Individual Student Experience is the Focus

Reflecting on my school experience to date, I have come to realize the qualities

that I value in a great teacher. From these qualities and experiences, both good and bad, I
have developed my personal teaching beliefs and values that will be part of my practice
as a teacher. These beliefs and values include teaching in a way that is unambiguous and
engaging, recognizing that each student has their own learning journey, and the
relationship between a teacher and their students is important for creating a positive
learning environment. Finally, I will also discuss the future goals I plan to work towards
during my time in my practicum classroom.
My first belief is that teaching is more than just providing information; it is about
effectively delivering a lesson in a way that is clear and engaging for the students. Given
that the learning material is most likely new knowledge for the students, clarity is
especially important to ensure that concepts are more easily understood. With that, it is
also important to present the contents of the lesson in a way that flows logically so that
students can follow along. Finally, along with providing clarity and fluency in a lesson, it
is necessary to keep students engaged so that their attention remains on the learning
material. By keeping students engaged with what they are learning, they will be better
able to retain and participate in the learning process. This leads to my next teaching
philosophy being that each student has their own schooling journey to follow.
I also believe that teachers should focus on helping their students on their
individual learning journeys. Teachers should inform students about the importance of
accepting and embracing their individuality. This way students can begin building self-
esteem regardless of their achievements in comparison to other students. Further, teachers
should observe and assess students in terms of their own personal growth. As well,
teachers should always be encouraging to their students in order to promote great success
in their academic achievements. Lastly, teachers should always be empathetic to students
and their unique situations because there are many outside factors that can have an effect
on students’ overall effort and progress in school. Discussing how a teacher should treat
their students, leads into my final philosophy about teaching— the importance of student
teacher relationships.
I strongly believe that a positive relationship between a teacher and their students
is a fundamental step in establishing an ideal classroom environment. To do this, teachers
need to make their students feel comfortable by being approachable and friendly towards
them. Second, teachers need to ensure that their students always feel heard and cared for
so as to promote exploration in the learning process. Third, I personally want students to
not only know that they can come to me with any concerns or issues, but ultimately feel
that they can do this. The idea that students are willing to approach their teacher
addresses the first of my practicum goals.
As for my future goals during my first professional semester, I hope to improve
on the following. First, I will strive to create meaningful relationships and connections
with each of my students. Second, I am committed to engaging in daily reflections
throughout my practicum. By doing this, I hope to solidify my knowledge of the
techniques and teaching skills that I acquire during my experience in the classroom
setting. Another goal I have set is to continue pushing myself out of my comfort zone so
that I can experience and learn as much as possible. By striving to achieve these goals, I
hope to improve my teaching abilities and diversify my teaching methods, as well as
build my confidence in my knowledge and abilities within the profession.
In conclusion, I hope to practice my teaching philosophy along with my personal
goals during my practicum experience this semester. My beliefs and values about
teaching include providing clear and effective lessons that are engaging for students,
helping each student in their individual learning journeys, and the importance of building
student teacher relationships. As for my practicum goals, I plan to maintain daily
reflections and push myself to experience and learn as much as possible during this
opportunity. With that, although I feel that I have some great ideas to test out in the
classroom, I know that I still have much more to learn about the profession. Hence, I am
excited to gain new knowledge and perspective from both my teacher advisor and the
students.