 instructs teachers to collect formative and summative data about student learning. It is important to note the difference between formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment will allow me to monitor interim progress and help adjust teaching practices to have a greater impact upon the student. Summative assessment, i.e. grading, is an end-point judgment about student achievement intended to communicate clear, useful information for the purpose of enhancing learning. Both types of assessment are important but need to be used at the appropriate times. As noted in Proficiency 2.10, I can provide differentiated assessment options to allow my students to demonstrate learning. I like the idea of ungraded formative assessments during the learning process and graded summative assessments to make an endpoint judgment about their learning. As noted in Proficiency 2.12, these graded assessments will be based on a clearly defined rubric which will be given to students in advance of the assessment. As a teacher, I must also be knowledgeable and sensitive to my students who have barriers that impede their ability to receive and demonstrate knowledge on a particular subject. If a course objective is to learn about the causes and effects of a particular issue, then a student with weak writing skills should not be penalized because they cannot communicate these causes and effects in essay form. The student may actually have an excellent knowledge of the particular issue and could present the information in another form, such as oral presentation. The PSOE DATA model highlights this as differentiation of the product and is further noted in Proficiencies 2.10 and 2.11 which calls for me to provide my students with various assessment options to demonstrate learning. For example, a student learning English as a second language may not be able to read a grade level textbook but could read easier texts, view a movie, or listen to interviews. Likewise, a student with extremely poor writing skills may be allowed to

demonstrate knowledge via teacher conference, the creation of graphic organizer, etc. Reading and writing are skills that are very important and may require intervention to bring them up to grade level standard. But in the meantime, the kids who need extra time to develop these skills should not be repeatedly penalized in subject areas where those particular skills are not the focus.

Part of the mission of the PSOE is to produce reflective, problem solving teachers. The DATA model includes an element of reflection and a number of the PSOE proficiencies (notably Proficiencies 2.13, 3.2 and 4.6) center around this concept as well. School systems issue report cards to encourage periodic review and reflection. However, it is an unfortunate fact that report cards usually provide a limited amount of truly useful information. Therefore, in addition to report cards, I feel that it would be a useful practice to use report card time to provide additional information both to students and parents such as checklists, sample, papers, and conferences. I believe that it would be beneficial to set up conference times with students separate from the conference that I have with their parents. It is my goal to

demonstrate to students that education is not simply something that is being imposed upon them by their parents and teachers. I want my students to be engaged construction of their own learning so it is important to take the time to review their educational goals, provide specific feedback, and listen to their unique concerns. I want my students to progress through elementary school and transition to middle school believing in themselves as capable learners with the ability and obligation to manage their own learning; therefore, I need to carefully consider adjusting my teaching and grading practices with that in mind. One of the unique attributes that I bring into the field of education is my background as a consultant in the business community. In business, it is common practice to define that a stakeholder is any person or entity that has an interest in my business and whose needs that must be addressed and expectations managed. It will be my job as a professional teacher to work with all of my stakeholders in a responsive and professional manner. The main stakeholder in my classroom is the student. Everything that I do should have their needs at the center. My next stakeholders are the parents or guardians of my students. Ideally parents are the most consistent model and teacher to their students. It is my job to communicate to parents what their child is learning and to share information that will enable them to enhance student learning at home. I may gain valuable data from parents and in turn I can share information that will allow parents to extend learning outside the classroom. Other teachers and school administration are additional stakeholders in my classroom. It is critical that I communicate regularly 6

with administration and act as a team player with my other teaching peers during lesson planning and other grade level activities. My peers serve as a valuable resource for collaboration; I also have the opportunity to learn from more experienced teachers and eventually act as mentor to new teachers. Finally, members of the community are also stakeholders in my classroom. Proficiency 4.2 echoes these responsibilities by tasking me to establish positive, respectful, and collaborative relationships with students, collaborating teachers, school personnel, parents, community members, and outside agencies. It is important to remember that I am never really off duty when I become a teacher. Teachers often run into students and their parents while out and about and therefore I must ensure that my behavior is appropriate. Proficiency 4.1 demands that teachers adhere to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission Code of Ethics for Educators, but to become a great teacher I must go well beyond that standard. I hope to exude warmth, caring and a commitment to excellence that draws my students into the class and makes their parents proud to send them there. It is my contention that the best teachers view teaching as a vocation. Teaching is simply a commitment that is too big and too all-consuming to treat as merely a job. However, some of my favorite teachers view teaching as their hobby as well. In other words, great teachers are not just giving to their profession they are also receiving something from the practice of their craft as well. Any relationship that is completely one-sided is unsustainable. Therefore, I hope to experience moments of joy, humor and personal growth inside my classroom. I hope that my intellectual curiosity of the learning process is stimulated by my activities in the classroom. This is one of the reasons to receive professional development and keep up to date with my own education perhaps through conferences, journal articles, blogs and so on. Shifting the lens of my own learning process opens me up to new viewpoints and teaching practices. These opportunities will allow me to replenish myself as a teacher and continue to bring the enthusiasm and energy to the classroom that my students deserve. I believe that my philosophy of teaching will grow and change as I experience continue to build upon my current level of knowledge, ask questions, and reflect upon my experiences. I am looking forward to the journey.

Bibliography Loeser, M.Ed., J. W. (2008). Differentiated instruction. EBSCO Research Starters, 1-9.

Luther King Jr., D. M. (1947). The purpose of education. The Maroon Tiger. Retrieved from http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/thepurposeofeducation.htm Pettig, K. (2000). On the road to differentiated practice. Educational Leadership, 14-18.

Sapon-Shevin, M. (2008). Learning in an inclusive community. Educational Leadership: The Positive Classroom, 66(1), 49-53.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann (2005). Grading and differentiation: paradox or good practice? Theory into Practice, 44(3), 262-26.