From my experience as a student, the teachers I still remember are those who inspired me to learn, made learning relevant to me as an individual, all the while challenging me to reach my full potential. These teachers have helped shape my take on teaching. I am committed to instilling the value of education and learning in my students by recognizing the individual needs of each student and then facilitating their learning accordingly. I believe if I display a passion for teaching, this will motivate students to also take a passionate approach to learning.

That being said, my teaching will always focus on each student in order to address and meet individual needs. As a result, all that I plan – from my lessons and teaching to assessment – I will strive to include a range of each across all subjects. Taking from my practicum experience, it was and will remain one of my main priorities to plan a variety of lesson structures and designs so that I could accommodate the various learning styles present in my class. The word “engaging” comes into play here. I have always said that satisfaction for me as a teacher is when my students are fully engaged while learning – focused, concentrating, and simply smiling. I truly believe this is only possible if my teaching is varied; for example, having visual components, along with technology, writing and opportunities for hands-on activities. Just as important was and will be assessment. As a beginning teacher, it was a great opportunity for me to experiment; however, I quickly realized variations were actually necessary for me to gauge the learning of all my students. As a result, there is great value in using peer-assessment, self-assessment, criteria, performance scales, teacher-student generated rubrics and so on. Related to the importance of variety, assessment needs to be ongoing throughout the year. This need not always be formal; it could be an informal one-on-one conversation with a student following an important lesson. I look at this way, even though formal reporting may only happen three times a year, learning is actually occurring every day of the school year – from beginning to end.

As important as the teaching and assessment is, there is so much more that happens in the classroom. At the top of this list is creating a safe and supportive classroom environment, which throughout the year becomes more like a community and less like a room with just desks and chairs. There are countless social and emotional learning strategies we have been exposed to throughout the year and these will definitely help in creating a positive community environment. Taking from my practicum again, I would continue some form of a classroom meeting depending on the age and grade level. They can be more simple morning meetings for the younger ages and more relationship and socially focused for the older. Principally what I aim to achieve with these meetings is a time and place students feel comfortable to share and provide insights all the while being able to “check-in” with the rest of the class. However, a classroom meeting is just one SEL component, the goal is to integrate as many components as possible such that they become a natural part of my classroom.

In the end, what is most important is each and every student that comes to my class every morning. Each student has different needs that need recognition but all students deserve an education, which caters to the “whole person.” That is, an education, which does not just focus on academics but also social and emotional learning, which can be applied in daily life circumstances. It is an integral part of my teaching philosophy to educate my students to become well-rounded individuals who will help advance our world in a positive manner.