Philosophy Statement

David Carwell
(Second Draft)
The use of technology in education is as new to me as is the
field of teaching and my chosen specialty of high school
mathematics. New technologies are developing continuously
and exponentially. I am endeavoring to know what has become
available to teachers and learners and to consider how it may be
used. Physical tools such as cameras and smart boards and web-
based knowledge can be evaluated and put to use. What is
unproven to me are new principles of learning mathematics,
such as learning to use concepts instead of memorized formulas
to solve problems. I am not ready to stray from traditional
mathematics at this time, but will continue to evaluate new
technologies of learning mathematics as I become aware of
them.
Progressing through the Teacher Certification curriculum at
Texas A & M Commerce has caused me to think about my
teaching philosophy.
At this time, I will use whatever technology is available to me to
support, but not replace classroom instruction. I will use a smart
board and or camera system as available in preference to a chalk
board because I find them to be easier for students to see than
the chalk board and because such presentations can be archived.
I will maintain a classroom web site where the in-class visual
presentation archive will be available for review by the students
and parents.
My teaching philosophy is outlined below:
1. Syllabus
2. Implement student/teacher/parent contracts
3. Pretest for prerequisite competencies
4. Review prerequisite competencies as necessary
5. Teach from the required text book or eBook using the
following steps:
a. Define
b. Explain/describe
c. Perform example problems
d. Engage students to collaborate with me to work
additional sample problems on the board
e. Engage students to collaborate on sample problems in
small in-class groups
6. Homework
7. Individual instruction
8. Projects done in small groups; one or two per course
9. Math problem field trip; one per course
10. Quizes and Tests