Artifact #3

Personal philosophy of Education

Jenna Rhude

Intro Into Elementary Education 201

(EDU 201 H.Q.S.T. -ESSER Grant)
Instructor Susan Bridges
March 7, 2021
 It is very easy for me to explain why I want to become a teacher. I have grown up living

with an elementary teacher. I watched my mother substitute teach for several years before I saw

her, mother of 4 very active children, go back to college and push herself through school. I

watched students run up to her in the grocery store or the sidewalk and give her a big hug and

explain to their siblings, “this is my teacher”. She has had such a positive influence on me

through example. I have spent my life in her classroom with her. Putting up bulletin boards,

helping her prep her class before school started in August, volunteering at every turn.

I have always wanted to teach first grade like my mother. However, in the past few years

of substitute teaching myself, I have come to appreciate all grades. Over the last 6 months I was

privileged to spend time in a ESCE self-contained and inclusion preschool. I loved every minute

of it. Even the extra paperwork. Over the last few years I have been blessed to work in the

Autism unit in Mesquite, Nevada. I have come to really appreciate special education and all of its

many facets.

I would love to be a music teacher in an elementary school, but those are not really

existent in public schools anymore. I would like STEAM as long as I could keep the math to a

minimum.

This is my second time taking EDUC 201, so I was privileged to participate in a face-to-

face practicum. It was very enlightening. The teacher I was paired with did not have the same

ideas about teaching that I did. I understand that field observation was very different during this

class due to unusual circumstances. I really enjoyed watching several videos made available to

us for this project. Some I felt were not really something that I would use in my classroom and

others were very exciting for me and I can’t wait to apply them in my own room.
 As far as what learning strategies I would like to incorporate in my own classroom are

self-paced learning, mistake friendly classroom, blended learning, recess/brain break and a

minimum of homework.

Self-paced learning was introduced to me by accident. I was struggling to homeschool

my 5th grade aged daughter. My daughter has ADD/ADHD, anxiety disorder and has struggled

to keep focus in school. She is not disruptive in the classroom, but cannot manage to stay on task

with several distractions. Her father and I both work full time and were trying to keep her on a

rigid schedule at home. However, after several long days, which turned into weeks for me, I

realized it had been a while since I checked her workbooks. I was pleasantly surprised to see that

she had worked well beyond what I expected from her. When I asked her why she did so much

extra work she couldn’t explain. We talked about it for a while and realized that when the

pressure was removed from her, it was easier for her to absorb the information. She is excelling

in areas that she has previously struggled in. Also, she is able to get up and take breaks as often

as she needs to.

Blended learning is a great approach that probably would have worked for my daughter

that was previously mentioned. While not allowing the student to fall far behind, the teacher is

able to one on one with more students during a class period. This is done by pre recording

lessons that students can access at any time, from anywhere and repeat as needed. During the

actual class period, the teacher can give individual help to students who may be struggling. If this

was a traditional classroom, the teacher could have possibly moved on from a topic before

everyone in the class had mastered it. By providing a blended classroom, the student can master

the concept and take an assessment at the end to make sure that they fully understand the topic.
 The idea of a mistake friendly classroom is very appealing for many reasons. I

appreciated watching the video about this topic. The production offered several tips to help you

create such a classroom: “Tip #1: Acknowledge the fear is real. Tip #2: Work in the zone of

proximal development. Don’t make it easier. Students reach for a challenge. If you make the

class more challenging, students will surprise you and rise to the occasion. Tip #3: Tap into

passion and curiosity. Tip #4: Encourage rough-draft thinking. Tip #5: Model mistakes. ”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0GAv9Plp3g&feature=youtu.be)

Brain break and recess are seemingly self explanatory. As I sit here mulling over my

homework, housework, charting and all the various things I need to complete this weekend I

realize that I need a break. It is a proven fact that people can be more productive if they have

time to reset/recharge.

As a parent I feel like embracing the minimum homework is important. The majority of

work should be done in a school environment. It is important for children to develop talents and

relationships outside of school work.

I need to finish my education towards my bachelors degree. I have two associate degrees

as of right now. The first in general studies and the second in elementary education. I honestly

have avoided finishing my education for 3 main reasons. Reason 1: MONEY. It costs more than

I am able to pay for right now with 6 children and needing to work to help with family expenses.

Reason 2: CHILDCARE. Up until this year, I have not had anyone to help watch my kids while I

traveled 80 miles round trip to participate in classes. It has been wonderful that classes are fully

virtual and mostly autonomous now. This has allowed me to work on furthering my education.

Reason 3: I struggled with the disrespect that students and parents show teachers. When I was

younger in school, a teacher was respected by the parent and child. Now parents seem to be
really busy making excuses for their child. After being in my own long term class, I really began

to love my parents and students. I grew a close bond with them and have a positive relationship.

This experience has allowed me to move past my fear and motivated me to want to finish my

degree.

References:
How to Create a Mistake-Friendly Classroom (2021, January 7) Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0GAv9Plp3g&feature=youtu.be