You are on page 1of 2

Erin

Tafoya

Education Philosophy
As students enter the transition into adulthood, they have reached an essential point

of their education to learn skills that will be valuable for the rest of their lives. Students

will learn so much more than just content, they will learn how to work collaboratively,

utilize technology, and embrace new study skills. Students are beginning to enter a socio-

centric mindset, as well as beginning to learn at a more abstract level by making

connections to the world around them. As a teacher, I believe that this is a crucial age in

ones life, and my role as an educator is to guide students through adolescence by creating

meaningful lessons.

As a middle school teacher, my goal is to create meaningful learning for all students.

All students will be encouraged and expected to master transferable skills that they will

carry through their adult life. First and foremost, a positive and safe learning environment

will be established, which is crucial for students to learn to their fullest potential. To

ensure that students feel safe within the classroom, time will be spent with teambuilding

exercises and creating strong relationships amongst students, parents, and other teachers.

Diversity will be celebrated and embraced within the curriculum and student learning. A

safe and predictable environment will be emphasized for students to feel comfortable in

their learning environment.

To ensure that students are learning and mastering new skills, they will participate

in a variety of engaging learning strategies. Cooperative learning will be essential in the

classroom to help students learn how to work collaboratively in a team and build on their

social skills. Developmentally responsive lessons will be utilized to ensure student

learning. This will include creating lessons with meaningful movement, meaningful
Erin Tafoya

conversation to enhance social skills, lessons that promote higher order thinking, and

finding connections to the real world. Student choice will also be emphasized to promote

ownership of student learning. I believe that all students are expected to show growth

throughout the year, and along with student choice, this will be accomplished by

differentiating lessons. A students individual strengths and areas of need will always be

taken into consideration to help them achieve mastery of skills and content.

In order to assess student understanding, informal and formal formative

assessments will be utilized daily in order to guide lessons and help students achieve

mastery. Students will also be given a variety of choices of alternative assessments to show

their learning by applying the knowledge they have acquired along with skills they have

learned. Personal growth will also be fostered through criterion-referenced assessments.

In order to improve my teaching I will attend conferences, professional

development, and read professional literature to learn new strategies. I hope to model and

promote the attitude of becoming a life-long learner so that my students value being life

long learners themselves. I plan to continue my higher education in order to stay current

with content and effective learning strategies. Reflection will also be a tool that is used

each and every day to review if my lessons were effective for students and how I can

improve each lesson.

Middle school can involve a lot of change, but it can also help students learn about

themselves, our global community, and master new skills. Along with learning in the

classroom, community and parent involvement in these students education is a crucial

aspect of young adolescents lives and will always be promoted.

You might also like