Sbart010

About Me

Hello Everybody, I'm Sarah. I guess I will tell you a little about myself. I was born, raised and am still living in a small town in Southwest Virginia. I am 23 years old. I am attending ODu through the teletechnet site at the Community College in the town where I live. I love living in a small town and I love living in the mountains of southwest Virginia. I have traveled a lot. I have been to Europe and Canada, Along with Hawaii and many places in the continintal U.S. But there is still no place I would rather be. I am working for a degree in Elemantary education and I can't wait to be teaching. I really believe teaching to be my true calling. It just feels right.

My other interests include camping and fishing, cooking out, sitting around a campfire, really anything outdoors. I also love music. Although I enjoy and respect many forms of music, my favorites include country and bluegrass, I guess you can't grow up in the mountains without hearing and enjoying bluegrass music, my absolute favorite type of music. I especially like the traditional bluegrass tunes. My boyfriend and I sing in a bluegrass group and I am currently learning to play a mandolin.

I guess thats it about me. Now for my Teaching Philosophy.

My mother is a teacher and so were my aunts. I used to go with Mama to the school before the school year began and help her prepare for the year. Now, I have been employed as a substitute teacher. I have been around the education environment all my life. I have experienced different grade levels and different teacher’s methods of doing things. This has helped me in gathering ideas to form my own teaching philosophy.

There are many things that we must consider as educators. Everything that we do and everything we have in the classroom affects our students. Therefore considerable thought must be put into preparing a classroom and methods of teaching. A teacher must think about capturing attention, eliminating distractions, and making the classroom environment an appealing place to learn. The way that a classroom is set up and decorated is a very important part of the teaching philosophy. The classroom is the first thing that a student sees when he or she comes to school for a new year and a new teacher. The classroom also gives the first impressions to parents and administrators. So what are the characteristics of a good classroom? First of all, a classroom should be colorful. And not just any colors, bright colors. Bright colors capture the attention of student and also make the classroom more comfortable and welcoming. Nobody would like sitting in a room where plain white walls were all you had to look at all day. This would cause boredom in students and teachers alike. Also around the room should be posters and pictures that reinforce what will be learned.

Another idea to consider is routine. So everything should be clearly marked and labeled. For example, students names on the desk,( lower grades) labels on where things go and there are others. So the desired classroom is one that is welcoming and bright but also instills a since of structure and order. In what ways does the teacher insure that his/her classroom is an effective place to learn? Things to consider when answering this question are teaching methods of course. Also, we need to consider discipline. For us to maintain order in our classroom we must have some discipline. But how much and the way it is administered is what is important in making a classroom an ideal place to learn.

So lets talk about the actual teacher and the teaching methods? What can we do as educators to insure that the students are learning in a way that is best for them? There are many ways that teacher can create an active learning environment. The key is to keep the students interested and motivated. The most common way to do this is to keep changing the methods of teaching. Don’t simply stand at the front of the room and lecture. Be sure to get the students involved. Playing games, or doing activities and even something as simple as asking questions is and effective way of keeping attention. Teachers of younger children sometimes have them move back and forth between desks and the “reading carpet” frequently. Teachers mainly do this because these younger students will get restless if they sit in one place for too long. The key to effective teaching is acquiring motivation and eliminating distractions. The use of technology, which is quickly being integrated into classroom everywhere, can be another useful tool in an effective classroom.

As I have said, every classroom needs discipline. Without discipline the teacher could never get anything done. The rules and consequences need to be established at the beginning of the year or else the teacher loses control for the entire year. But how much discipline is needed? It is not effective if a teacher spends more time yelling and disciplining students the teaching. Also, to much discipline stunts a students desire to learn. The biggest challenge to educators is finding the right balance between discipline and education.

Well thats all. Let me know what you think. Have a great semester Ya'll!

God Bless,

Sarah