MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
As I began my career in education, I was always mindful of the enormous task before me to create change in my students and to do it for positive gains. The ongoing challenge of education in our young community of learners has started to shape an idea and position for myself within the greater confines of my professional duties. The very core of my approach as a teacher is based in the lasting effects influential educators have had on me throughout my entire life. The achievements I have found are only for a simple reality that I was provided the tools for success along the way by various individuals who continue to help guide my goals and desires every day.
I became a teacher because I knew it was something I would eventually attempt in my career and decided to pursue this field sooner than later. A house filled with educators and high-achieving siblings will push one to succeed or drive them to rebel. I was able to balance a healthy exposure to both growing up. Eventually I saw the impact teachers were making on my life and the lives of others and decided to challenge myself to reach such heights of significance. I teach to prepare and expose students to a reality that awaits them beyond the classroom. Whether it is senior government, AP psychology, or elementary health and physical education, the goal remains for my students to leave prepared and better equipped. I have experienced being the only positive influence in the life of a student and carry that burden with confidence. The reflective value in the physical and mental maturation process cannot be duplicated. The lessons I have learned from my teachers have remained hidden for years beyond their instruction. Through a process of self-discovery, each individual is given a chance to take these newly discovered lessons and apply them throughout the channels of life. Teaching matters because I know the potential value I could hold for a future student in their discovery process. The weight within such a discovery is a driving factor to be an educator of substance and impact. To teach without the passion for daily discovery is akin to fishing without a rod or bait. I have started to learn that approaches must change with each group of students and while the passion should remain, the path toward this passion may shift.
The physical education environment creates a division in learners that is similarly found in any other subject. I maintain goals to be challenged every day and strive to have each student discover meaningful information each time we interact. These goals can be supported through authentic effort and preparation to have confidence in the search for success. Students can see these as their own goals and find continuity in daily tasks surrounded by these achievable outcomes. I focus on environments that allow failure and support challenges to explore unknown outcomes. The safety of an environment not driven by results and competition, but by exposure and experiences, will help students to pursue challenges with confidence. I have evaluated a continuous and fluid level of learning helps students to take more chances with learning activities. By eliminating fixed outcomes and expectations in our learning, students look for more opportunities to discover information and are not driven by arbitrary results. The methodology of supportive environments with less structure and more challenge has led to students achieving at levels they likely would not have reached. When introducing a new unit with new movement patterns and skill requirements, we allow for initial exploration with our mind and out body to find information that could support our future learning within the unit. Physical activities have transitioned into a student-led design and continue to engage more learners more consistently. I am able to still evaluate performance and knowledge of expected skills and game play by adjusting the vocabulary to fit our units. The learning has changed and progressed for many students to minimize of eliminate the divisions previously found in physical education.
Adjusting to new styles in learning and by motivation to always learn, self- assessment becomes more valuable. I observe the structure of classes through their willingness to be challenged and the path they choose to take toward that challenge. I am able to evaluate the changes in approaches to thinking and those approaches reflect overall preparedness. As I have strived to create cultures in my classroom which push pursuit of the unknown in a manner of fearlessness and confidence, I am able to determine my contribution to students throughout their journey in education. I want to be the author of knowledge a student discovers in their maturation and discovery. I want to be an educator in perpetual pursuit of the unknown. Through my efforts, I hope to create change in and for my students as they continue along a path which leads to their eventual understanding of change.