Philosophy of Education

Calli Vearrier

Students develop a positive experience and a positive sense of the world around them.

This is where I base my starting point is off of two theorists, Lev Vygotsky and Erik Erickson, I

also will create the environment to be positive and safe for the children to learn and grow. I want

to be a teacher to make a difference in childrens lives and to help them grow and achieve goals.

I love learning and implementing the methods and basing my lessons around the theorist

Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky believed that students need social interactions to learn and experience

the world around them. The students need to learn from their peers and they can do this also

through a variety of learning activities. The children can learn from the teacher as well from

guidance that I would give for the children to learn new skills or ideas that are in their zone of

proximal development. Also another theorist that I plan my lessons around is Erik Erikson,

according to his theory the students will be in the Industry vs. Inferiority at the elementary level.

It is at this stage that the childs peer group will gain greater significance and will become a

major source of the childs self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by

demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society and begin to develop a sense of

pride in their accomplishments. If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they

begin to feel industrious and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. I want to create a

sense of community and belonging in my classroom. It is important for the students to learn how

to work together and accept each other. When the students know they can share ideas without

being made fun of it builds them up. It is important as a teacher that I show that every answer

can have value and that I appreciate every student that tries. I will emphasize that we are all

learning together. Students are learning to read, write, solve more complex math problems and
they rely on the teacher to help them academically and for their teacher to be there to help and

guide them along. I need to show my students that I am there to help them succeed and achieve

goals.

I will always have my main focus in the classroom be student centered learning. I want to

actively engage the students throughout the school day and throughout my lessons. If the

students are not engaged or if they cannot make connections to why the lesson relates to their

lives they will not be able to grasp onto the concepts as easy or they would become uninterested.

I love hands on learning and coming up with fun, engaging activities as well as providing centers

where the students can discover and learn more. I believe that I must model reading and how

reading can be fun! I love to relate reading and finding books that can relate to their lives and

interest the students. This is why it is so important to get to know my students.

The golden rule can apply everywhere in the classroom. Every student should treat each

other how they want to be treated and the students should treat any adults with

the utmost respect. I will make an effort right away and dedicate the beginning of the year to my

classroom management plan making sure there is structure and a steady plan. The students will

know of my expectations right away and everything that will be expected of them. It is very

important to create and teach rules and expectations in the classroom for it to flow effectively.

I will continue to keep current in the field from attending seminars and teaching conferences.

I will be a part of many online teaching resource websites to gain ideas from other educators and

to see what has been going on in their classrooms. I plan to work with others in a professional

community from being involved in local meetings and teachers clubs. I would meet with many

other teachers in my grade level and share what ideas we have been implementing in the
classroom. I would love to be open to find and share many ideas with other professional

educators to see what has been working with their students.

A classroom management plan is essential to any successful classroom. One of the most

important parts to teaching in a classroom is behavior specific praise and motivating students.

The students become motivated and they tend to work harder with behavior specific praise. It is

effective because they then really understand as to what behaviors they are receiving the praise

and they will more than likely continue this good behavior afterward. I think it is very important

to use individual rewards, class rewards, and behavior specific praise for the class to have the

most effective plan. I will use all three of these methods in my classroom. In the class I would

like to use individual rewards such as tokens or tickets in my classroom. The group rewards are

very important as well and this will motivate all students. They develop a sense of responsibility

to not let their peers down. It is essential to use short term and long term rewards. Students need

the immediate praise and reward, but they also need the long term rewards to learn how to work

for something. I remember in elementary when we would have short term and long term rewards.

Both were just as effective and the students need to get better at the long term rewards and

making the good behavior something that is consistent.

The qualities that will help me become a teacher is my patience with students and working

to make progress. I love setting goals with my students that are realistic and obtainable. It is

important to know that students dont make giant leaps overnight with the content and behaviors,

but it takes time and practice to master these skills and this is why patience is so important.

When a student is learning to read, learning new math concepts, or a skill, it takes time and it is

not a fast process. The student needs to know that the teacher will not give up on them, but will

be there encouraging and helping the student. When the student sees that a teacher does not give
up or become frustrated with them they feel encouraged and are more likely to succeed. Another

asset that will help me become a quality teacher is by having empathy. With empathy I will show

the students that I care and want the student to improve. It is important to know what stages these

students are at and understanding what they are capable or not capable of. Empathy as a teacher

can determine if the lessons are developmentally appropriate for these students.

I want to teach because I have a passion for children and I love getting to see the children

succeed, make progress, and prosper. I want to make a positive and meaningful impact in

childrens lives. Learning should be fun and students should enjoy learning and I want to be a

part of this process.

Works Cited

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html