Hi everyone! I hope your week has gone as smoothly as mine, although I can’t say I’m ready for the weekend to be over quite yet. Still no snow here on the Kenai so ice skating has been my number one past time recently. 🙂 Here is my personal philosophy, short and sweet.
My number one priority as a teacher is to create and maintain a healthy learning environment for all students while they are in my classroom. A teacher may have the knowledge to instruct but without a productive environment to teach in, learning cannot be accomplished. Teaching is not simply about giving students the material and having them learn it; teachers are fostering youth and helping them become responsible adults. Creating classroom procedures, holding students to high expectations, and providing a safe and stable environment all are vital aspects of any child’s learning. As a teacher I model the behavior I expect of my students and help the students learn how to do the same. The most important rule in my classroom is respect. Learning how to give respect and how to demand respect will be skills that each person needs for the rest of their lives. Ultimately everything can come down to respect; respect of others, respect for yourself, respect for the environment. One must not only teach these expectations but also hold each child to them. Managing a classroom effectively is the only way a teacher can create a productive learning environment. This should be the primary focus of the teacher and classroom management is the tool by which they achieve it.
Take care!