Philosophy of Teaching

When a student enters my classroom they will be entering a place where their learning is the main focus. From the way the topics are taught to my teaching style, everything will be done with the students’ best interests in mind. As a teacher, it is my job to instill a love of learning in my students. Everything that I do in the classroom supports this love and helps the students to fulfill their potentials.

As a teacher I have developed a series of beliefs:

* I believe parents can be a great asset in the classroom. I have found that including them is beneficial for the students and for me. One example of this is having the parents come in and help the students with editing and revising. One-on-one help is great for the students and the parents really like to be a part of what is going on in their child’s class.

* I believe in making my lessons authentic. For example, when teaching a lesson about addition with money, use a menu from one of the local restaurants and have the students “order” food and add up what their bill would be.

* I believe in using a variety of teaching techniques. There are many different ways of learning and every child learns things differently. One example of how I have done this in my classroom was how I taught the students the process of a bill becoming a law. The students were introduced to the process through reading and discussion. During the next lesson the students role-played the Michigan government. The members of the house and the senate worked to pass a bill that was then signed by the governor.

* I believe in using a variety of assessment techniques. The four main types of assessment that I use are: individual projects or exhibition, one-on-one oral tests or interviews (i.e. for reading), portfolios, and the occasional quiz. A student, who does not do well on one type of assessment, may excel at another. A variety of types better show me what knowledge the students have. Using a variety of assessments is important because they showcase different levels of understanding. * I believe it is very important to create a supportive learning environment. One way I create that support is by making sure that the students have a variety of ways for getting help. These include, asking the teacher, asking other students, and using the many resources that are available in the classroom.

No two kids are alike, especially when it comes to hitting developmental benchmarks. But it helps to have a rough idea of which academic and social skills your child should acquire at his or her grade level. Learn more about your child's classroom in such subject areas as reading, math, and science — or check your state's academic standards to find out what students are required to learn. Child development between the years of 7 and 16 is a period of transformation. Children undergo many changes, including physical, intellectual and social developments. Each stage of growth is a continuing opportunity for parents to see how their child is evolving and to help him as he grows and matures.
Seven to Eight
The ages of 7 and 8 are known as the middle childhood years, a period when children are developing skills for use in school and in activities such as sports or hobbies. Physically, children are gaining more muscles and using both large and fine motor skills, although coordination may still be lacking. They may have friendships with those close to their age. Typically, 7- and 8-year-olds can show support for others and help when needed, but they still need plenty of guidance from parents. They talk and interact in conversation, but their general outlook is still one of self-centeredness.
By the end of kindergarten, you can expect your child to: * Follow class rules * Separate from a parent or caregiver with ease * Take turns * Cut along a line with scissors * Establish left- or right-hand dominance * Understand time concepts like yesterday, today, and tomorrow * Stand quietly in a line * Follow directions agreeably and easily * Pay attention for 15 to 20 minutes * Hold a crayon and pencil correctly * Share materials such as crayons and blocks * Know the eight basic colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, white, and pink * Recognize and write the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase forms * Know the relationship between letters and the sounds they make * Recognize sight words such as the and read simple sentences * Spell his first and last name * Write consonant-vowel-consonant words such as bat and fan * Retell a story that has been read aloud * Identify numbers up to 20 * Count by ones, fives, and tens to 100 * Know basic shapes such as a square, triangle, rectangle, and circle * Know her address and phone number
By the end of first grade, you can expect your child to: * Work independently at her desk * Listen to longer sets of directions * Read directions off the board, although some children may still have difficulty with this * Complete homework and bring it back the next day * Sit in a chair for a longer period of time * Be able to see things from another person's point of view so you can reason with your child and teach her empathy * Relate experiences in greater detail and in a logical way * Problem-solve disagreements * Crave affection from parents and teachers * Have some minor difficulties with friendships and working out problems with peers * Distinguish left from right * Be able to plan ahead * Write words with letter-combination patterns such as words with a silent e * Read and write high-frequency words such as where and every * Write complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation * Read aloud first-grade books with accuracy and understanding * Count change * Tell time to the hour and half-hour * Quickly answer addition and subtraction facts for sums up to 20 * Complete two-digit addition and subtraction problems without regrouping By the end of second grade, you can expect your child to: * Begin to reason and concentrate * Improve his ability to process information * Work cooperatively with a partner or small group * Understand the difference between right and wrong * Make connections between concepts so he will be better able to compare and contrast ideas * Expand his vocabulary * Read fluently with expression * Recognize most irregularly spelled words such as because and upon * Begin to use a dictionary * Add single- and multi-digit numbers with regrouping * Tell time to the quarter-hour * Know the concept of multiplication (for example, 2 x 3 is two rows of three)

Nine to Twelve
The ages between 9 and 12 are known as the preteen or tween years. Children make dramatic developmental changes, and by the end of this period, they are becoming teens. Activity levels increase, and children may spend less time with their parents and more time with friends and at school functions.
Both boys and girls develop physically, growing taller around the age of 10. Girls have body changes, such as the beginning of breast tissue, and by 12 years may have their menstrual period. Boys show voice changes and may have more facial hair by the end of this phase. Preteens begin to notice the opposite sex, but prefer friendships with their own gender. Intellectually, school work changes from basic skills to higher levels of math and science activities.

By the end of third grade, you can expect your child to: * Work cooperatively and productively with other children in small groups to complete projects * Understand how choices affect consequences * Become more organized and logical in her thinking processes * Build stronger friendships * Be helpful, cheerful, and pleasant as well as rude, bossy, selfish, and impatient * Be more influenced by peer pressure because friends are very important at this stage * Like immediate rewards for behavior * Be able to copy from a chalkboard * Be able to write neatly in cursive because the small muscles of the hand have developed * Read longer stories and chapter books with expression and comprehension * Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words and other strategies to identify unfamiliar words * Multiply single- and multi-digit numbers * Divide multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers * Tell time to the half-hour and quarter-hour and to five minutes and one minute By the end of fourth grade, you can expect your child to: * Begin to make more decisions and engage in group decision-making * Want to be part of a group * Think independently and critically * Have empathy * Show a strong sense of responsibility * Be able to memorize and recite facts, although he may not have a deep understanding of them * Increase the amount of detail in drawings * Work on research projects * Write a structured paragraph with an introductory topic sentence, three supporting details, and a closing sentence that wraps up the main idea of the paragraph * Use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from text, such as prediction, connections, and inference * Understand cause-and-effect relationships * Add and subtract decimals, and compare decimals and fractions * Multiply multi-digit numbers by two-digit numbers * Divide larger multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers * Find the area of two-dimensional shapes * Have a greater awareness of fairness By the end of fifth grade, you can expect your child to: * Be generally truthful and dependable * Develop increasing independence * Improve problem-solving skills * Acquire more-advanced listening and responding skills * Enjoy organizing and classifying objects and ideas * Be able to read and concentrate for long periods of time * Read complex text fluently and with good comprehension * Research a topic using a variety of sources, and use the features of a book (for example, the index, glossary, and appendix) to find information * Identify conflict, climax, and resolution in a story * Write an organized, multi-paragraph composition in sequential order with a central idea * Use problem-solving strategies to solve real-world math problems * Add and subtract fractions and decimals * Identify and describe three-dimensional shapes, and find their volumes and surface areas * Use long division to divide large numbers by multi-digit numbers

Thirteen to Fourteen
The ages of 13 and 14 can be a difficult time of development for many children. At 13, a child becomes a teen, and puberty may have already occurred. Girls frequently mature faster than boys, causing some embarrassment for both genders. Acne can be problematic as skin changes occur. Many 13- and 14-year-olds have close friendships and worry about their appearance and what others think. They are becoming more independent, but still need guidance from parents about decisions and problems. Schoolwork tends to focus on abstract thinking skills and social studies, requiring much more thought and opinion.

Fifteen to Sixteen
The period of time between 15 and 16 years is termed middle adolescence. It is during this time that teens continue to show independence in their intellectual and relational skills. Teens are aware of the opposite sex and may be dating. They have the capacity to develop close relationships with friends or dating partners. They can take on more responsibility at school and at home, begin driving or hold a job.
By this stage, most teens have undergone puberty, although boys may still be developing more muscle and increasing in height. Usually, 15- and 16-year-olds show increased emotional stability, with less frequent outbursts and arguments with parents. Their school subjects become more advanced, and they are making decisions that will affect their future education.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/152124-the-stages-of-child-development-at-7-16-years/#ixzz2hoasbb5w

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/ http://ucat.osu.edu/read/teaching-portfolio/philosophy http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-statements/