My Philosophies

On Teaching

I believe the best way to teach anything is with passion. Show the students why you love your subject and how it can change how they view the world, and you just might open someone’s eyes to a world they never considered. By giving the students a glimpse at what makes me tick, I am better able to connect with them and they are better able to see me as a person, rather than a stuffy adult. When I show the students that I am human and make mistakes, they are more apt to listen to what I say because they know that I will always be honest with them.

English is not everybody’s cup of tea, which is why I strive to teach the concepts and standards in a way that relates the skills to the real world. That is truly the most challenging thing that I face as an English teacher: getting students to understand the importance of what I am teaching. I once heard a student offhandedly explain that they take 12 years of English “because of a corrupt education system.” This student did not understand the importance of the subject, so in his mind it was pointless. But what this student, and many others like him, do not understand is that everything they do revolves around English. Almost every moment of the day they are bombarded with words, the sounds that correspond with those words, the meanings of those words, etc., but they do not realize what the world would be like without English, without any form of language really.

Through my experiences, I have come to the conclusion that project-based assessment is the best way for me to assess a student because it allows me to see that they learned the concept and can apply it. A project will be a part of every unit I teach, and it will be a culmination of skills covered in the unit. Using this method, I can assess their knowledge of the content and standards but also see how they are able to handle it when the concepts collide, because the concepts are not singular to themselves but interconnect with many others.

High expectations and encouragement are key with any type of assignment or assessment, but especially with project-based assessments. Students can get overwhelmed and discouraged easily, but I would have taught them that I would not have assigned them something if I did not think that they could handle it. Students need to know that their opinions, interests, and ideas are heard and respected, which makes them more likely to listen to my opinions, interests, and ideas, creating a cycle of respect.

The best part of teaching is watching a student’s face when the confusion clears and everything clicks into place, which is why my classroom motto is, from the wonderful teacher Yoda, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Learning is a learning process in and of itself. I am learning daily just as much as my students are.

That thrill of seeing a student understand what I have been teaching is one of the most exciting things about teaching, but I also find the excitement in the ideas that inspire me to teach something a new or different way. For example, using a theater stage for class when we are reading one of Shakespeare’s plays. They were meant to be performed not read, though I don’t expect the students to give a Tony worthy performance. Why do we have to limit ourselves to a desk in one classroom, when “all the world’s a stage” (As You Like It II.II.1)? I have gotten so excited over an idea that I could not wait to tell someone, anyone because I am that pumped about what I do.

I hope that my students will be pleasantly surprised with how I go about things, but also enjoy the change from the boring, monotonous lectures.

On Classroom Management

The most important thing for classroom management is that the students know that I have high expectations for them and that I expect nothing less from them. From what I have learned from my classes and observed, this is the best approach to managing a classroom. The first step to any classroom management plan is that the students have a clear understanding of what it is that you expect from them at any given point in the class period, and to do this I will have to teach them what I expect at each moment.

When procedures are set, known, understood, and applied, a class can run smoothly and without any need for outside influences, which would be true in a perfect world, but since we don’t live in a perfect world, we make do with what we’ve got. In the beginning, when the students are learning the rules and procedures of the class, things are more forgiving, but once a couple of weeks have passed, those high expectations are out in full force. I am not suggesting complete leniency those first few weeks, but rather understanding there will be a learning curve.

Once the rules and procedures are known by all who enter my classroom, that is when everything will fall apart. Students won’t always follow the rules and I am prepared for when that will inevitably happen. The most important thing I want to avoid is bringing in the big guns, the parents and then, if that doesn’t work, the administration, until I have exhausted all of the other options available to me.