Caitlin Hawkins Educ 132 Hayden 26 September 2012 Educational Philosophy A couple of weeks ago I enrolled to become trained

as a tutor for the AVID program being run at Lincoln RAILS Academy. As I went through that training, we discussed their mission statement a lot; AVIDs mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society. This mission statement aligns a lot with what I believe the purpose of education is. Teachers arent just there to teach the curriculum given them and get their students through their class alone. I believe teachers should aim much higher than that, creating a classroom that does far exceeds the bare minimum and helps students to learn to love and care about their own education. To do this, teachers need to continue to be innovative; using Blooms taxonomy to scaffold student learning to reach those deeper levels of understanding. Teachers need to be willing and excited to put in some extra time to create curriculum that is student centered and gets the kids actively involved with the information they are learning. Students who arent interested or able to relate to the information they are learning wont be invested in their own education at all. I strongly believe that students learn best in environments where their needs and interests are recognized and authenticated through integration into the classroom. If students can see that their teachers actually care about what they have to say, I think that out ranks any techniques or learning techniques that can be used in classrooms. Along with the importance of a student centered curriculum I think differentiation is an equally crucial part of effective classrooms. Without differentiation in the classroom, any student who isnt in the middle of the spectrum will be immune to any attempt our educational strategies

make to get them invested. If students arent being challenged they wont give their full effort and will be bored in the classroom, no matter how interesting teachers make their lessons, if students are bored they wont be invested in their learning. On the other end of the spectrum, students who dont understand what is being taught to them wont be able to invest in their learning because they wont know where to begin their own education. Teachers have to create lesson plans that allow students to teach each other or take things at their own pace so that students can challenge themselves as much as they are able to without feeling left out from the larger group. Along with differentiation in lesson plans, teachers also need to be able to make themselves available for extra help, whether its outside of school hours or a designated time during class when students can get individual help with material. I believe using a variety of assessment strategies is also important. Blooms taxonomy and the RAND reading we did for class provide teachers with many different ways to evaluate student learning. Whether its something like a quick write at the beginning or end of class or having the students create a portfolio of their learning, the most important thing to remember in regards to assessment is that teachers to need to keep a balance between formative and summative assessments in the classroom. There are a lot of different things to think about when structuring a classroom environment, but for me student-centered curriculum, differentiation and a variation of assessment are the most effective ways to reach all types and levels of learners in the classroom. I think that by doing all of these things teachers can get students to apply their education beyond the classroom and help them work towards success in their own futures. Education is more than things learned in a classroom; its our way of teaching students to become the educated members of society we know they can become.