Philosophy of Education

Areas of Priority
1. Demonstrates respect for every person
2. Exhibits honesty and integrity
3. Demonstrates a belief that all students can learn
4. Engages in reflective practices
5. Understands the importance of teaching to the whole child
6. Displays the willingness to take initiative and solve problems
7. Collaborates effectively with others
8. Recognizes and respects diversity

My philosophy of education is a living document. I readily believe that, as a teacher, I must be constantly willing to adapt in order to offer my students the best possible education.

I consider myself to be a student of life.  I try to learn something new every day and have a passion for learning that I strive to share with those around me.  Couple this with my appreciation of children; their creativity, their forthrightness, honesty, youthful ideas and their ability to welcome, without reservation, others and teaching is the only career I have ever considered to be right for me. 

I was raised by two wonderful people who instilled in me a strong sense of honesty, integrity and respect; these three principles make up the foundation of my moral structure and will be the bedrock of my classroom philosophy.  The three are fundamentally linked in my mind and one cannot exist without the other two. 

My classroom rules will be based on respect; respect for a persons ideas, culture, race, gender and who they define themselves to be.  I expect to be respected and therefore will respect all those sitting in my classroom – lead by example.

For students to respect me they must learn that I am a person of my word.  I will not promise anything I am unable to deliver. I will approach each student as different from the last; understanding that every student learns differently and will therefore construct my lesson plans to teach to the whole child. For children to synthesize lesson material I as the teacher must work to engage them on a multi-sensory level.  I will act with integrity when considering what each individual student needs to be successful in my classroom. 

Children are remarkably perceptive and therefore intuitively know when an adult is being less than honest with them.  I believe in communicating with honesty to my students.  I also understand the importance of being honest with myself. To be a successful teacher I feel it is imperative to be honest with myself about lesson plans.  It is important that I engage in daily self-reflection; objectively looking back at decisions and lessons to better improve.  Through self-improvement I guarantee my students will be more successful.  Self-improvement is not only obtained through self-reflection; it is also imperative that I work collaboratively with other teachers as well as administration. It is important that I continue to be a life-long learner in both the classroom and outside of it. 

These are the promises I make to my students, my students’ guardians and myself.