Philosophy of Teaching
I take my responsibility of educating our
future very seriously, but with a sarcastic, fun, and brutally honest style
that have seemed to become notorious with my name at James Madison High School.
I want my students to leave my class reading and writing with a critical eye,
inquiring about things they hear about, and most importantly, improving their
character. The following quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson is displayed in my classroom:
“Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as
well as think.” I discuss its importance the first day of school and I
constantly reinforce this philosophy to my students.
While enhancement of character is definitely
a big priority in my classroom, teaching students skills that are vital in
today’s society is vital as well. I remember some of my elective classes from
high school more than the core classes because the things that we did in the
elective courses were more applicable to what I use today. Specifically, my technology
classes are most memorable. I have a laptop cart in my room and I try to get my
students to use them weekly. Utilizing technology in the classroom not only
makes lessons more unique, but it allows students to do things hands-on,
reinforcing it better with what they will have available to them independent
from my course. They are able to share their ideas with each other while
working with partners and can put their learning in their own hands.
The idea that “truth can be learned but not
taught” is particularly true when it comes to my student finding their own
individual “truth” (Berlin 241). My job as the leader in the classroom is to guide
students to the novels, plays, and poems that we read and allow them to take
from them what they wish from a personal standpoint. If “all good writing is
personal”, then making literature more personal to the reader (as in
reader-response theory), will allow my students to connect to the text and to
themselves simultaneously (Judy and Miller 242).
Whenever I hear the argument that teachers
don’t get paid enough, I immediately think of the rewards I get nearly every
day from my students. Seeing a “light bulb” moment during a simple lesson is
irreplaceable. The words “I never knew how to do that!” and “Oh, I
get it!” are gratifying and make me feel like I’ve done my job for the day.
Seeing my angriest, most disrespectful students treat their classmates and I
with respect and kindness is simply priceless, even if it takes a heart to
heart once in awhile.These golden nuggets are worth considerably more than
money any day.
Work Cited
Emerson, Ralph W.
"The American Scholar." The American Scholar. N.p., n.d. Web.
15 June
2012.
<http://www.emersoncentral.com/amscholar.htm>
My mind is spinning trying to figure out a great quote to use on the first day of class. I think that sets a great tone for the way you structure your class! I like that you guide them to the literature and encourage a personal connection - it is much easier to write about how you can connect with it rather than summarize the information.
ReplyDeleteI love your perspective from the high school classroom. I am still a fairly recent high school graduate (5 years ago) but all of my teaching has been in higher education. I like seeing the differences and relating it back to my high school experiences. Additionally, I teach freshman and sophomores mostly, so it helps for me to realize where they are coming from. Great post!
I love that you quoted Emerson! I love him. such great stuff. I want to find an awesome quote to summarize my whole approach to this composition stuff now, too. hmm.
ReplyDeletewould you say your theory is more mimetic then, emphasizing this being "strong to live as well as think"?
I agree that teaching is a really rewarding experience. I haven't done very much of it, especially not in a formal classroom really, but even the mini piano lessons or web-design tutorials I've given have been cool experiences. watching people make connections and figure things out for themselves is pretty awesome.
Corey Ann,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you get to see where they're coming from some. I would like to see where they are going! I keep in touch with many of my students after they have graduated and we have an open dialogue on facebook about what their comp/English 101 classes are like. I want my class to be a good segway into their first classes in college. Many focus on rhetoric with composition and others don't. I teach the rhetoric regardless because they kind of have to go hand in hand (as we learned the first week).
Amelia,
We have a unit on Transcendentalism that has morphed into a "civil rights" unit, focusing on "Self-Reliance", "Civil Disobedience", and a few readings from MLK and Gandhi. They get REALLY into Emerson and love the rebellious nature of Thoreau's philosophy. I love it too. And teaching generally of course. :)
Your classroom environment sounds very student-centered which I agree is so important. Guiding the students to the tools and resources is an important goal. Sometime, I am surprised at what guides them. I will never forget when I was giving a lecture to a class of about 80, and in the middle of the lecture, someone said out loud "Oh, I get it"! To which I replied, "That's great!". They then explained that the 'lightbulb' just went off regarding something that had been discussed in the previous lecture. Something I had said, although perhaps unrelated in my opinion, helped that student connect the information. Once they make connections, students become their own little 'search engines'. Who knows what they can discover?
ReplyDeleteGood integration of ideas from Berlin, especially. So if truth can not be taught, can it be modeled, scaffolded, etc.? What do your assignments look like, Mariel, and can you make connections between what they look like and your philosophy of teaching?
ReplyDeleteI think that a big part of a high school teacher's role is to guide students to find their own "truth" and through writing I think this is voice, and I try to do this through writing and literature. It is modeled by the novels and plays that we read and scaffolded particularly at the beginning of the year when we provide them with outlines and sample essays. We have a characterization essay that we do at the beginning of the year with The Crucible. We show them what a good essay would look like through the eyes of a more minor character and provide them with an outline. By the time we read The Great Gatsby, they are a little bit more versed on this type of literary analysis. Are they really finding "truth" through this assignment? I'd say so. We are helping them to identify and analyze the complexities in a novel and play where they are conditioned to focus solely on plot (murder, death, betrayal, etc.). I will figure out a way to upload some assignments that illustrate differentiated instruction. Much of this instruction is given orally or on the board to allow students to achieve the same objectives through a variety of modes.
ReplyDelete