A deep passion
First and foremost, it needs to be established that I am en educator not because I want summer's off, or because I think I can just sit at a desk all day while students fill out pages and pages of worksheets. I chose to become a teacher because I care deeply about each and every student that walks into my room. I am passionate about teaching, mentoring and helping, to the best of my ability, the youth of this country.
Getting back to the basics
Specifically I do have a zeal for the study of History and the English Language Arts and while it does me well, what's the use in having an enthusiasm for something great and keeping it to yourself? So regardless of whether or not any of my students come into my class caring for my subject, I hope they leave with a newfound appreciation, respect, and overall delight for the topics covered.
By the time they reach secondary schooling, many students feel that their core skills, such as reading and writing, are already established. I will challenge this notion and work towards always helping students improve such skills and reach levels they may not have been aware they were capable of reaching. I believe in differentiated instruction, working with each student the best I can at the level they are currently at, instead of providing a "blanket" of instruction that may cover some but leave many others left out. I will provide a variety of reading materials in my course to help students at different levels, but I will also provide texts which may be challenging and frustrating for students as well. That's not to say I will drop my students off in a stormy waters to sink or swim, I will always work my hardest to provide necessary help and instruction.
I am a huge fan of the written word and believe that everyone deserves to be instructed properly in the writing process. In a digital age of word processing, blogging, and texting, coupled with automatic spelling and grammar checks, many students lack the knowledge of how to write properly. It is not a matter of being able to write or not being able to, I believe whole-heartedly that every student is a capable writer (just look at how often they are e-mailing, blogging, texting and facebooking each other!) they just need be taught how to do that in a way that reflects proper English conventions. Learning and applying necessary writing traits is a task that will benefit students far past the classroom and will continue to influence them throughout their future. I also believe strongly in the use of multiple drafts of writing, because writing is a process and even professional authors aren't expected to turn in perfect products in one draft, so neither should students. Regardless of subject area reading and writing are two important skills that need to be continually developed no matter what age or grade one is in.
"It only end once, everything else before then is just progress"
I believe that the past is the past and any experiences had and feelings toward schooling in general should be disregarded in my classroom, because I adamantly believe in giving everyone a fair chance to succeed and the worst thing that can happen is if a student allows themselves to be convinced they are not capable of doing well. Often times teachers are too eager to focus on pointing out what students do wrong, while doing nothing to help them change, leading to feelings of worthlessness among students and fostering attitudes of apathy and disdain for school in general resulting in drop outs. Every student, regardless of their individual and family history, deserves to graduate high school, and the very least I can do is everything I can to motivate, inspire, uplift and encourage my students.
By the time they reach secondary schooling, many students feel that their core skills, such as reading and writing, are already established. I will challenge this notion and work towards always helping students improve such skills and reach levels they may not have been aware they were capable of reaching. I believe in differentiated instruction, working with each student the best I can at the level they are currently at, instead of providing a "blanket" of instruction that may cover some but leave many others left out. I will provide a variety of reading materials in my course to help students at different levels, but I will also provide texts which may be challenging and frustrating for students as well. That's not to say I will drop my students off in a stormy waters to sink or swim, I will always work my hardest to provide necessary help and instruction.
I am a huge fan of the written word and believe that everyone deserves to be instructed properly in the writing process. In a digital age of word processing, blogging, and texting, coupled with automatic spelling and grammar checks, many students lack the knowledge of how to write properly. It is not a matter of being able to write or not being able to, I believe whole-heartedly that every student is a capable writer (just look at how often they are e-mailing, blogging, texting and facebooking each other!) they just need be taught how to do that in a way that reflects proper English conventions. Learning and applying necessary writing traits is a task that will benefit students far past the classroom and will continue to influence them throughout their future. I also believe strongly in the use of multiple drafts of writing, because writing is a process and even professional authors aren't expected to turn in perfect products in one draft, so neither should students. Regardless of subject area reading and writing are two important skills that need to be continually developed no matter what age or grade one is in.
"It only end once, everything else before then is just progress"
I believe that the past is the past and any experiences had and feelings toward schooling in general should be disregarded in my classroom, because I adamantly believe in giving everyone a fair chance to succeed and the worst thing that can happen is if a student allows themselves to be convinced they are not capable of doing well. Often times teachers are too eager to focus on pointing out what students do wrong, while doing nothing to help them change, leading to feelings of worthlessness among students and fostering attitudes of apathy and disdain for school in general resulting in drop outs. Every student, regardless of their individual and family history, deserves to graduate high school, and the very least I can do is everything I can to motivate, inspire, uplift and encourage my students.
