Philosophy of Teaching

As a student, I loved teachers who would give me the information, turn me lose on an assignment, and above all, encourage creativity. These teachers were those who pushed me outside of my limits by encouraging me to take internships and experiences I was sure I was not ready for. Now as a teacher, I try to create some of these same practices with my students. I focus my classroom philosophy around:

·      Real-world learning experiences. The classroom should be the place to gain skills for the future.

·      Encouraging the pursuit of skills. Students often come to college unsure of what to do with their measure. I try to give them a wide-variety of experience, with the option to practice the skills learned in class.

·      Be a mentor. The teachers who strongly impacted my learning experience were those who always had an open door and great feedback.

We should see schools as safe arenas for experimenting with life, for discovering our talents... for taking responsibility for tasks and others people, for learning how to learn... and for exploring our beliefs about life and society. - Charles Handy.

In my classroom, I teach my students what they have to know in order to become successful in their following endeavors, but I strive to make it a safe learning environment. After the basics are taught, learned, and shown in practice, students are rewarded for their creativity and new ideas. My students are expected to be responsible for their own actions and hopefully, in return, learn skills that will help them to become successful.

I prefer to use the humanistic orientation approach to teaching. I give my students the information needed to complete the task successfully, and encourage them to complete the task. This approach helps me to see my student’s potential.  I hope that my students will take the initiative to complete the project, and always reward them for going above and beyond. It gives me a great opportunity to encourage them through the process, be there for support and questions, all while offering them the experience of having a boss who gives creative freedom.

The work experience I have had often resembled a similar experience: my boss gave me a task, requirements, and a deadline. After that, it was my responsibility to conduct the work and deliver the project. The more creative I was with the task, the better reviews I received. I try and facilitate a similar experience in my classroom.

We should train ourselves not to ask 'How intelligent he/she is?' but 'Which intelligence doe he/she have most of? - Charles Handy

Students may not know what it is that they want to do in life, but I have found that when they find something they truly enjoy, there is almost always a career for it. In the classes I teach, I look to use a wide-variety of tools and experiences in the hope that maybe one lesson will spark their interest. My lessons include guidelines and requirements, but I aim to make as many of them self-guided so that the students can cover a topic or subject that is of particular interest. In my experience, I see far better work from my students who work on a project that interests them.

No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he himself believes to be of value. -Bertrand Russell

My door is always open, and I strive to always be a mentor for my students to confide in. I have had an interesting background, one that was shaped from my experiences as an undergraduate student. One particular turning point in my education was the opportunity for a web design internship. Although I had only been in the web design course a few short weeks, my instructor was confident I could master it and I agreed to take on the project. It was at that point I realized I could do much more with my degree if I was not afraid to chase my dreams. I will always hold the encouraging words this instructor gave me and remind myself to encourage my students just like he did.

In the future, I hope to serve as much as a mentor to my students as I do their instructor.