Blog Post #6: My Philosophy

My current personal philosophy on creating a productive learning environment for my future students is as follows. First, I want the classroom to be comfortable (obviously if I and the students are going to be spending a lot of time in the room we want it to be nice and welcoming). Secondly I want consistency in both rules, routine and classroom behavior. Good behavior is to be encouraged while bad behavior is to be discouraged and dealt with appropriately. This leaves students entirely in the know as to what is expected of them WITHIN my classroom while minimizing any potential trepidation they may have. Further, I’d make them part of the process in crafting these rules through a collaborative contract which they would sign, thus creating something tangible to which they can refer to regarding expectations and also as something to hold them accountable to. Non negotiable rules will also be clearly established and visible with consequences equally understood by the students. The third goal I’d have for a positive classroom environment is activity and rigor. I want the classroom to be an enthusiastic, active place of learning and skill development where it would be my part to minimize lag in between tasks and lectures and work to engage the students. Above all else I should be concerned with teaching my students material, and helping develop their skills while just as importantly teaching them how to think and successfully initiate and execute inquiry on their own. All other objectives to these are secondary.