Megan Kennedy

3/29/2016
Doctor Indahl

Philosophy of Teaching
My desire to become an elementary education teacher comes from my passion to
meet the needs of all types of learning styles. I grew up in a family with many learning
disabilities. Ive seen first hand how a child can benefit from teachers who use a variety
of learning activities that cover a range of learning styles. Children are unique and they
will develop at their own pace. Not all students learn the same and I believe it is
important to foster developmental growth in the areas of social, emotional, and
intellectual needs. It is essential that my job as a teacher is to make children feel loved,
important, and special. I believe in using positive approaches and making a classroom a
community of unity and cooperation with all students working together as a team. I am
excited to become a teacher and have an impact on students lives.
My experience as a learner of STEM taught me that there is no one-way to teach a
subject. I believe in letting students investigate and explore to uncover their own
solutions to solve a problem. As an aspiring teacher I incorporate kinesthetic, auditory,
and visual instructional materials into my lessons. I believe in using a variety of
instructional methods to meet student needs. I learned this from Howard Gardners theory
of multiple intelligences, which states that there are many ways to demonstrate
intelligence. He believes each individual possesses a unique blend of all different types of
intelligences and delivering content in a variety of ways should empower learners, not
restrict them to one method of learning. I use this theory when developing instructional
methods in my own teaching practice.

I believe in using positive approaches to making a classroom a community of

unity and cooperation with all students working together as a team. Student collaboration
strengthens the social skills of each individual student in the classroom. Because a
students social development fosters cognitive growth, it is important for a child to feel
safe and comfortable in his/her classroom. Positive social interactions among classmates
help set a positive environment in which to learn. My ideal classroom will be a positive
environment with a strong sense of community. It will be filled with strong encouraging
praise and accomplishment.
I would like to incorporate inquiry based teaching methods in my future
classroom. I would like my students to participate in high levels of questioning and
conversation. Rather than the teacher presenting established facts or portraying a smooth
path to knowledge, it is important to pose questions, problems, and scenarios for students
to discover answers independently, I believe this is an efficient way to help students
become independent learners. I base my lesson planning around Lev Vygotsky and his
research on the zone of proximal development. I believe that the role of education is to
give children experiences that are within their zones of proximal development, thereby
encouraging and advancing their individual learning. I believe in developing my lessons
to build strong student independence, using a gradual release of responsibility in my
teaching techniques. Is my aspiration to continue to learn and become the best teacher I
can be so that I can fulfill my passion of working with and educating children so that I
can inspire, challenge, and empower all students to reach their full potential.