Teaching Philosophy/Style

My teaching philosophy is to engage the student from head to toe, inside and out. I believe if a child's basic needs are not met, they will not thrive in the classroom. I believe we have to look beyond the classroom/educational needs of a student and see the whole picture. We have to think about what we can do to help meet those needs because it may be quite possible that few other people are. I think the deepest and most basic need of students is to feel connected. Really, I think this goes for every human being. If a student does not feel connected and like an important part of the classroom "family" their walls immediately go up. I believe it is a teacher's job to creat a safe emotional environment and to encourage the class as a whole to do the same. Once you get past behaviors and attitudes that can go along with feelings of not being connected, I believe the door is wide open for learning. I believe that when children are a consistent & active part of the process of learning, you will also see results. When children feel confident in their abilities and see themselves as a part of the learning process, their confidence builds and they are motivated to learn. It is my job to point children to the power that already lies within them. The power to connect to others and to use their natural gifts to engage in the learning process. I have to care about the whole child. It has to be a deep down natural passion, there is no way to manufacture it. You have to be passionate enough to get through the tough times when maybe you are dealing with challenging behaviors that seem like they will never end. You have to be able to look past where a child is to where you want them to be. You can not give up on a child, ever. You have to choose to see the potential in every student, even when you are tired or frustrated at the seeming lack of progress.The beauty in the job is to witness those little moments when students have the self-satification of accomplishing something new, when they encourage another struggling student, the excitement over what you are teaching, the list goes on. Since I do teach kindergarten, I tend to sing a lot & can be pretty animated. I believe learning should definitely be fun, exciting, and rully engaging. I feel like I set the tone for their future learning experience and that is so important. Even if they do get a teacher later that they do not enjoy, they have been shown the value & fun of learning and can hold on to that. I think I also try to be very nuturing and reassuring in my approach. It is such a transition time to go from either limited school experience to perhaps none at all. It can be pretty scary to navigate these waters and a little overwhelming. (for both student and parent!) It is my job to make this transition as easy as possible!