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Brittany Gesualdo

EDU 201

Professor Sgobba

5 May 2022

Philosophy Paper

The teaching profession is something I had always felt drawn to growing up. I went

through multiple parts of my life where I would constantly change my mind on what I wanted to

do. Everything I studied or everywhere I worked I never felt any type of fulfillment. That was

until I got the opportunity to teach. There is an old teacher of mine that I always admired. Her

teaching style is extremely structured, but the classroom is such an exciting environment. She

has known my family since before I was born, so even after I graduated I would come back and

still help her with anything she needed in the class just because I loved being there. It was just

about a year ago that she had an opening at the school. She offered me the job, and I could not

refuse. Ever since then, I realized that this was the greatest job in the world. I wake up every

morning so happy to go to work. There is not a single day that I think that I made a bad decision

taking the job. Even though I had no actual experience going in, I have learned so much over the

year that I will take with me forever.

Something that I have learned in my classroom is that every single student is unique. There is not

a single student that is the same. That being said, not every student can be taught the same. There

are multiple ways to teach a lesson. It is important that a teacher is able to teach a subject in

ways that everyone can understand or learn from it. The students will figure out which method

works for them to learn. This allows them to be more independent in their learning. Ben Johnson

states that “Flexible instruction should lead the student to be more personally accountable for
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their learning”(Edutopia). Everyone student is unique, which means that the way they learn is

unique. Some students may have an easier time with learning from a book, while others may

have an easier time with a hands-on approach. Therefore, having multiple ways of educating can

lead to a greater turnout in the students understanding what was taught. Something else I have

learned that is important is that learning comes from more than just the brain. Learning comes

from the whole body. A way that I love to get my students ready to learn is to go for their morn-

ing jog. We jog in place and try to get the blood flowing. The students think it is so funny, and it

gets them ready to practice. Sometimes we will play games like Simon Says before we start an-

other subject. It keeps them active and gives their brain a break. Another way that we can help

engage students in learning is to bring in multiple ways of instruction. Ben Johnson also states

that “Teachers should be strongly aligned with student-centered and student-directed learning

that embraces exploration, discovery, experiential learning, and the production of academically

rigorous products”(Edutopia). Students can also benefit from structure and repetition. Especially

at a young age, students show great success when there is structure.

Nina Parrish says that “…a teacher should be able to inspire the students to push themselves to

the next level”(Edutopia). A way I push my students to the next level is to give them the chance

to redo an assignment that I know was not their best. I always ask them if they would like a new

sheet. They always say yes and then they turn in much better work afterwards.

I think that having a diverse classroom is extremely beneficial. Anya Kamenetz wrote

that “In a class discussion or on a problem-solving team, bringing together different viewpoints

and experiences makes everyone think harder and provide better evidence for their opi-

nions”(KQED). This quote is very accurate on diversity in the classroom. With diverse students

come diverse backgrounds and different cultures. My high school offered a foreign exchange
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program. I remember having World History with a student from Germany. When it would come

to important historical events, she would always have a very interesting story that the textbook

did not tell us. It was very exciting to listen to her give another way of looking at history. The

class learned so much off of her alone. There was also a student from Japan. He was in my math

class, and he would tell us stories about his culture and how it is over there. Having people from

different countries in my class was amazing. I loved talking to them. Another quote by Anya

Kamenetz states “Given the right atmosphere and guidance, which is a tall order, students in di-

verse classrooms can build cross-racial friendships, achieve greater levels of empathy and have a

chance to work on all-important social and emotional skills”(KQED). Being in a diverse class-

room is so beneficial for the students. It also allows people to work with different cultures which

will bring people together.

For the future, since I am already a teacher at my dream school, I do not feel the need to

look for employment anywhere else. However, since I teach at a Catholic school, degrees are not

required. I would really like to complete my education degree. It is something I wanted to do be-

fore I taught, and it is still something I would like to finish. I will continue to study and hopefully

finish my degree in the fall. Teaching is something that is so rewarding. I love my job and wake

up everyday so happy that I get to do it.

Works Cited

Johnson, Ben. “What is Your Educational Philosophy?” Edutopia. 2015.

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-your-educational-philosophy-ben-johnson

Kamenetz, Anya. “Research Shows Diverse Classrooms Improve Learning For Everyone.”

KQED. 2016. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/44078/research-shows-di-

verse- classrooms-improve-learning-for-everyone

Parkay, F.W. Becoming a Teacher. 2020. Text. Pearson.

Parrish, Nina. “Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive For Diverse Learners.” Edutopia. 2019.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/ensuring-instruction-inclusive-diverse-

learners