My teaching philosophy
As a member of society, I am interested in creating happiness, success and health for all. As a teacher I believe that with our inheritance of accumulated knowledge, creative intelligence and wisdom, we, as educators, have the power to create a society where people have a self-sustaining power to create this happiness. As a teacher I feel successful when my students have become independent, creative and happy people, who are able to support themselves and their families. This means that my main learning goals for my students are the following: becoming better problem solvers, becoming independent workers and socially responsible citizens, and contribute to this collective happiness.
As a science teacher I believe that all students should become scientific literate. They all should have an understanding of science and experience the excitement of comprehending the natural world.
“ The world looks so different after learning science. For example, trees are primarily made of air. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming heat is released the flaming heat of the sun which was bound in to convert the air into tree. And in the ash is the small remnant of the part, which did not come from air, that came from the solid earth, instead.
These are beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them. They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others.”
(Richard Feynman)
I believe that we can build a society in which all people can be successful. I do not define success in terms of competition (one wins so the other must fail) but in terms of universal growth, health, and maturity.
For many people in our society, life is dull and lacking any sense of adventure. I like to develop in my students the sense of wonder, excitement, meaning and eagerness to learn. The Outward Bound movement demonstrates positive approaches to develop this in their students. Their motto: ”Learning by Doing” and “To seek, to serve, and not to yield” could be mine. The economic productivity of our society depends on skills that people use every day, like solving problems creatively, thinking critically, working cooperatively and using technology effectively. Scientific literacy enables people to fully participate in our society, enables them to make personal decisions and to contribute to solutions for issues that affect society.
When it comes to teaching styles, I feel that I must have at my disposal several different ways of teaching, for my students will have different ways of learning. For example, some students will be strong listeners, but others will be more visually oriented. There will also be those who learn by means of discussion, and still others learn best by doing. As a teacher, my objective is to be as effective as I can possibly be. Therefore, I devise a diagnostics exercise to determine my students' learning styles, and on the basis of that data I plan my lessons and the assessments thereof. According to many research based instructional strategies, students need to be engaged and intrinsically motivated to achieve well. In my lessons I try to achieve that by giving students choice in assessment methods , in some parts of the curriculum, in form of presentations and materials for construction models. Most of the time I am working on the same projects alongside my students so they see that I have to find the same solutions for problems that they have, they see how I use my problem solving strategies to come to a solution.
With regard to classroom management, I believe that there are two components: expectations and work. Expectations involve knowing exactly what to expect in my class. In order to do this, I establish a set of rules that, for the most part, have to do with mutual respect, hard work, safety and caring. After I have explained the rules, I then explain what the consequences of breaking the rules will be. The most important part of this is being consistent. Once the kids realize that I will actually follow this process, most behavioral infractions will not proceed beyond the first warning. The other component to good classroom management is keeping the students engaged in work that is meaningful, challenging, and enjoyable. For if the lessons make sense, are challenging but doable, and enjoyable, the students will have neither the time nor the occasion to misbehave.
Thus, the planning of instruction is vital. In order for lessons and their assessments to be meaningful, challenging, and fun, lessons must be planned very well. I also feel that students need to have a sense that the teacher really knows what he/she is doing, which is also crucial for classroom management. Indeed, so much care should be put into the planning to anticipate any eventuality; good planning must anticipate the unexpected.
As a teacher I believe my role as a model is maybe the most influential to my students’ growth. Therefore I model critical thinking, solving problems creatively and teamwork. I show them the need for community involvement by volunteering myself in several community events; I show them the value of nonviolence, integrity and fairness. I show them respect and value their opinions and ideas. I show them that as a teacher I am not an authority of specialized knowledge, an expert who has all the answers, but that I am merely a designer of the learning process and that I foster a mutually shared responsibility in producing knowledge and learning. I show my students that
As a member of society, I am interested in creating happiness, success and health for all. As a teacher I believe that with our inheritance of accumulated knowledge, creative intelligence and wisdom, we, as educators, have the power to create a society where people have a self-sustaining power to create this happiness. As a teacher I feel successful when my students have become independent, creative and happy people, who are able to support themselves and their families. This means that my main learning goals for my students are the following: becoming better problem solvers, becoming independent workers and socially responsible citizens, and contribute to this collective happiness.
As a science teacher I believe that all students should become scientific literate. They all should have an understanding of science and experience the excitement of comprehending the natural world.
“ The world looks so different after learning science. For example, trees are primarily made of air. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming heat is released the flaming heat of the sun which was bound in to convert the air into tree. And in the ash is the small remnant of the part, which did not come from air, that came from the solid earth, instead.
These are beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them. They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others.”
(Richard Feynman)
I believe that we can build a society in which all people can be successful. I do not define success in terms of competition (one wins so the other must fail) but in terms of universal growth, health, and maturity.
For many people in our society, life is dull and lacking any sense of adventure. I like to develop in my students the sense of wonder, excitement, meaning and eagerness to learn. The Outward Bound movement demonstrates positive approaches to develop this in their students. Their motto: ”Learning by Doing” and “To seek, to serve, and not to yield” could be mine. The economic productivity of our society depends on skills that people use every day, like solving problems creatively, thinking critically, working cooperatively and using technology effectively. Scientific literacy enables people to fully participate in our society, enables them to make personal decisions and to contribute to solutions for issues that affect society.
When it comes to teaching styles, I feel that I must have at my disposal several different ways of teaching, for my students will have different ways of learning. For example, some students will be strong listeners, but others will be more visually oriented. There will also be those who learn by means of discussion, and still others learn best by doing. As a teacher, my objective is to be as effective as I can possibly be. Therefore, I devise a diagnostics exercise to determine my students' learning styles, and on the basis of that data I plan my lessons and the assessments thereof. According to many research based instructional strategies, students need to be engaged and intrinsically motivated to achieve well. In my lessons I try to achieve that by giving students choice in assessment methods , in some parts of the curriculum, in form of presentations and materials for construction models. Most of the time I am working on the same projects alongside my students so they see that I have to find the same solutions for problems that they have, they see how I use my problem solving strategies to come to a solution.
With regard to classroom management, I believe that there are two components: expectations and work. Expectations involve knowing exactly what to expect in my class. In order to do this, I establish a set of rules that, for the most part, have to do with mutual respect, hard work, safety and caring. After I have explained the rules, I then explain what the consequences of breaking the rules will be. The most important part of this is being consistent. Once the kids realize that I will actually follow this process, most behavioral infractions will not proceed beyond the first warning. The other component to good classroom management is keeping the students engaged in work that is meaningful, challenging, and enjoyable. For if the lessons make sense, are challenging but doable, and enjoyable, the students will have neither the time nor the occasion to misbehave.
Thus, the planning of instruction is vital. In order for lessons and their assessments to be meaningful, challenging, and fun, lessons must be planned very well. I also feel that students need to have a sense that the teacher really knows what he/she is doing, which is also crucial for classroom management. Indeed, so much care should be put into the planning to anticipate any eventuality; good planning must anticipate the unexpected.
As a teacher I believe my role as a model is maybe the most influential to my students’ growth. Therefore I model critical thinking, solving problems creatively and teamwork. I show them the need for community involvement by volunteering myself in several community events; I show them the value of nonviolence, integrity and fairness. I show them respect and value their opinions and ideas. I show them that as a teacher I am not an authority of specialized knowledge, an expert who has all the answers, but that I am merely a designer of the learning process and that I foster a mutually shared responsibility in producing knowledge and learning. I show my students that
being an active participant in civic life is the ultimate goal of the ethos of education.
In order for my students to become successful I need to establish healthy and positive relationships with their families whose involvement in their children's education is crucial. I have been involved in many activities throughout my teaching career in which parents were involved. As a member of the PTA (as a teacher and a parent) we organized extra curricular activities such as mountain climbing, rafting and movie nights for our students. I also organized a summer program with parents in which our children worked side by side for three weeks and built huts and created a small community together. When I start my courses, I communicate with the parents or caregivers of my students about who I am and what the course entails. I usually ask them if they have anything they'd like to contribute to the program in the form of materials or expertise. Throughout my courses I keep communicating with the parents about their students' achievements (the negative as well as the positive ones). Our school organizes art shows and other events where we display our students' work to celebrate their successes.
I am also a true believer in having good relationships with my colleagues not only on an academic level but at a personal level as well. We organize school events together and we support each other in our academic endeavors. Many professional development or workshop days are developed and performed by my colleagues and I since we possess a wealth of educational knowledge and experiences together. Students know and feel that they are in an educational environment where all professionals work together to provide them with a meaningful, happy and safe environment where teachers not only display academic professionalism but personal meaningful interests as well.