“Every child can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way.”

George Evans

This quote truly supports my teaching philosophy because children learn in different ways. Some may be visual learners and gravitate towards looking at pictures or videos and others may be auditory learners where they listen. Others may take one day while others may take one week. My teaching philosophy is based on ensuring that all students have the ability to learn and reach their full potential. 

By implementing activities and strategies that can help students who are at different academic levels will help them to develop and not feel like they need to catch up with their peers. Ensuring the students that it is okay to not understand something right away is important because it will cause a lack of self-confidence. Providing students with extra worksheets and activities with each lesson is something that they can benefit from to help them develop in that subject. As a teacher it is my job to find effective teaching strategies (like peer- teaching, project-based learning, independent learning and visual or auditory learning) that will help benefit each student. 

During the past few years I have been given the opportunity to work with children in different settings and see them develop at different stages. I have also learned different strategies that can help students that may take longer to comprehend certain concepts. Having a strong and open communication with students is very crucial because students should be able to communicate how they feel and if they need help. Creating a classroom environment that uses friendly language can help promote a positive learning experience for students. Students should be able to work in the classroom and create their own goals especially using their skills they have learned and to further develop the skills as they get older. These practices will help students as they get older and reach their full potential in their learning experiences. 

I believe that when students are engaged in their learning they understand and comprehend the material better. Creating lessons that are student centered and have interactive activities that promote student learning. In my past teaching experiences I have found engaging activities (like think-pair-share, word splash, 3-2-1) that help students to stay engaged in the lesson. Integrating collaborative activities into a lesson can also help students to improve their communication skills with their peers. 

In my past teaching experiences, something that I have done is “check-ins”. During my lessons I will stop and do a check-in to see how my students are feeling after certain concepts are taught. This has allowed me to become aware if my students are struggling with a specific part of the lesson that I may need to further explain. I use a technique where the students give me thumbs up if they are feeling confident, a thumb to the middle if they are feeling okay, and a thumbs down if they are lost or feeling confused with the material. 

To conclude my teaching philosophy relates to my quote by George Evans “Every child can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way”. This quote will inspire me to work hard as a teacher and ensure that all my students are confident and are learning in a positive environment so they can reach their full potential.