Initial Teaching Platform
1. Aims of education: What is the goal of education? If you were forced to choose, what would you say are the three most important things which you want students to learn in your class
The overall goal of education is to enlighten the students and provide them with the opportunity to succeed. The three most important things that I want my students to learn in the classroom would be to read and write (or enhance these skills), the third one was a little harder to decide on but communication or social skills is a very important thing that students learn amongst their peers in the classroom.
Although I still believe that a major goal of educators is to enlighten students and provide them with the opportunity to succeed, it has become evident that another major goal is to help the students further develop (academically and personally). Reading, writing, and communication are very important aspects of education. However, it is also important that students acquire comprehension skills.
2. Views of knowledge and learning: How do you think students learn? How do you know if they are learning?
I think that students learn through example (in addition to multiple different ways) but example is a very strong component when students are learning, the teacher needs to take things seriously in order for the students to. It is evident that the student is learning if they fully comprehend the lesson. It is not enough for them to mindlessly repeat words or copy them down, but they need to understand the words to be considered learning.
Initially I claimed that students learn through example, which has been reinforced throughout the semester. Teachers often model prior to having the students complete the task. I also consider my initial claim of how educators know if students are learning. Comprehension can be observed through informal and formal assessments.
3. Image of the learner and teacher: What are your expectations and hopes for students?
My expectations and hopes for the students would be that the students are well behaved, respectful (to myself and other students), and a major hope is that they are interested in learning or if they are not interested that I will have the ability to make them interested.
Although I maintain my initial perspective of hopes and expectations for students, it is important to restate that enthusiasm is the ideal characteristic in a students. Whether the student be considered above or below average, if they are enthusiastic, then they will continue to learn.
4. Beliefs about curriculum and pedagogy: Five years after students have left your classroom, what do you want them to say about your teaching? About the curriculum?
I would hope that five years after my students have left my classroom they are saying that I was and still am a successful teacher, and that what I taught them proved to be useful in their future academic endeavors. I hope that they believe the curriculum was positive and successful for that time (I know curriculum is ever changing) and that they understand to some extent why that curriculum was chosen.
5. Influence of the specific context: How do you think the context of where you teach influences how you teach?
The context of where you teach influences how you teach in every way. Depending on the ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, etc of that area, the teacher will have to skew the lesson to fit that area. For example, in a Title One School, the students will more then likely be part of the lower-middle class, causing them to have encountered different things then the high class students. The lesson itself may not change, and all students should and will get the same education level, just how the lesson is portrayed will have to fit that area.
6. Criteria for goof (effective) teaching: What sorts of things do you look for to tell you that you’ve taught a really good lesson? A poor lesson?
In order to see if I taught a good or poor lesson I would look for the student’s comprehension of the lesson and its relation to their academic success. If the student comprehends the lesson and knows how to use it in the future then the lesson was successful. If the student thinks that they just wasted a whole day and does not understand how it pertains to their life, then the lesson was poor and should be reconstructed.
*everything in pink has been updated from the original content
The overall goal of education is to enlighten the students and provide them with the opportunity to succeed. The three most important things that I want my students to learn in the classroom would be to read and write (or enhance these skills), the third one was a little harder to decide on but communication or social skills is a very important thing that students learn amongst their peers in the classroom.
Although I still believe that a major goal of educators is to enlighten students and provide them with the opportunity to succeed, it has become evident that another major goal is to help the students further develop (academically and personally). Reading, writing, and communication are very important aspects of education. However, it is also important that students acquire comprehension skills.
2. Views of knowledge and learning: How do you think students learn? How do you know if they are learning?
I think that students learn through example (in addition to multiple different ways) but example is a very strong component when students are learning, the teacher needs to take things seriously in order for the students to. It is evident that the student is learning if they fully comprehend the lesson. It is not enough for them to mindlessly repeat words or copy them down, but they need to understand the words to be considered learning.
Initially I claimed that students learn through example, which has been reinforced throughout the semester. Teachers often model prior to having the students complete the task. I also consider my initial claim of how educators know if students are learning. Comprehension can be observed through informal and formal assessments.
3. Image of the learner and teacher: What are your expectations and hopes for students?
My expectations and hopes for the students would be that the students are well behaved, respectful (to myself and other students), and a major hope is that they are interested in learning or if they are not interested that I will have the ability to make them interested.
Although I maintain my initial perspective of hopes and expectations for students, it is important to restate that enthusiasm is the ideal characteristic in a students. Whether the student be considered above or below average, if they are enthusiastic, then they will continue to learn.
4. Beliefs about curriculum and pedagogy: Five years after students have left your classroom, what do you want them to say about your teaching? About the curriculum?
I would hope that five years after my students have left my classroom they are saying that I was and still am a successful teacher, and that what I taught them proved to be useful in their future academic endeavors. I hope that they believe the curriculum was positive and successful for that time (I know curriculum is ever changing) and that they understand to some extent why that curriculum was chosen.
5. Influence of the specific context: How do you think the context of where you teach influences how you teach?
The context of where you teach influences how you teach in every way. Depending on the ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, etc of that area, the teacher will have to skew the lesson to fit that area. For example, in a Title One School, the students will more then likely be part of the lower-middle class, causing them to have encountered different things then the high class students. The lesson itself may not change, and all students should and will get the same education level, just how the lesson is portrayed will have to fit that area.
6. Criteria for goof (effective) teaching: What sorts of things do you look for to tell you that you’ve taught a really good lesson? A poor lesson?
In order to see if I taught a good or poor lesson I would look for the student’s comprehension of the lesson and its relation to their academic success. If the student comprehends the lesson and knows how to use it in the future then the lesson was successful. If the student thinks that they just wasted a whole day and does not understand how it pertains to their life, then the lesson was poor and should be reconstructed.
*everything in pink has been updated from the original content