6 Guiding Principles

1. The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.

It is important for the students to learn the content/academic curriculum, that
covers the state standards, but they need more. While teaching the academic
curriculum teachers need to expose students to social curriculum. Social curriculum
is social interaction and how to be socially appropriate. Students need practice with
social curriculum, just as they need practice with academic curriculum. Based on
the Responsive Classroom method of teaching, teachers model appropriate
practices and skills for social and academic curriculum. Through the modeling
students observe and learn how to interact with others.
2. How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go
hand in hand.
The content of a lesson is as important in learning as the process of learning. I
believe following the gradual release of responsibility, is a process of teaching to
follow that is the key to student learning. This model allows students to watch how
something is done, practice it with help and then do it on their own. Every good
teacher incorporates peer activities, whether it be group or partner, in their
classroom lessons. These activities include things like answering questions, sharing
ideas, working on projects, and having discussions. As teachers it is important to
make lessons fun and engaging because they will be more memorable for students.
The more you create the lessons to connect to something relevant to the students
and the more time for practice and interaction you provide, the more the content
will be engrained in their heads.
3. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
Many students struggle following a lecture or reading a textbook. Many dont even
remember the content covered by each because they lose interest and are
unengaged. Children are more likely to learn new content through social interaction.
Creating lessons in which students can work with one another is engaging for
students. Interacting with other students or teachers allow students to learn correct
social behavior, different ways of thinking and different cultures or viewpoints
people may have.
4. To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills:
cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy and self-control.
Children need to know how to cooperate with others, be assertive, be responsible,
be empathetic and they need to know how to have self-control, in order to be
successful in the future. We as teachers, are the first people to introduce them to
these skills. Encouraging interaction and participation holds students accountable
and responsible for work in the classroom, as well as, providing them with practice
of these skills. We as the teachers must model the behaviors first. By being
cooperative with students and coworkers, students learn how to cooperate with
others. By modeling the use of self-control, students see what it truly means to be in

control of their actions and behaviors. The best way to model responsibility is by
doing your job to the highest extent you can. If the teacher is empathetic and
understanding of all students and the issues or adversities they face, children will
see that and learn how to behave in a kind and caring way. It is important to keep in
mind that everyone, including students, face obstacles or adversities that we may
not be aware of.

5. Knowing the children, we teach- individually, culturally and developmentallyis as important as knowing the content we teach.
We as teachers need to strive to understand student behaviors and actions and
learn to see them as individuals. We need to be observant as to where they come
from, by looking at their cultures and their varying backgrounds. When creating
lessons teachers need to look at where individual students are developmentally, in
order to differentiate teaching. Understanding who each individual student is will
help them absorb more of the content and knowledge being shared through
teaching, because the lesson has been created to reach each student.
6. Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them or
including them in their childs education is essential.
In order to create the best learning environment for each student we must know
their backgrounds. It is important to become familiar with the families of each
student. By incorporating parents and family in the education of their child and our
student, you are given further insight into the students learning and are working
toward the most successful way of teaching the student, to help them succeed. By
communicating with families you may also receive a glimpse of their culture or learn
about issues they or their child may be facing.