Riley Johnson

My Philosophy of education

When I look back at my experience in school I often think about the awful experiences I had first, then second, I remember the few great teachers I did have. I remember them for their kindness and the safe energy that I felt around them. They were strict but fair and they didn't have to resort to ruling by terror. I want nothing more than to model those teachers' behaviors in my own classroom. My personal beliefs about children and learning include that all kids have the desire to learn and all children want approval. I don't believe any child sets out to be hated by their teacher, I think children by their nature are rambunctious and it's best not to take it personally. I say this because I don't think it's appropriate to punish someone by screaming and yelling in their face (a technique that I have unfortunately seen some educators use.) Use a stern voice to get your point across not to scare. Respect personal space, don't over step boundaries.

I believe that children learn best when they are being taken care of. The curriculum of any classroom should include certain “basics” that contribute to a child’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. These basics are language development, social emotional skills, math, science, and language arts. I also believe that on some level we should be teaching life skills like hygiene. I have unfortunately seen some students that have not been taught these skills at home which is a great disservice to the child. When children learn how to take care of themselves when they are young they will remember those skills for the rest of their lives.

Children learn best in an environment that promotes learning. Features of a good learning environment are showing the child's achievements, learning posters on the wall and activities that make learning fun. I want to have a room covered in art work and school work that my students have done. If a student did particularly well on an assignment or showed major growth in their work I want to present it to the class and hang it on the wall.

All children have certain basic needs that must be met if they are to grow and learn at their best. Some of these basic needs are a safe home, nutritional needs are met and a friendly learning environment. Unfortunately as teachers we can really only control the latter. I will make sure that my students always feel safe in my classroom. I will do that by having a strict no bullying policy, talking a lot about social emotional skills and how to solve problems with their friends. I will also try to be a source of comfort for my students and make sure they know they can always talk to me and come to me with problems.

I believe that children learn best when they are socializing and actively participating in the assignments. One form of assessment that I have grown to love is a gallery walk. In kindergarten we often work on very simple things such as predictions in stories and solving problems so we will have our students go to different tables where they are presented with something that we had been working on that day. As teachers we get to walk around and listen to the discussions our students are having and see if they understand the concepts we are trying to teach them. Another way we can do this is with Turn and Talks. While we are discussing the topic at hand we will present a question and have the students turn and talk to the student next to them. We can listen in on the students' conversations and when done we can call on certain students to tell us the conversation they just had. This is a way to assess students' knowledge on subjects besides the typical assignments and testing. Both are good ways to assess but sometimes students get nervous during tests or aren't good with putting thoughts on paper.

Not every student learns the same way or can show their learning just like the other students. Some students may have certain disabilities when it comes to learning but that only means they learn differently than other students. I will do my best to get to know each student and figure out what alternatives will work the best for them. In the school I did my student teaching, we had students with disabilities and we accommodated them by allowing them a break when they would get too overwhelmed with what was going on in the classroom. Students with special needs often require adaptations in instructional practices to meet their needs. Some strategies I can use to help me teach children with disabilities include getting to know the child's individual disability and finding the information necessary to help them. For example if the child has a reading disability I could work one on one with them or provide verbal instructions. If the child has motor skills disability you can set up easels, which allow children to stand and use bigger arm movements. Another way to help children with motor skill disabilities is to provide board books and add jumbo paper clips to regular book pages to make turning the pages easier. There are many ways you can provide for children’s learning styles while responding appropriately to diversity. Modifications that can create a more culturally responsive learning environment include having books that represent each culture and have special days where we can learn about different cultures. I believe the role of a teacher is to be a caretaker, inspire, motivate and encourage your students to want to learn and do their best. To show them that learning can be fun and interesting. The purpose of education is to help students become healthy, smart, productive people, for themselves and for society. I want my students to be happy and optimistic about the future and learning.

While working in the classroom during my student teaching I have never felt more sure that this job is the job for me. I love being with the students everyday, I love teaching them and nothing makes me more happy and excited than when I see a student has learned something that I taught them. I know this job will be fulfilling for me and I hope my future students will love being in my classroom.

• Active reader
• hiker
• Craft enthusiast