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Alina M.

Hacopian

HD 432 Childrens literature

Date: 02/23/13

My Philosophy

My initial and direct involvement with children took place in 2001, when I first
started volunteering in my daughters elementary school, both as a library and classroom
assistant. My volunteering experience lasted almost two years. These two years basically
introduced me to childrens world, where I was given the opportunity to learn about their
environment, their relationship with peers, teachers and their families within the
community. This was when I first realized that I love working with children and a new
career idea emerged.
As an artist who is so passionate about art, I would never have thought that
childrens world is so big that to mesh into their world and become a teacher is actually a
form of art and I honestly do believe that it requires a special talent and patience. So I
decided to dig more into this new artistic career and become a teacher myself.
Fortunately my education in Glendale Community College and Pacific Oaks plus my
years of experience working with children hand in hand have given me a valuable
investment that thrives each day and I feel that each moment working with children is a
day where a puzzle piece is falling in its place; this helps me connect more with children.

Over the years I have learned to believe that each child is a unique individual who
needs a secure, caring, and stimulating environment in which to grow and mature
emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially.
The purpose of education to me is to guide and allow each childs uniqueness to
flourish and develop. It is to nurture their learning environment so they can develop
appropriately in different aspects of their developmental stages.
I also believe that as a teacher I would like to promote diversity and teaching
children things that are relevant to their lives and meaningful to their unique interests.
Childrens literature is vast, and there are thousands of childrens authors and illustrators
to study. Before taking this course I would look at childrens book as just a book to read
to children and enjoyed the pictures. Now I look at the childrens books from completely
a different perspective. So in my classroom I would make careful choices about books. I
will look for books that promote diversity, are not stereotypical, are anti biased, are
relevant to childrens interest, and are age appropriate. Through books, relevant class
activities and book discussions I would like to provide opportunities for children to learn
how to respect themselves, their peers, their families and their teachers.

I believe that good literacy instructions help children become better readers and
writers and they include discussions about the book and subjects that relate to children
and emerges from their interest. So teachers play a great role in supporting childrens
experiences during reading sessions.
I do believe that each child is unique and learns differently so incorporating
appropriate activities into literature instruction is crucial to their learning process. Even
though phonics and skills could be a key to literacy instructions but I believe that using
effective teaching literacy strategies are much more important in literacy development in
children. Guided readings, one on one reading sessions, working in small and large
groups, author study sessions, getting to know illustrators, books discussions, and
incorporating activities that are related to the story would be part of my plan in the
classroom. I think one of the activities that I would incorporate into my reading
instructions would be to tell students to write their own stories and illustrate them. This
will help them to connect to and develop their literacy abilities.
I would also like to incorporate electronic books into literacy instructions to some
extent for I believe there will be children who will benefit from it more than others.

I think that children, who have been exposed to literacy in infancy and their
toddler years and had prior experiences with books before entering the school, generally
will do better in learning how to read and write. So one of my goals for my students
would be to assess their abilities and reflect on my teaching strategies to be able to
support each and every childs reading and writing abilities. And I think one of my best
strategies would be to focus on guided readings for those who struggle most.

My role as a teacher of literature is to assess each childs abilities during
instructions and act upon. I believe that I as a teacher my role is to help children through
literacy in their language, moral, and personality development. Plan and organize
literature and choose books that that will support their understanding of self help with
their self-esteem, promote diversity, emphasize inclusion, help children with their family
problems, and clear their confusions and fears, would be my priorities. I believe
childrens literature is very important in building their identity and personality growth so
books should be chosen carefully.

I believe that part of the teaching strategies in and outside the school community
would be to connect to childrens families and listen to their stories, incorporate their
cultural beliefs and traditions into classroom activities. Supporting families and educating
them how to read books to children and encouraging literacy will make the task easier for
a teacher. When children read at home with their parents, they reading experiences
increases and contribute to much more effective learning. I think having books that relate
to childrens culture in classroom library and promoting them, relates to children and
gives them more self-confident, which leads to a better learning experiences.

I would expect my students to respect themselves, their peers, their teachers and
their families. I would like my students to become engaged in group activities,
discussions and since I believe that each child has something to offer and to contribute, I
would really like them to bring in new ideas to classroom and to group discussions in
order to make the classroom a better place to learn. I think each child can be a teacher to
another child and their active participation in group activities and discussions will
contribute to a new learning experience. I would also like my students to explore and
discover freely. I will support and thrive on their active engagement.

As a teacher I believe that planning and organizing literature instructions is an
important task and plays a pivotal role in childrens learning and development process.
As a teacher recognizing differences, reflecting on my knowledge, training, life
experiences, and my instructional strategies will help me to become a more effective
teacher.
I believe literacy to be a socializing process and an opportunity for children to
learn and understand so many important subjects and ideas, therefore teachers support is
very vital. I respect diversity and uniqueness and will thrive for a classroom that includes
everyone where effective learning and teaching happens constantly.

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