Teaching Philosophy

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and Ill understand.
Benjamin Franklin had it dead on the nose when he spoke that quote. In fact its the position I
will take when Im in my classroom trying to impart wisdom to the students I will be entrusted
with. As an educator, I feel that each student has the ability to learn, and if given the right
environment, paired with the right presentation of information, every student can achieve
understanding and excellence. To teach, I want to direct the learning process and change the
outcome of every students potential for the better. My goal is to make connections with students
that will further support the learning they are in school. I will strive to provide students with a
classroom environment that breeds learning; one that provides safe and structured instruction
through successful management practices. I will express my belief in each students ability
through motivational tools, improve their cognition, and assess their performance, work and
products in fair and thorough manner. As an educator I will operate in the four functions of a
teacher (Hedges 9), as not only one who imparts knowledge, but wears many hats if you will;
from teaching hats, administrative hats, area specialist hats, and even student counselor hats. I
will need to posses the skills and understand what each area means, to best help my students.
Behavior and classroom management tactics are very important to the success of a
classroom. Since I will be working with middle and high school aged students, I have several
ideas as to how I could best maintain order in my classroom. I will use a combination of both a
reward and punishment system: FACS Bucks. Since a large section of the class material
focuses on money and financial management, I feel it would make sense to incorporate that into
my behavioral system. Woolfolk talks about response cost (pg. 261) as a means of gaining
control of a classroom. So I would start each week by paying the students (like a paycheck) for

having their homework assignments turned in, being prepared for class, etc. (with appropriate
deductions for missing areas). For each problematic behavior, it would cost the student a certain
amount of money. If they forgot a pencil, or needed to get a new sheet of paper, etc. they would
be able to buy it from the store. Its also important to note that all requirements, and
expectations be explained thoroughly at the beginning of the semester, so that there are no
surprises for the students. At the end of the semester (or possibly at the end of every nine weeks),
there would be some sort of reward they could earn by having so much money saved. I think this
would not only help keep the students on task and stay in line, but would aid in their
understanding of how money works on a more personal level.
I think this also plays into motivational strategies as well. This gives each individual a
chance to learn and advance through intrinsic motivation. (Woolfolk 456) Each person decides
how he or she will spend their money, as well as how they will earn it. They will have an
obtainable goal to strive for, and will be given every opportunity to succeed. I will also
incorporate authentic tasks (Woolfolk 457) in my classrooms. Woolfolk talks about how these
tasks make connections to real-life problems, and are more likely to stick in a students memory
when they feel it actually applies to their lives. Figuring out how to work in groups, solve
problems in the kitchen, relying on team or group-mates find solutions, etcetera will allow
students to improve their working memory alongside gaining authentic skills they will need in
the future.
In my Family and Consumer Science classroom, students will be expected to expand their
metacognition. (Woolfolk 318) Woolfolk describes three essential skills required for this task
including planning, monitoring, and evaluating. I will be sure to include all of these steps in
various sections of material. A prime example would be for the students food labs. They will be

required to plan materials they will need, who will take on what task, as well as the amount of
time it will take to accomplish all goals. They will monitor, or judge, how they are doing in realtime: is everything going as planned, are we on schedule to get everything cooked and cleaned
up in time, etc. Finally they will evaluate their final product, the lab, and their group members as
well as their own performance. The same concept can be applied to other content areas as well.
Assessment is a crucial part of the educational process. Through assessment, teachers and
students are able to judge what the students have learned, as well as areas that may still need
improvement. The means by which to assess a students work however can be a more
challenging decision. I personally feel that judging the knowledge of a student based on one form
of assessment will not give you a clear insight on that students knowledge. Some students
perform very well on things like standardized tests, while others struggle immensely with the
pressure that can accompany such tests, but knows the material left, right and sideways. So while
a standardized test might show the capability and comprehension of one student, it may not give
all the information about another. Therefore, I will use a variety of assessment techniques in my
classroom including: testing, classroom assessment and informal assessment. (Woolfolk 554565) For testing I will use a combination of short answer and multiple-choice tests that will cover
objective concepts. I will use exhibitions (Woolfolk 560) to evaluate their labs performance and
comprehension and execution of tasks. I will also use rubrics to guide the grades assigned to the
students. Finally, I will use informal assessment by involving students in assessments (Woolfolk
565). I will ask that the students work along side me to decide how best to grade their work. I
will require that they explain and validate their answers, and possibly even assist in creating the
test material. However, this would only be successful if the students were realistic and honest
about what should be acceptable and expected.

While learning to be a teacher, we are presented with ideals that shine as bright as the
students potential. Going into the field, I am aware that I will be faced with struggles and
difficulties I am not yet aware of. However, if I follow my philosophy, strive for greatness, and
believe in myself, and the students I will be working with, I believe we will only achieve
success. If I can teach my students, and include them in the work they are doing, they will not
soon forget how to succeed.

Works Cited
Hedges, L. (2000). What Being a Teacher Is All About. 1-92. Retrieved December 6, 2014, from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED450277.pdf
Kelly, M. (2009). Top 10 Tips for Classroom Discipline and Management. Retrieved
June 17, 2009, from http://712educators.about.com/od/discipline
Woolfolk, A. (2013). Educational Psychology (Twelfth ed.). Pearson Education.