My personal teaching philosophy begins with having the belief that learning is driven by a student feeling emotionally safe in their environment, so they can take risks and feel supported by their learning community. I hope that through the thoughtful lessons I will design, students will take joy in their own learning, as well as celebrate the accomplishments of their peers. I plan to foster a positive environment built upon a solid foundation of mutual respect and acceptance of diversity. I will do this through many community building activities and a balance of individual, partner, small group, and whole-class activities in which students will learn how to work together, solve problems peacefully, and work collaboratively.
As an educator, I believe that my role is to create the best learning environment possible for our students, not just to simply deliver information to them. Because it is important for students to learn in a positive environment, my role as a teacher is to provide hands-on experiences in the classroom that engage students’ both mentally and in a positive way emotionally, so they feel safe and can contribute to their classroom and peers. Having lessons where students’ become enthusiastic about their learning will work in conjunction with classroom management strategies. In my experience, students who are not interested in what they are learning, suddenly become squirrely, begin talking with their neighbour, and their focus changes. When the students feel they are part of a whole group and each have the same rules to follow in order to provide and maintain a safe classroom environment, the best learning will occur through doing and positive hands-on experiences.