Educational Philosophy

My educational philosophy revolves around the concepts that learning should be fun and engaging, as well as accessible to all students, regardless of their unique learning styles. As an Academic Coach, I witnessed, first hand, how varying learning styles impact a student’s success and feelings of self-worth. Everyone learns differently: some relate more easily to visual stimuli, while others interact more effectively with auditory information. Some students require more hands-on-interaction in order to successfully learn a subject. The list is highly varied, but the solution is more straightforward: students require individual attention whenever possible. It is not an easy task in a full classroom to offer the individual attention every student demands, but it is a goal worth striving towards. And, regardless of class size or ratio, there are multiple methods available to teachers, and a strong classroom is a diverse classroom. In other words, a teacher should not simply teach through lecture or note-taking or some other method. There should be variety from day-to-day in instructional technique.

I also invest in the notion that learning is exciting. Sadly, though, I witness – more often than not – students who lazily trot from class-to-class, rest their heads on their desks, and cut corners to do as little work as possible. Therefore, students need to be engaged. They require an enthusiastic instructor, an individual who cares deeply for the subject material and who believes he or she is the ideal candidate to teach it! I believe there are numerous ways to engage students in the classroom. I am a big proponent of group activities, discussion, presentations, written exercises, and outdoor adventures. Learning can only be enhanced by stimulating all the senses. As an enthusiastic individual, I also put a lot of stock in the teacher’s ability to entertain his or her students. A teacher must command the students’ attention. Teaching English – or any subject, for that matter – does not look like an entertainer’s three-act show, but it does require proper planning and a genuine enthusiasm for the material and the process of learning. Young adolescents, in particular, are bursting with energy, so why not tap into that youthful vein and harness that energy through one’s own excitement? Why not integrate their enthusiasm into one’s lesson plans? Anything else is simply going against the grain.