Philosophy of Education

I graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelors degree in

Secondary Education. I majored in Biological Science and have earned an Integrated
Science (DI) endorsement. As of May 2015, I will be certified to teach Biology,
Integrated Science, General Science, Applied Science, Chemistry, Physics, Earth
Science, Life Science, and Physical Science at the secondary level. I feel that Michigan
States extensive teacher preparation program and yearlong internship has given me
opportunities to develop the skills and experiences needed to succeed.

As a teacher, I will immerse my students in the changing world in which they live
and expose them to new perspectives and key issues to become informed citizens of
society. In my role as a teacher, I will influence students to use critical thinking and the
content knowledge learned in my classroom to develop opinions about the ideas they
encounter in their own lives.

Teaching is a very rewarding profession that allows teachers to develop and see
their students grow intellectually. It allows teachers to become a mentor to students by
instilling the work ethic, resilience, confidence, knowledge, problem-solving skills and
critical thinking skills needed to succeed as adults. As a science teacher, the greatest
reward is to become a part of the learning process through asking probing questions
about the natural world, facilitating academically productive discussions with my
students and seeing the flare of intellectual curiosity within each individual. Eventually, I
would like them to use skills learned in my classroom, such as critical thinking,
analyzing articles for credibility, problem-solving, asking questions, and using evidence,
to succeed in a career they are passionate about. My objective for my students is to
walk out of my class at the end of the year with a greater knowledge and appreciation
for science, new perspectives, self-confidence, a strong work ethic and the ability to
develop a sound argument. I plan to ensure my students meet this objective using a
hands-on style of teaching.

There are many challenges teachers must face to make certain that each student
achieves to the best of their ability. Teachers must manage disruptive behavior, lack of
interest, the inability to focus, relationships between students, time, and varying levels
of learning ability. All together, these components of teaching are challenging, but with
the appropriate cognitive awareness and management, all students learning needs can
be addressed. I believe in a hands-on style of learning, especially for science, because
it helps make abstract science concepts more concrete. I will create a safe, comfortable
learning environment where questions are encouraged and where students will share
ideas, explanations and perspectives with peers in a partner and small group formats.
Students will typically learn and carry out labs in groups and pairs, allowing them to
develop social skills in conjunction with their scientific content knowledge. I am also
interested in learning how to use technology provided by the school and will use it in my
lessons accordingly.

I believe in varying the learning environment during my lessons to keep students
engaged and interested. Warm ups provide teachers with a means of assessing what
the students were able to retain from the previous lessons, while simultaneously
providing the class with an intentional review of past topics. When I teach individual
lessons, I intend to lecture for no more than 15-20 minutes each lesson because I prefer

to have ample time for students to discuss ideas amongst themselves and ask
questions. After the initial lecture, my lessons focus primarily on exploring science
through lab activities, activity sequences, and research. Research shows that students
have relatively short attention spans, so I plan to take advantage of this fact and keep
students moving to different areas of the room during lessons. Incorporating movement
into transitions between activities, keeps students brains stimulated for the duration of
the class. If students remain seated during an entire class period, they often lose
interest and focus lacks as the period progresses. Therefore, I believe in the value of
keeping students moving to increase engagement. As student engagement increases,
classroom management increases proportionally.

An engaged class is the key to successful classroom management. If students
remain engaged, there are fewer opportunities for something to go wrong. I keep
students engaged by using resources and conducting labs that connect to their personal
lives outside of the classroom. There will also be days where students will move
throughout the room and collaborate with others in a peer assessment activity.

Assessment is one of the most crucial aspects of teaching because it provides
insight about student learning in a quantitative way. I am familiar with Reading
Apprenticeship and plan to make this a central component of my exams. Learning the
Talk to the Text reading strategy is essential for understanding scientific literature.
Clickers are another way to keep students actively engaged, assess learning throughout
the lesson and inform teachers if they are successful in teaching specific topics.
Formative assessment strategies are wonderful tools to monitor student learning during
the unit, so that teachers can provide feedback. However, my favorite summative
assessment strategy to use are projects. Projects allow students to use their creativity
and put their personality into their final project. Projects become unique to the
individuals making it and they allow students to make science as concrete as possible.
There is more to learn, yet I am eager to immerse myself into the classroom setting and
becoming a mentor to children.

I believe that my role in the classroom is to facilitate student discovery and
connections between what is being taught and life application. Students should be
encouraged to take an active role in their own learning, linking new information to that
which was previously learned. Learning is lifelong. We need to continue to learn from
one another in an atmosphere that is supportive, encouraging and accepting of each
other.