Teaching+Philosophy



Like other educators, I want my students to learn the fundamental content of the language course I teach but my "wants" go beyond that. When it comes to language learning or learning in general, it first occurs when a student interacts with the people and the environment surrounding them. My first duty as a teacher is to create the conditions for learning to take place.

The four aspects that I, as a teacher, will focus on in a classroom are environment, feedback, input and output. As for environment, the mood created by the teacher influences the mood and behaviors of the students. I will provide a positive learning environment and will make sure to be in good spirits. My hopes will be that student’s sense this and react to it in a positive way. As for feedback during and after activities, I will need to be able to provide both affective information and cognitive information. Students deserve to receive praise from a teacher but also detailed and high quality feedback as to the correctness of their responses. As for input, I need to be able to teach to every student as an individual as well as a class as a whole. Referring to the SIOP model, there will need to be adaptation of content to all levels of student proficiency because every child’s learning capabilities are different. This also means I need to use the appropriate speech to assist student understanding. I will encourage output from the students by making sure they are always engaged in the activities. Using a variety of techniques, such as hands-on activities and demonstrations, will do this.

The classes I have completed and my tutoring experiences thus far have helped to evolve my objectives as a teacher. As a teacher, I realize that each student is unique and every student's needs are different. That is why my first objective is to be sensitive to student learning but consistently have high expectations of every student. I believe that each student needs to be pushed to a new degree in order to help them gain self-confidence. A student's determination and success can be looked at as a reflection of their teacher's motivation. A second important objective is to ensure that the language activities integrate all language skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking). This allows the students to best practice and apply the language being taught. One of the best ways to do this is to have students do meaningful activities that help to build background. By doing this, a teacher can benefit from using the student's experiences to make links between their past learning and new language concepts.

One of the wonderful rewards of teaching is that you can and should provide students with ample opportunities to set goals. By clearly defining the content and language objectives of a language class, you can help students set their own goals for personal development in the class. Students will know what is expected of them and this encourages dedication along with teacher/student interaction. This will also allow a teacher to monitor progress collaboratively and individually. As a teacher, I should be able to consistently provide students with opportunities to use learning strategies and to apply all their knowledge in the classroom. After completing this LLT class, I now know that I need to take advantage of all the learning and teaching strategies I have learned about and implement them in the classroom. I want my students to walk out of the classroom knowing that they can apply their content and language knowledge outside as well as inside the classroom.