I believe that every child is a candidate for greatness. As a teacher, I strive to help children capitalize on their strengths so that their learning can be maximized. We all have things that we are good at doing, and I want my students to realize their gifts and make the most out of them. Since we all have our weaknesses as well, I offer support and assistance as needed to my students. My main goal is to create a learning atmosphere where each student feels happy and successful at the end of the day.
In order to maximize student learning, I think it is imperative to meet the students where they are academically. This means that differentiation certainly has a place in my classroom. Differentiation is so important, because I want to appropriately challenge and stimulate all children without the ill-effects of overwhelming and frustrating them. This means that I will constantly be assessing my students to determine the appropriate level of instruction for each child. I also try to incorporate the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy into my lessons as well. I do not want my students to simply regurgitate information to me. Rather, I want them to work with the material in a way that will promote critical thinking. To accomplish this, I take a constructivist approach when I teach many of my lessons. This approach is student-centered, so it is much more empowering for the students. As a result, it is likely that the various skills learned in this format will be retained and used again in the future.
Since children are our future, I want to prepare them for tomorrow's jobs. I want to foster a love for learning within all of my students. Ideally, I want students to become life-long learners so that they can constantly better themselves as they add to their knowledge bases. Preparing students for tomorrow means staying current with today's technology. I enjoy using clickers, PowerPoints, Unitedstreaming videos, and Smart Board activities to help make lessons more engaging and meaningful to my students. These technological skills will help prepare students for the 21st century job market.
I think that I have the best job in the world! I enjoy having a hand in shaping students into successful citizens. Ultimately, I want my students to walk away from my classroom with a can-do attitude. I want them to reach for the stars and have the confidence that they can accomplish great things in their lifetimes.
