My Philosophy of Teaching Cortney Estes I want my teaching to be a reflection of the quote by Anthony DAngelo, and this quote says

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. Growing is what I want my students to do from the time that they step foot into my classroom and right on through the ages. I will teach in ways that gets the students excited about learning; allowing them to have hands on experience and showing them that learning can be fun. I want to use techniques that are relevant to the era that we are in and still use textbooks while incorporating the ever-advancing technologies that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. I do not want to be the teacher that stands in to the front of the classroom all day and lectures. I want my students actively involved in their learning. As a public school teacher it is important to understand that there is a large amount of diversity among everyone in the school. There are no two students exactly alike. With being a part of a public school, it is important to remember that there are limitations to what can be said by teachers and as a public school teacher I will not preach to my students my opinions because students need to develop their own opinions on life. A line has to be drawn in a public school setting as to what can be said and what should not be said because in a public school you have to remember that there is so much diversity in that one building and not everyone has the same beliefs. My students will have a sense of security and stability in my classroom and will be able to feel comfortable enough to not be afraid to ask questions or speak freely. My classroom will be a place for them to feel safe and feel as if they belong. They will become their own little community.

My Professional Statement: First and foremost I will treat my students as human beings and not just an object in my classroom. The students in my classroom will become active learners to their own education; which will in turn make them more invested in what they learn and will take their education more seriously. Part of being an active learner is using the resources around you, such as technology. Technology is so advanced already and just keeps advancing at the blink of an eye; and rather than avoiding technology in my classroom I want to embrace it and show how useful technology can be when it comes to being an active learner.

Outcomes: Students will have the capacity to take their learning more seriously, in order for them to learn that they can do anything that they set their minds to. They will be competent in various methods of learning, such as open-ended discussion, group participation, textbook usage, and technology. The students will learn

how to use technology, not just for searching the web and social networking, but to advance themselves in their education. Not only will my students be competent in their studies, they will be aware that people are different and there is no place for judgment that everyone needs to be treated equally.

Why are these outcomes important: Students need to be responsible for their own learning because if they are not held accountable then they will not take their educational experience seriously. By the students being responsible for their learning they will also begin to have responsibilities in the classroom, such as passing out papers, attendance, and other various classroom jobs. As a teacher I want my students to know that learning does not just stop in the classroom; learning goes on all the time whether we know it or not.

General Actions to take to ensure outcomes: Actions that I would take to ensure that my students reached the desired outcome of taking their learning in to their own hands would be to give the students an idea of what they can expect to learn from the topic that will be discussed. This would allow the students to get a sense of involvement in their learning and give some indicators towards what they want. After topics are discussed I would obtain feedback from the students to make sure that they understood what was being taught. In order to give my students a sense of useful technological skills I would give them as many opportunities as possible to use those technologies that are available to them to grasp an understanding of the technologies at hand. To ensure that my students treated everyone with respect and did not treat anyone differently I would be the model of the classroom to show that there is a proper way to treat those around you.

Why these actions provide outcomes: Giving the students the opportunity to discuss what it is that they are going to be learning will give the students the possibility to be a part in the planning of the lessons. By giving this opportunity to them they will come to understand that I want to help them succeed, that their input is important to me because it is being taught to them. Allowing the students to use technology when they get the opportunity, they will have the chance to become invested in what it is that they are working on instead of sitting at a desk and reading a textbook that is not interesting to them. There is a time and a place to use textbooks; however, with the era that we are in now there is no way to get around all the different technologies that surround us in our daily lives, so why not embrace it.

Reasoning, readings, and personal experiences to support argument: I have been a part of many different types of classroom settings and styles; I know what works for me and that is having lessons taught using several types of learning techniques. I understand that not everyone learns the same and that is why because of the experiences that I have been subject to that I will bring as many learning styles to my classroom that the students need to be successful in their education and in their lives. I have grown up in a time where technology is a big deal and I have come to learn that using technologies makes learning more interactive and keeps me interested in what it is that I am working on; and because of this I want to give my students the same opportunities to enhance their learning possibilities through technology. From my past experiences I know what I have gone through and I want to make a difference in my students academic livelihood. I want them to succeed given all the possible opportunities to do so.