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Rebekah McCloy

Dr. Megan Marshall and Professor Ian Nolte

ENG 232

17 November 2020

Teaching Philosophy

Education is one of the most important things in the existence. Without educational

foundations, we would not have the technological or medical advances that we now possess.

Given that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, it is easy to see how much we rely on both

technology and an access to good medical care. Education can also aid people who are pursuing

areas of interest that differ from medicine and technology. The point is that in order to progress

as a society, it is important that we never stop learning. That begins with having a decent

educational foundation.

It is essential that we give our future students a decent education. This means putting a

decent amount of preparation into lesson plans, providing students with engaging units, and so

much more. To focus on the second point, in order to be as effective as possible in our

instructional endeavors, it is important that we plan engaging units. I believe that we should

provide lessons that teach to all learning styles, so that each student has the opportunity to

succeed in the classroom. I also reason that, in the English realm, students should have the

opportunity to write about current events, such as is suggested and implemented by Kelly

Gallagher in his classroom. He has weekly assignments that have students reading a relevant,

current article, and then writing about it. I believe that this is the kind of instruction that students

need.
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It is my goal that each of my students will have at least one assignment or project that

they enjoy. This may involve working with current event articles, but it also may involve their

assessments. While I will likely give my students traditional tests from time to time, I also plan

to assess them through other formats. This can include multi-genre projects, research papers on a

topic of their choosing, video projects, character sketches (which would also involve a certain

amount of writing), acting out a scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays, and so much more. I

want to be able to see that students have learned the necessary information from their unit, but I

also want them to be able to have fun. After all, students can learn better when elements of fun

are involved in their learning.

As someone who will be student teaching this coming spring, I have already participated

in several clinical experiences within nearby schools. These experiences have certainly taught

me a great deal, though most recently, I have discovered just how important contingency plans

are. Before my most recent clinical, when writing lesson plans, I would glaze over the

contingency plan section of the plan. I always put something there, but I never put a great deal of

thought into the contingency plan. Given recent experiences, I will be sure to put more thought

into what goes into my contingency plan. The most important question I plan to cover in this

block centers around what I, as the teacher, will do if students come to class without having done

their homework assignments. I have come to the realization that this is extremely important to

plan for as many students just don’t turn in their homework assignments. This becomes

problematic when the next day’s in-class assignment depends on students having finished that

assignment. I believe that it is essential that we teach our students the importance of deadlines.

Employers will not be quite so lenient when they miss deadlines out in the real world.
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To conclude, I believe that proper planning is essential for success in the classroom. It is

also important to include technology, engaging assignments, intriguing means of assessment, and

relevant topics in the English classroom. I believe that doing so will certainly contribute towards

putting our students on the path to academic success.