Christine Romano

Education Field Experience EDUC 230-01

Professor Suk
Spring 2016
Personal Philosophy
Growing up, school was not for me. Sure, I had many phenomenal teachers growing up,
but nothing ever caught my attention. While my teachers we genuine, they were all the same.
English, however, was always my strong point. Besides sixth grade, anyway. My older brother
was always the class clown, and entering sixth grade, I had one of his former teachers. I was
doing well in the class up until one day when I got sick. Living walking distance from my middle
school, my mom had my brother come pick me up. On our way out, my brother made eye
contact with my English teacher and they said hello to each other. When we walked out my
brother mentioned to me that she absolutely hated him. Not thinking anything of it, I found it
funny. My teacher never mentioned knowing my brother but my grades substantially began to
decrease after that day. All of my tests, papers, homework, etc. began missing in that class.
Eventually, becoming fed up with my grades dropping for something that was not my fault, my
mother called up my school. On the phone with my teacher, she mentioned the fact that she had
recently seen my brother and hoped for her own sake that knowing we were related had nothing
to do with my papers being missing. Miraculously the next day all of my papers that were
missing suddenly reappeared. This experience, while annoying to me at the time, will help me in
my own future classroom in many ways. The main reason being that I will never take my hatred
for someone else out on my students. I will also do my best to never misplace students school
work, and in the case that I do, I will in no way take it out on the student. After all, it was my
fault for misplacing it, not theirs for giving it to me.
One positive experience that Ive personally encountered in many classrooms, as well as
what Ive seen while doing my service learning, is working in groups or having the whole class
see each other. I think that it is crucial for students to be able to see each other face to face and
engage in conversation rather than talking to someones back all day. All of my best classes were
set up in this way and I will carry on this technique in my own classroom.
The most important philosophy that will be incorporated into my teaching will be
differentiated instruction. This philosophy is needed in order to take into account the way that

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each individual student learns and lets me as the teacher ensure that each child, while we might
not be able to do what best works for every student each class, will leave my class ready for the
next year and happy to have had me as a teacher. The main thing that I never want a child to
leave my class saying is, I dont understand what we did today. Of course, there are some
things that take more than a day to learn, but those will be the exceptions. Differentiated
instruction realizes that each child is different, and each child learns in a different way. Social
and emotional learning, cooperative learning, project based learning, and problem based learning
are the 4 learning styles that are acknowledged within this philosophy. Although I will utilize all
of these techniques, the main ones that I will use are cooperative learning and project based
learning. The reason I chose these two is because I want my students to actively engage in class
and by doing projects in pairs or groups, I will create a community in my class as well as teach
the students the material in which they need to know. However, I do acknowledge that some
students learn best alone, which is why I will incorporate social and emotional learning, as well
as problem based learning. These two styles, PBL more than SEL, will give those who learn best
alone an opportunity to feel comfortable and learn the best way they can.
Classrooms, to me, usually look relatively the same. Most have the teachers desk in the
back or in the front corner. The students desks are aligned in rows and barely have enough room
to walk between them. I will part from this stereotypical classroom and have my classroom be a
fun, safe, active place for students to learn. I will have my seats arranged in a circle so that all of
my students can see each other rather than staring at the back of their heads. I will have my desk
in the front corner but I will likely either be walking around or I will sit in one of the desks along
with the students, depending on what activity we are doing. Personally, the way a classroom is
set up is an important part of how students learn because if a class looks boring, students will
often doodle or doze off rather than engage and get the most out of their class.
When a visitor observes my class and I, they will see a lot of talking. Wanting to be an
English teacher, there is no better way to learn the subject than talking! Hence, most of the time
my class will be lively, whether working on a project or reading a book, my students will be
talking. Of course, my class will not be out of control. Sure, there will hardly be silent times, but
my class will always stay on topic and talking in a normal classroom voice. The only times that
my class will be asked to settle down, will be when we are taking a test, quiz, or in the beginning

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of the period when I tell them what we will be doing for the day. Depending on the class, I will
play quiet music in the background when it seems fitting. Growing up, Ive had teachers who
played music while we were silently working and it always seemed soothing and actually kept
me on track. This also helps students not have the need to put in headphones and block out
everyone else. Remember, I want my children to engage with each other!
Climate in a classroom is something, I think, that comes naturally. Some classes will be
filled with students who are super talkative, some super quiet, some will have a class clown,
etc. Therefore, it is hard to depict what the climate will be in my own classroom. Because Im
sure that it will vary class to class, year to year. However, I will make my class fun and
comfortable for my students. I want my class to have pictures on the wall, whether it be posters I
get myself, or artwork that students have done, I will not have any wall be blank. The reason
being that classrooms that are just solid white walls seem boring, and frankly, jail like. The more
bright and fun the classroom looks, the more likely that students will engage in conversations
and actually come to class with something to say. I want my classroom to feel inviting to
students, and when parents come for meetings, they will walk in and say wow, I wish I had a
classroom like this. The most important thing to me about being a teacher is creating a safe and
comfortable learning environment for your students. If the students do not feel comfortable and
safe, they will not learn to the best of their ability.
References
Board, New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards. (July 2004) New Jersey Professional
Standards for Teachers and School Leaders. Retrieved from http://www state.nj.us/
education/profdev/prof stand/standards.pdf.