Teachers use theories, models of learning, and professional standards to shape their teaching practices. There are several learning theories that have evolved the educational field. Theories guide instruction and the beliefs of the teachers. Teachers use these theories, standards, and personal beliefs to develop goals in order to improve teaching effectiveness.
Through exploring multiple learning theories and reflecting on my own teaching beliefs, I have developed my own theory of learning. As I developed my theory, I wanted to consider what it takes to be a highly effective teacher. An effective teacher must have mastery of instructional strategies, classroom management, classroom curriculum design, and use assessments as feedback (Laureate Education, 2010a). By using a variety of instructional strategies, teacher’s can meet the learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Effective classroom management can lead to students feeling safe and more willing to take risks. When a student feels comfortable to take risk, then learning will increase and the students’ confidence will grow. Classroom management also creates order in the environment, which will allow effective learning to occur. By understanding curriculum, the teacher can target skills and causes learning to take place. Teachers need to deliberately plan lessons around standards and specific goals based on curriculum and the school’s mission (Marzano, 2010). Assessments need to be use to guide instruction and used as a “method for improvement and mastery,” (Marzano, 2010). While determining my own theory of learning, I believe that I need to consider what effective teachers demonstrate in the classroom.
My theory of learning is based around the ...
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...ation, Inc. (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Research on learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Teaching and learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Killion, J. (2008). Knowledge, attitude, skills, aspirations, behaviors (KASAB) matrix. Adapted from Assessing impact: Evaluating staff development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Marzano, R. J. (Ed.). (2010). On excellence in teaching. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
National Board Professional Teaching Standards. (2002). What teachers should know and be able to do. Retrieved from http://www.nbpts.org/sites/default/files/documents/certificates/what_teachers_should_know.pdf
Social Learning Theory (Bandura). (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from
http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html
keep my students safe. My classroom will be based on trust, not fear. I expect my students to
To be a successful teacher one must first understand their own personal classroom management strengths and build from those attributes. Equally important are those areas of concern that could benefit from professional development or active conscious practice. As a future educator I have been exposed to many management styles and strategies throughout the course of the semester in the Creating Positive Learning Environments classroom as a result I can better understand my own personal managerial strengths and areas that also raise concern.
As a teacher in training, I have very limited in-classroom experience and depend heavily on the expertise of professors as well as a variety of books and articles published on education. I am convinced that a learner centered approach to instruction is of fundamental importance and that it will inform most teaching decisions I will need to make to become an effective educator. Knowing as much about the students before school even begins will help structure the content material and guide the instruction methods. Along with this, knowing what the school provides in terms of environment and materials will help formulate a plan to give students every possible opportunity for achievement and success. Wong (2005) defines classroom management as “all of the things that a teacher does to organize students, space, time and materials so that student learning can take place” (p. 84).
The effective teacher exhibits positive expectations for all students. Having positive expectations simply means that the teacher believes in the student and that the student can learn. Students will live up to the expectations you set, and to be effective- your expectations should be positive for all students. The effective teacher establishes good classroom management techniques. Classroom Management is practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an environment in which instruction and learning can occur. Effective teachers manage, ineffective teachers discipline; this book guides you in practicing procedures with your students. The effective teacher designs lessons for student mastery. Mastery simply means a student's demonstration that a concept or skill can be performed at a level of proficiency determined by the teacher. Student success in the subject matter of the class will be the result of how well the teacher designs lessons and checks for mastery. You must know how to get students to do their assignments, pass their tests, and work cooperatively. Wong states that what you do on the first few days of school can determine your success for the rest of the year.
Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.
My personal philosophy of classroom management focuses on creating an environment where children feel safe and where they feel like they belong. I will create this environment for my fourth grade class through making my expectations of the students clear while developing an engaging lesson plan and personable interactions with my students. I developed my philosophy from studying different theorists and based my philosophy on the theories of Glasser and Kounin. Glasser believed that the teacher’s roll in the classroom is that of a leader rather than a boss. He believed that students should be given power in the classroom and that the teacher should share it with the students. I will use his ‘7 caring habits’ specifically supporting and respecting to help my classroom feel safe and welcoming to my students. Meeting the individual needs of my students will be the focus of my classroom management routine. I will meet individual needs by promoting self management and self efficacy in my students by creating an environment that that has predictable and consistent daily routines while focusing on my student’s successes (Shindler, 2010). Having a predictable routine will encourage a success oriented environment and will reduce anxiety and help towards creating positive self efficacy in each of my students (Shindler, 2010). In Glasser’s Choice Theory he talks about focusing on the present and not bringing up the past (Glasser, 2010). Therefore, I will focus my classroom on being goal driven and will help each student obtain their goals. Thus, helping my students have positive self efficacy. I will apply Kounin’s technique of Momentum (Pressman, 2011). This involves the teacher keeping exercises short and moving around the room a lot so...
I know that as I grow and learn as a teacher my theory on education will change and grow with me. I know that the best thing that I can bring to the table when it comes to being a teacher is the willingness to learn along with my students on what works best for us in our classroom, what is important to us when it comes to learning, and to change what needs to be change in order to have a positive learning environment for my student. The most important thing as a teacher I will bring with me into my classroom is the unwavering desire to help to guide, shape, and above all foster a love of learning in my
Lang, H., Evans, D.(2006). Models, Strategies, and Methods for Effective Teaching. USA, Pearson Education Inc.
All effective educators need to find ways to motivate their students. The kids that fill our classrooms have different strengths and weaknesses. It is critical that teachers recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their students so they can use the right classroom management strategies to motivate their kids. In this particular case, the student named Jodie is inattentive and uninterested and neither the teacher intern or classroom teacher have a clue how to handle this situation. Ms. Marcia Thomas, who is the young intern feels that Jodie is just a problem child that lacks motivation and there is nothing she can do for this particular student. Ms. Thomas and the lead teacher Ms. Egan both lack the needed classroom management strategies that are necessary to motivate and engage students in a positive learning environment.
Classroom management is an important component of successful teaching. It is that teachers create and maintain appropriate behavior of students in classroom settings. (1…) Kessler (2012) mentions that “[s]tudies suggest that up to 51% of children may have a diagnosable mental health disorder, many of which involve severe impairment at home or school” (Kessler et al., 2012). Classroom management is defined as “ [c]lassroom management is the term educators use to describe methods of preventing misbehavior and dealing with it if it arises. In other words, it is the techniques teachers use to maintain control
My teaching career has been spent learning how to provide appropriate support, guidance, patience, & understanding, as well as to enhance academic growth & success, for all students. My purpose as a teacher is to enrich and inspire the lives of young students with moderate/intensive needs by providing access to information instead of functioning as the primary source of information for students to flourish. My teaching methods will be to create an environment ripe with opportunities for discovery and exploration which will allow all students to learn at their own pace, generate questions and construct knowledge, while providing hands-on practice of skills in authentic situations as well as to make learning intriguing and meaningful to all students. Carefully planned and constructed learning environment will also allow the teacher more time to meet the individual needs of each student. Another important factor to a well-prepared learning environment is to facilitate learning, and providing students with balance and consistency (2004). Young students require a balance between various classroom dimensions, including activities guided by the teacher and independent work, quiet work and active work, gross motor and fine motor activities, and open and closed aspects to the curriculum and classroom materials (2004). Consistency is also a required condition for learner success. Schedules (daily and weekly), the enforcement of classroom rules, and student expectations should not be in flux but remain consistent. Without a sense of consistency in the classroom, school life would lack the necessary feeling of safety and reliability young children need to focus, to take risks, and to t...
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
In order for learning to take place in the classroom the teacher has to put in place an effective teaching and learning strategy. Being an effective teacher is not something that can be achieved instantaneously but rather something that has to be continuously developed and improved upon over time. Petty mentions how good teachers are not born but rather make themselves and that effective teaching comes from learning from your mistakes and successes. Petty, p. 516, 2009. This process involves teacher reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of different teaching strategies used in the classroom. It is only then that teachers can learn and advance themselves.
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.