My Philosophy
There are three main reasons why I have chosen to follow the path of becoming a teacher. These three reasons are: to instill a love of history into teenagers, to help foster growing minds, and to be a mentor for students who may not have one. I find it interesting how so many teenagers now days think history is boring. I want to foster a drive in these students to see history how I see it. I want my students to evaluate sources and come to their own conclusions. History is not simply remembering dates, but instead it is a process of understanding how we got to where we are today. Next I simply want to foster the growth that these teenagers have received thus far. I want to help mold their minds and prepare them to use the skills they learn in my class in real world scenarios. Lastly I have chosen to become a teacher because I want to mentor kids. More and more children are growing up in homes without a responsible or positive role model in their lives. I want to make being a mentor my number one goal as a teacher. If my students are able to come out of my class acting like responsible young adults who have a desire to be successful then I will consider that class a success.
I will be qualified to teach history in grades 8-12 whenever I obtain my degree. I also will be seeking certification in teaching health as well. My true desire will be to teach high school either world or US history. I also have a desire to be a football and track coach. If I am able to teach or coach my primary objective is to make my students successful. Whether that be in the classroom or on the field or track that is the primary objective. My secondary objectives in the classroom are to get my students to be able to understand how to use primary and secondary historical archives to evaluate what happened during that time period. My secondary objective for my athletes will be to challenge them to always do their best in anything they do. If I can get my athletes to do this then it will likely transfer over into the classroom as well. My students and athletes whenever they leave my class or team should be able to succeed in anything they set their mind to as long as they make an attempt at it. My success will depend on their success outside of the classroom or field.
There are many different methods that I enjoy using to teach. My favorite method by far is utilizing technology. I really enjoy using technology because many students now are more fascinated with working on computers or tablets. This works to my advantage as a history teacher. This allows me to get my students more involved in doing research and utilizing online methods of learning. I personally am not the type of person to stand in front of a class and lecture for an hour. Instead I choose to give a brief 10-15 minute lecture over all of the important information. After that short lecture I would utilize an activity or group work to get the students more involved. This activity would help utilize creativity and critical thinking. This is also the time where I can walk around the classroom and help any students that are struggling or just need a little extra guidance. Most of my assignments are going to be research based. In history it is crucial to be able to analyze primary and secondary sources to find the answer you are seeking. I will also utilize classic worksheets testing the students’ knowledge and making sure they are on track with where we need to be as well. For assessments I would have expected my students to take notes during our lessons and I will give them a study guide over what they can expect to see on the test. I will utilize multiple choice questions, essay questions, and maps to assess my students.
The primary way I would measure my effectiveness as a teacher would be to use student assessments. If my students are doing well on my assessments and daily work then I will know that they are retaining the knowledge that I am trying to introduce to them. I would make sure that my assessments were not too easy by asking a mentor teacher what they thought of my tests. If my students do not meet my expectations on the test then I can understand what needs to be retaught. I would also encourage other teachers or administrators to come and watch me teach so that I can get their perspective on what I am doing right or wrong. I could also use a non-graded pop quiz to measure the information that my students are retaining. I think this would be extremely useful because they would not have had time before hand to prepare for the quiz and I could get honest results. For a pop quiz I would expect them to get at least seventy percent of the questions correct. This would help me know that without any time to study my students are at least retaining seventy percent of the information I have taught. These are just some of the many ways I could measure my effectiveness as a teacher.
I plan to demonstrate my faith every day when I become a teacher. Some may ask how I plan to do that in public schools. My answer to that question would be I plan to demonstrate my faith by living out my faith. This to me means that I do not have to verbally say what I believe, but that I can show through my actions what I believe. I can go to school every day ready to love my students like Christ loves me. It may be hard sometimes being in a public school, but if God is for me then who can be against me. I will treat my colleagues, students, and athletes with the utmost respect and I will show them that I care for them. By doing this I think that my students will see something different in me compared to others and they will begin to wonder what is different. This is the most important reason for me becoming a teacher. I am called by God to be a light in the darkness and our schools are very dark. Since God has been cast out of schools we have to find a way to sneak Him back in and I plan to do that.
I will be qualified to teach history in grades 8-12 whenever I obtain my degree. I also will be seeking certification in teaching health as well. My true desire will be to teach high school either world or US history. I also have a desire to be a football and track coach. If I am able to teach or coach my primary objective is to make my students successful. Whether that be in the classroom or on the field or track that is the primary objective. My secondary objectives in the classroom are to get my students to be able to understand how to use primary and secondary historical archives to evaluate what happened during that time period. My secondary objective for my athletes will be to challenge them to always do their best in anything they do. If I can get my athletes to do this then it will likely transfer over into the classroom as well. My students and athletes whenever they leave my class or team should be able to succeed in anything they set their mind to as long as they make an attempt at it. My success will depend on their success outside of the classroom or field.
There are many different methods that I enjoy using to teach. My favorite method by far is utilizing technology. I really enjoy using technology because many students now are more fascinated with working on computers or tablets. This works to my advantage as a history teacher. This allows me to get my students more involved in doing research and utilizing online methods of learning. I personally am not the type of person to stand in front of a class and lecture for an hour. Instead I choose to give a brief 10-15 minute lecture over all of the important information. After that short lecture I would utilize an activity or group work to get the students more involved. This activity would help utilize creativity and critical thinking. This is also the time where I can walk around the classroom and help any students that are struggling or just need a little extra guidance. Most of my assignments are going to be research based. In history it is crucial to be able to analyze primary and secondary sources to find the answer you are seeking. I will also utilize classic worksheets testing the students’ knowledge and making sure they are on track with where we need to be as well. For assessments I would have expected my students to take notes during our lessons and I will give them a study guide over what they can expect to see on the test. I will utilize multiple choice questions, essay questions, and maps to assess my students.
The primary way I would measure my effectiveness as a teacher would be to use student assessments. If my students are doing well on my assessments and daily work then I will know that they are retaining the knowledge that I am trying to introduce to them. I would make sure that my assessments were not too easy by asking a mentor teacher what they thought of my tests. If my students do not meet my expectations on the test then I can understand what needs to be retaught. I would also encourage other teachers or administrators to come and watch me teach so that I can get their perspective on what I am doing right or wrong. I could also use a non-graded pop quiz to measure the information that my students are retaining. I think this would be extremely useful because they would not have had time before hand to prepare for the quiz and I could get honest results. For a pop quiz I would expect them to get at least seventy percent of the questions correct. This would help me know that without any time to study my students are at least retaining seventy percent of the information I have taught. These are just some of the many ways I could measure my effectiveness as a teacher.
I plan to demonstrate my faith every day when I become a teacher. Some may ask how I plan to do that in public schools. My answer to that question would be I plan to demonstrate my faith by living out my faith. This to me means that I do not have to verbally say what I believe, but that I can show through my actions what I believe. I can go to school every day ready to love my students like Christ loves me. It may be hard sometimes being in a public school, but if God is for me then who can be against me. I will treat my colleagues, students, and athletes with the utmost respect and I will show them that I care for them. By doing this I think that my students will see something different in me compared to others and they will begin to wonder what is different. This is the most important reason for me becoming a teacher. I am called by God to be a light in the darkness and our schools are very dark. Since God has been cast out of schools we have to find a way to sneak Him back in and I plan to do that.