Experience Summary
Teaching Philosophy
One’s teaching philosophy is continually evolving over time. Evolution occurs because teaching is an ongoing process. This process has brought me to develop my own personal teaching philosophy. The philosophy I have created is one that is student centered. My classrooms have become student centered. I have decided to acquaint myself with the needs and expectations of my students. The classroom culture I desire is one where my students may know they are safe and secure to learn. They need to know they are allowed to fail because one truly learns from one’s failures. Failure should not have negative connotations but to know failing only points out what we need to learn and also know what are successes are as well. In order for this to be accomplished in the classroom, I have developed, for the time being, a teaching strategy. The strategy is to put forth knowledge which will allow them to be successful in their personal and professional lives. To discover the needs and expectations, I first assess the needs and strengths of my students, the assessment is done for them to advance, and from advancement the students will acquire the knowledge they need to have to build a firm foundation in English.
The first part of my strategy is assessment. Assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information to aid in classroom decision making. The true purpose of assessment, in my opinion, is to establish and maintain the social equilibrium of the classroom. Classrooms are complex social settings in which students interact with one another. For classrooms to be positive social and learning environments, order, discipline, and cooperation must be present. Assessment is needed because each student is an individual. A teacher cannot lose sight of the fact one size does not fit all. Because of the great academic diversity of an ESL classroom, every student has unique needs and expectations. The function of the teacher is to ensure these needs and expectations are met in the classroom for the student to advance in their academic journey.
Monitoring the advancement of student achievement is the most common reason to use assessment. As a teacher, one is responsible for demonstrating the students’ work and any possible changes in their abilities and learning on a periodic basis. This requires you, as a teacher, to use multiple tools and means of collecting information. Alternative means of assessment allows a teacher to obtain a clearer picture of the students’ knowledge base and comprehension development in both language and content area studies.
Finally, the third part of the strategy is acquisition of a second language. Acquisition is not treating the learning of English as an object for study. This is accomplished by experiencing language as a meaningful tool for communication. Acquisition is also known as meaning focused teaching. Meaning focused communication activities provide learners with opportunities to both improve and correct their own input through interaction with your fellow students.
Teaching Style
Mentoring style of teaching.