In My Classroom
Every teacher has a different method of teaching. The teachers that I have had in my school career have been no exception. In this way, each teacher has set an example for me, as a future teacher, to follow or not to follow as I see fit. With the examples from my teachers and in continuing my education, I am developing my own method of teaching. I plan to use a combination of teaching methods in my own classroom. My method will be an eclectic approach because I will be using components of more than one philosophy. I will be using essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, and existentialism.
Essentialism will be a part of my classroom because I will be teaching science. Science is part of the basis of essentialism that became stressed with the launching of Sputnik in 1957. The philosophy of essentialism also stresses that when leaving school students are able to apply learning from school to the real world. This is what I want to do in my classroom; I want my students to understand the material being taught to them and be able to apply it to the world around them.
I plan to also use behaviorism in my classroom. Behaviorism asserts that reality can only be defined by what a person can scientifically measure and observe. Also with behaviorism I will use behavior modification and reward students with positive reinforcement for doing good work. Using not only nods, smiles and positive words I will use other methods to reward students. I plan to encourage students to design their own science lab experiments that relate to the material being studied at the time. A science lab experiment that is designed by a student that is appropriate and able to fit into the class time will be performed by the wh...
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...to teach as a college professor, but I will be happy in any teaching job that I can find within my area. My greatest joy will be in teaching students about the world around them and seeing the results of this knowledge. The past experiences and the future experiences of my school career will help me to implement my plans and develop new ideas. I will, in my classroom, be able to use the philosophies of essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, and existentialism in an eclectic approach to benefit the students that I will be teaching. There are many things left for me to learn, and like the progressivists, I believe that there is constant change in the world around us. With this change there will always be something new for me to learn and therefore something new for me to teach. The job of a teacher is an occupation filled with never ending surprises and joys.
As a sophomore, I was required to compile a genre of educational philosophies and create my own philosophy in the process. Today, as a senior I am required to “revise” that statement into one that is sophisticated and intelligent based on new information that I have received in the last two years. One instructor said to me, “Your view on educational elements may have changed,” and another said, “Randy, your philosophy on the way you view yourself as a teacher and the view of your classroom may have evolved into a more manageable, realistic perspective,” and they were both right.
All six of the major educational philosophies Perennialism, Progressivism, Essentialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstruction, and Behaviorism are in my opinion feasible in the classroom. However, I have chosen Essentialism as the primary philosophy I would like to employ in my classroom for several reasons. Although I think all six would result in learning, which is the primary purpose of education, I think that Essentialism is superior to the other five for my classroom. I feel this way because it embraces the purpose or original goal of public education, it allows lessons to be gauged to all different learning styles, and finally because essentialism employs methods of teaching and discipline that I believe work exceptionally well with my content specialization.
It is a constant truth that technology is growing rapidly and it is opening up many opportunities for students as well as teachers. Through the use of the internet information that would take scholars months to acquire out and interpret can be found in less than a minute though a Google search and not only is the information their, but in many cases the information that you wanted is shown in bolded so it can even be found quicker.
Upon entering the field of education, I am faced with many questions. Will the students like me? Will I have a large class? Will I be a good teacher? A few of the questions that definitely need to be answered before I enter the classroom, are what methods should I use to teach? What aspects of which methods will work best for me? What philosophy best exemplifies the way I want to bestow the learning process to my students? In my quest to become an elementary teacher I shall use a variety of aspects from past philosophers of education. As long as each child is learning, I feel that I am fulfilling my goal, and a difference is being made, I am on my way to a successful classroom.
Through these four philosophies, I hope to inspire my students and show them that they can achieve anything. Hopefully, I can spark an interest or a desire that will help them find happiness and success. I cannot wait to see the twinkle in their eyes when they finally grasp a concept or the smiles on their faces when they make a good grade. These little events will keep me inspired from day to day. However, the greatest reward I could ever receive as a teacher would be for a student to come to me years after he or she was in my class and tell me that I made a difference in his or her life. Teaching is a career where you are able to change the world, and that is exactly what I plan to do.
Upon being faced with the task of writing my philosophy of teaching, I made many attempts to narrow the basis for my philosophy down to one or two simple ideas. However, I quickly came to the realization that my personal teaching philosophy stems from many other ideas, philosophies, and personal experiences. I then concentrated my efforts on finding the strongest points of my personal beliefs about teaching and what I have learned this semester, and came up with the following.
Essentialism is defined by Webster as an educational theory that ideas and skills basic to a culture should be taught to all alike by time-tested methods. It has been present since the beginning of schooling. As time and culture progress, the academic standards for education increase and become more specific. It is clear that the focus in the vast majority of schools is to
Essentialism is Essentialism refers to the "traditional" or "Back to the Basics" approach to education.
The main instance that I use behaviorism in my classroom is through positive reinforcement. I praise, praise, praise my students all day. Students who are such young learners receive much motivation when they hear praise and specific praise at that. It allows them to be eager to please their teacher and provides a sense of self-accomplishment. In my classroom, I also use a treasure chest, reward coupons and PBIS reward money as major components of positive reinforcement. At the beginning of the year, I teach my students my classroom expectations and that I expect the best from them. This includes all of their daily work, including journal writing, morning work, etc. My students know what my desired outcome is. Student’s behavioral efforts are measured and collected on a weekly basis through a behavior chart. Their assignments are measured on accuracy and completeness in order to help them recognize the importance of their effort in finishing an assignment. I utilize a rubric on many of my assignments in order to help them achieve their best. Their meeting certain standards on their weekly behavior chart allows them to receive
Behaviorism used learning concentrates entirely on observing, measuring, and modifying behavior. Since Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner began this theory teacher can better discipline their students. Using operant conditioning teachers can use positive reinforcement to get all the students to behave during class. There are few drawbacks to this theory, but there are drawbacks to everything in life.
Now that I have seen three different classrooms as part of my practicum observations, I still believe that there are several acceptable approaches and no universally correct teaching methods. However, my thinking has changed because I have seen that everything done ...
The process of educating children may seem like a clear-cut, straight-forward process to some people; however, this is far from the case. There are five philosophies of education (essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionism, and existentialism) that vary in their educational approaches. These philosophies can be grouped into two categories: ...
As I get older, I will adapt to changes so my philosophy has the potential to change. In my opinion, that's great. It shows I'm learning and progressing. It can shows the students that change can be good if for the better. Through my college years I have became more progressive in the classroom. One thing won't change, and that is my passion for teaching. I will always have a passion for teaching. Some teachers teach, and do not have a passion for it. They go to work everyday hating their job. That will never be the case for me. Teaching is my passion and I won't stop until I have my own classroom. Until that happens, their will be something missing in my heart.
Through classroom observation I was exposed to the different methods of teaching a lesson. The methods of teaching depends on how will the teacher execute the lesson well. I learned that modern learners today needs both modern and traditional way of teaching as for them to fully learned the lesson in a meaningful way.
The one belief I had about teaching that has changed since I began this unit, is that all teachers, more or less, taught in the same way. Perhaps this is a belief that I had formed from my own time at school, where all my teachers taught in the same way; some were more or less effective, but I wasn’t aware of them using theories or methods as such, more that they were or weren’t kind people. This belief has changed and it has really opened my ideas to the many creative models, and instructional methods a teacher can use.