Philosophy of Education I believe that every child has the potential to succeed in the classroom and have access

to a meaningful education. In order to grow potential and provide a meaningful education, I believe it is my responsibility to be an effective teacher in order to foster these beliefs. Students are only going to be as dedicated to learning as their teacher. Students are only going to be able to grow if they have a dedicated teacher that creates a specific learning environment for the group of students they have the privilege to work with. Starting on the first day of school, I believe it is important to lay the foundations for the entire school year. Establishing routines, procedures and boundaries at the beginning of the year will set the expectations for the group of learners. Creating routines and procedures is a way to shape students classroom behavior by providing recurring structure and predictability. At the beginning of the school year, students should learn what is expected of them as learners in a classroom and also as members of a community. If this is done early, students and teachers can, and will, be held accountable to the same high standards throughout the entirety of the school year. I believe that the classroom should be student centered. Each student is unique and that is what makes teaching an ongoing challenge, but this contributes to the rewards. The classroom must provide opportunities for each individual learner to grow as an academic student and also as a person. As a special educator, I have seen the successes by implementing some of the following strategies: provide students opportunities for success, provide models, use multi-sensory approaches to learning, micro-unit and structure tasks, connect prior knowledge, ensure automatization through practice and review, and include the student in their learning process. These strategies are essential to use in the classroom, whether a special education setting or general education setting. Using these strategies while also taking into account your students individual learning styles, will create a specific type of learning environment beneficial to your students and their growth of knowledge and personal growth.

Finally, a certain level of dedication is necessary in order to create the student-centered classroom and foster each students potential to learn. Teachers must be dedicated to their cause. They must know and believe each student has the potential to learn and also allow each student access to a meaningful education. If dedication is not visible or observed within the teacher, the potential of each student may be inhibited or diminished.