Philosophy of Teaching

As a Mathematics teacher, I continuously remind myself that I

am also a teacher of language and literacy across the curriculum for
my students. I believe all teachers are teachers of language, which in
my content area can be illustrated as students using a system of
communication to negotiate meaning of and explain their process of
mathematical thinking. As a teacher of English Language Learners
(ELLs) in a Mathematics setting, I believe there needs to be a
consistent focus on the process of students using language for social
and academic reasons to communicate with their peers. The process
in which students learn a second language is via a naturalistic
approach, similar to how children learn their native language. This
type of learning focuses on promoting subconscious learning by
teaching communicative abilities rather than rigid language structures.
In the mathematics classroom, I try to design activities that engage
students in tasks that promote discussion with their peers. By doing
this, students can and do pick up both the rules of our language, as
well as promote their academic vocabulary and even integrate the
social aspects of our language.
The relationships I build with students inside the classroom is a
crucial piece I focus on in order to motivate and thus, increase the
affective filter. I believe that I need to earn the respect of my students
before any critical learning can take place. By modeling respectful

behavior, and establishing a culture of honesty and respect inside my

classroom, students feel motivated and develop a desire to well in
math, which can be a difficult task for some. Once there is an accurate
profile of students, I firmly believe in using a communicative language
approach where lessons and activities fit into the Content Based
Instruction model, CBI. Here students will engage in authentic based
math activities that serve multi purposes, such as reading
comprehension, writing skills, and aligned to the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS).
Assessing students in both terms of content and language is a
crucial part of the design phase so that appropriate scaffolds can be
utilized. Having accurate knowledge of the designated WIDA level of
students is essential in how students are grouped on a daily basis, as
well as what they are able to do versus unrealistic expectations. With
this knowledge in mind, academic vocabulary can be scaffolded and
modified so that students can identify key words when reading, and
begin adding these words into their active vocabulary. Scaffolds such
as sentence frames or sentence starters allow students to feel
comfortable enough to use the vocabulary word or words, and then
add in their thinking in relation to the task at hand. By teaching
English through content and meaningful activities, students are
exposed to meaningful input of the language, as well as given ample
opportunities to produce comprehensible output in English. Group

work of practice problems provide a great opportunity for students to

develop social and academic language as they use their previous
knowledge as well as solve problems through different approaches that
they can then teach to their peers. Students who teach their peers
utilize multiple domains of language, as well as internalizing their math
skills for themselves.
I believe culture also plays a crucial role that ties heavily into
student achievement inside the classroom. In terms of behavioral
expectations, I attempt to keep an open mind to both verbal and
nonverbal communication as different cultures have different beliefs in
terms of illustrating respect. By respecting my students culture, and
inviting them into learning more about the American culture, both
social and academic, the learning environment becomes safe for
students to take risks and engage in learning. Nonverbal
communication is a huge part of culture competency and a concept as
a teacher I model everyday and explicitly teach my students to use for
a particular purpose or audience. Ultimately, I want my students to
foster a bicultural identity, in which they learn the aspects of American
culture, as well as maintain and illustrate their own cultural beliefs
through group activities. Lastly and most importantly, I want my
students to enjoy school and learning, and be comfortable using social
and academic language inside and outside of the school setting to
grow as a learner.

One of the skills that I hope to transfer with my students would

be my perseverance and satisfaction that is needed through the
problem solving aspect of Mathematics. One of the more difficult
positions as a middle school Math teacher is to appropriately challenge
students with a certain level of rigor, while also being able to instill
confidence in students to work through the times in which they feel
they cant do it. Through the use of appropriate scaffolds, students
can build their academic vocabulary in order to gain confidence in their
ability to master valuable math skills. During difficult tasks, it is
important for students to be able to use complex vocabulary to share
their ideas and efforts, as well as appropriately express their ideas to
their group members. By continuing to increase students vocabulary
in a group setting, students are becoming more effective problem
solvers, while simultaneously learning the language. Lastly, by
modeling respect and a positive attitude, I can provide a safe
atmosphere where students learn American cultural beliefs, as well as
feel comfortable sharing and illustrating their own cultural beliefs as
they continue to grow as a learner.