Dara Marquez

Introduction to Elementary Education 201

Educational Philosophy Paper

The teaching profession has always been dear to my heart. Learning is a

passion of mine and it will be an honor to enable others to learn through my teaching.

There are many different ways to learn and many different ways to teach; I want my

classroom to be a means of reaching the best style of learning for each of my students.

The student’s success in and out of the classroom is why I am choosing the life of a

teacher.

Teaching – to me, is a way of life and not simply a job. As for who has inspired

me, it has been my father, my mother and my sister. Role models are important

(throughout life) and I could not have been given better ones! My family’s hard work

and positive attitudes always drove me to do the best I could. Having a great family and

the experiences that came with it have inspired me to be someone that a student could

look up to. When a student is feeling discouraged, I wish to be able to lift them up

through a positive and powerful academic experience that is all their own, just as my

family continually lifted me up and guided me. My husband has also been invaluable to

me pursuing my dream of becoming a teacher. He has been a pillar of strength

throughout our 10 year relationship. He is always doing his best to better our lives and

the lives of our three sons. I have another role model in him. I hope to have him look at

me in my teaching role and be proud of the teacher I become. While I am teaching a

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lesson I want anyone looking on to see how comfortable and confident I am in my role

as an educator.

Being comfortable with the different learning styles will help me to better teach

my class overall. The three learning styles are Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. I want

to be able to use as many of the three different styles as possible for one lesson; that

way each student is able to comprehend the information. Also, knowing that each

student will need help and trying to address (and foresee) any possible challenges

within the lesson /instruction time should help the lesson to go smoothly. This would

allow for more question and answer time, if needed. Helping one student will mean an

entirely different thing for another student. Every child can learn; as a teacher I know

my task is providing the student –every student— anything and everything they need to

be a successful learner.

Observing a teacher in their classroom throughout the school day has really

reinforced my belief that you get out of teaching what you put into it. The students rely

on the teacher for so many things and the classroom and teaching affects them. When

students feel safe and important learning is going to happen and fall into place.

Teachers can truly teach lifelong lessons and not simply the basics of ABC and 123.

Through my field observation hours, I was able receive personal experience of how a

teacher can impact student’s lives.

Currently, I believe in the Progressive Philosophical Orientation to teaching. It

focuses on the student’s needs and interests. The reason I believe in that is because

while students are interested in a topic they are actively learning and that is my goal for

my students. The fact that each student is so different is a beautiful challenge and one I

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feel teachers should embrace and focus more on. Along with that, the Humanism

Psychological Orientation fits closest to my beliefs towards what is best for students.

That view, is believing that children are innately good and that the education focus

should be on the individual’s needs.

When I learned free education during the mid-late 1800s, was becoming more

important and defined thrilled me. Teachers started to have their title mean even more

because they, too, were able to get a specific education tailored to them. Then later,

with the Act of 1958, the fact that the subjects taught and the intensity of them changed

was very interesting to me because having many different topic/subjects taught at once

is still our goal today with education.

With regard to the instructional strategies that I would implement, organization

will be vital for me as a teacher. Using organization in my classroom will help my

students in their everyday lives. It will help my students reach their full potential by

providing them with knowledge and power. Who does not like knowing where

something is when they need it? Besides having the room and materials organized, I

will have my lessons organized so that I can be prepared and include as much in each

lesson plan as possible. Days will not always go exactly in order or as planned; that

makes it even more important to be organized so students are not let down.

Variety in instruction is important to me as well. Students will never learn as

much if they are bored and uninterested. As a teacher one of my goals is to keep my

students engaged and productive. Variety will help keep my students focused and

excited about learning and participating. To approach student learning, I will use

motivation. When students want to learn they will. Positive reinforcements are useful

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for motivating students. Depending on the grade that is being taught, the rewards

would be altered to fit their interests. Give the student something to work for. Another

resource for approaching student learning are the students themselves. Allowing the

students to work together on projects and assignments is a great way to help them learn

academically and socially.

To address student diversity, I will lead by example for my students. I am striving

to gain a great deal of knowledge on different cultures and traditions due to the fact that

the classroom will be a very diverse environment. I will constantly be researching

different cultures and traditions. I will then share all the information I gather with my

students and then I can go a step further and show them how easy and helpful it is to be

accepting. Activities that allow the students to see different beliefs and traditions

through an educational outlet helps to alleviate any misunderstandings regarding

diversity. Then the students will be able to apply that knowledge to any situation they

are faced with throughout their lives. Another issue that will need to be addressed in

the classroom is that of variability. As a teacher I will try my best to take note of all my

students that are learning at a faster rate than that of the overall class. It is my hope

that specified assignments could be created for those students. Through those extra or

altered assignments the students will be able to learn accordingly and be able to stay

engaged in the lessons.

Assessments are a part of teaching; they are a tool for measuring your student’s

progress and any areas they need help in. I enjoy the results of assessments because

they allow me to gauge my students as a whole as well as individually. For instance, I

can use assessments to answer the question: Is this subject something the whole class

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is struggling with? Or are only a few students needing extra help? Assessments will

differ depending on each lesson. Will it be a whole class discussion to see if they can

apply the material learned or a written test? For younger students, will they be drawing

their favorite character from the story or answering questions out loud? The options for

assessments are limitless and the information gained from them make all the time and

effort you put into creating them worthwhile. I would like to make them as fun and

interactive as possible for both the students and myself!

To build a career in the teaching field many different characteristics and skills are

needed. Determination is mandatory. Focus is also key. At the moment my focus

needs to be on completing my schooling and learning as much as possible. Once I am

teaching, my focus will need to be on teaching my students and keeping them focused

on the subject at hand. When thinking about being a successful teacher, an important

characteristic that comes to mind is being approachable. Students need to be able to

have trust in me that they will learn and be safe in my classroom. If my students have

questions, I do not want them to hesitate to ask me. Another great characteristic to

have as a teacher is to be resourceful. No one can know everything; however, if I do

not limit myself and take initiative, resources can provide me with any information

needed/wanted. For example: A student comes up and asks me a question…. I do not

know the answer. My options at that point are to either turn them away with no answer

and no hope and no tools for getting the answer or I can comment that I do not know

the answer but that I would like to work with them to find the answer. At that point once

the answer is found the student will then be equipped with the confidence that he/she,

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too, can find answers and automatically move to find their own answers. The answers

are out there –go and get them.

For my education, I must get my Associates Degree. My major is Elementary

Education. The next step after that is getting my Bachelor’s Degree. I will need to

transfer to a 4 year college for the Bachelor Degree. After I complete a set amount of

credits and education classes, I will be able to become a substitute teacher. It would be

ideal to be a substitute teacher while finishing my schooling. It would be incredible to

take what I am learning in school and apply it to the classroom as a substitute teacher.

Also as a substitute, I will get the opportunity to teach different grades. That will help

with knowing what grade(s) I would prefer to teach. During my schooling, I will need to

complete 6 to 8 credits of supervised student teaching. There is also the Praxis Tests

that must be passed. There are three parts: Praxis I – Pre-Professional Skills Tests,

Praxis II – Subject Assessments, Praxis III – Teacher Performance Assessment. Next

is getting a teaching license. State licensing is required for teaching. For me, I am

always going to believe that learning is imperative as a teacher to both mine and my

student’s success.