My philosophy of teaching and learning English is student-centered, progressive, and based on contemporary themes and practice. I believe firmly in sharing my enthusiasm and passion for teaching English in the classroom so that my students will exhibit that same passion in return. My goal is to create a classroom in which my students feel part of a community, where we are engaged, interactive, and highly-cognitive about our learning. I create a classroom where the texts, plays, poems, and other works my students read are concrete; they relate to and become a part of the literature.

            My students are actively engaged and involved in the classroom. I am a firm believer in the work of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget: learning is a metacognitive process. I encourage my students to be engaged in open-ended responses and critical thinking. My goal is for them to be aware of their learning experiences; they need think about their learning process so they can both retain information better and mature as learners. 

            Student collaboration is a major focus of my teaching. I use a variety of cooperative activities in addition to students’ independent work: pairs, small group work, and eventually whole-class discussion will allow me to layer my students’ learning experiences. They learn from one another through this layered approach; they have purposeful talk and writing, and they will feel both autonomous and part of the learning community. 

            I emphasize teaching English texts so that they are meaningful to my students; they will be able to relate and essentially “enter” the works we study in class. Learning must be contextualized; multidisciplinary approaches are necessary as are my students’ personal experiences. These combined approaches allow my students to connect new concepts with previous learning as well as connecting literature to their own life as well.

            Finally, I know that all students do not learn the same way. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences will govern my teaching. I do not teach to only one specific kind of learner; I teach to students of all abilities and learning preferences. This includes providing activities for visual, spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and musical learners. The variety of connections, activities, multidisciplines, and group work I incorporate into my teaching creates a very positive, productive, and proficient student-centered learning community.

 

            My role as the teacher in an English classroom is to help my students construct their knowledge through student-centered learning. I am the “guide on the side,” not simply someone who has the “answer” the students are looking for. I manage my classroom based on rules my students and I have shaped together. I teach bell-to-bell: an observer will not see my students lined up at the door at the end of class waiting for the bell to ring. As a teacher, I am positive, respectful, encouraging, and warm. I want to be a role-model that my students can look up to and respect.

            As a teacher, I am interested in both the process and product my students’ learning. Learning is a layered process; evaluation is not just a series of numbers in a grade book. My students create portfolios so that I can monitor their learning processes; I can see how they grow and mature as learners. I teach technology based on the principle that it enhances the lesson objectives I have created. Finally, I prepare my English lessons with a simple objective-content-assessment formula, which allows me to set goals for my students, to help them discover English content knowledge, and to assess their performance, both formally and informally.