My Teaching Philosophy

In my experience as a teacher, I always ask myself about how my students could achieve to

understand the topic I’m teaching them if they have different interests and different ways or

rhythm to learn. And it is true that not all the classes are thriving. However, (Gower, R.,

Haley, M.; & Saphier, 2007) states that a teacher’s skill makes a difference in student

performance, not only in achievement scores on tests (as important as that might be) but

also in students’ sense of fulfillment in school and their feelings of well-being. So, my

passion for teaching is an essential piece of my pedagogical practices because it is my most

influential tool to achieve a favorable learning process and to command confidence in my

students.

Moreover, I think that a teacher needs to have different skills, not only in the language but

also in all that implies to be a teacher. In this regard, Gower, R., Haley, M., & Saphier,

(2007) points out four skills we can implement in our classes. First curriculum skills, where

we can analyze our students’ needs in order to choose the adequate topics and ways to

teach. Second motivation skills, because nowadays it is more challenging to motivate our

students. Third, instruction skills, we sometimes give instructions about an activity, and we

think that our students understood everything, but they didn’t. Finally, management skills.

Nevertheless, there are other areas where we must develop our skills: for example, skill at

generating parent’s involvement in their children's learning process (sometimes it is one of

the hardest things we face) and skill at collaborating with our colleagues. The last one is

crucial in our professional development because our colleagues can share their strategies,
materials, methodologies, and experiences that we can harness to get better our classes day

by day.

Likewise, the materials, strategies, and creativity are connected in my classes. I focus on

the main goal I want to achieve with my students, and I try to understand and to find a way

to develop a high activity where they can build their major learning potential. The idea is to

teach and to evaluate them all the time without them noticing they are learning. However, I

can't develop all my classes as I want because I have to fill the students' books, and I don't

feel free to do what I want to achieve with my students (comprehension). Mathews, (2012)

said “Textbooks don’t work well. Research shows that with rare exceptions, they do not

help improve student achievement much. They are not effective because effectiveness

doesn’t sell”. That’s why I try to use the books to get different goals with my students, one

of those goals are to improve the reading, as Strauss, (2014) cite, “Consumed by the

urgency to raise students’ reading scores, policy makers and school officials have forgotten

that children learn to read by reading. Acquiring the habit of turning to books for pleasure

or to find out what you want to know does more for reading development than working on

decoding words or trying to speed up fluency”. For that reason, I always need to find a way

to take advantages of books to achieve the reading comprehension and other skills of my

students.

Finally, it is essential to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students, because

according to that information, I can design a useful and successful lesson plan for my

classes. Shuell, (1986) remarks that “the concern for learning focuses on the way in which

people acquire new knowledge and skills, and the way in which existing knowledge and

skills are modified” (p. 412).

 REFERENCES

Gower, R., Haley, M.; & Saphier, J. (2007). THE SKILLFUL Sixth Edition eBook.

Recuperado de https://www.readpbn.com/pdf/The-Skillful-Teacher-Sample.pdf

Mathews, J. (2012). Why text books don’t work and hurt students. The Washington Post.

Recuperado de https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/why-our-

textbooks-dont-work/2012/02/25/gIQAvI16ZR_blog.html

Shuell, T. J. (1986). Cognitive conceptions of learning. Review of Educational Research,

56, 411-436.

Strauss, V. (2014). Why kids should choose their own books to read in school. The

Washington Post. Recuperado de https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-

sheet/wp/2014/09/08/why-kids-should-choose-their-own-books-to-read-in-school/