Teaching Philosophy:
“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” (Albert Einstein)
Teaching philosophy values the teacher beliefs in teaching, as it will introduce the main aspect of teaching that they follow to have an effective classroom. An effective teaching that some teachers follow to build a strong classroom is making sure that all the students are engaged, they believe in their student's ability and they're able to achieve something by the end of the class (O’NEILL, 2010). In my perspective, the three main competencies and strategy in teaching that I usually follow and believe in, are: planning for learning, managing learning, and reflecting on my lesson. During my study years in education, I had the chance to be involved in different school environments, and I think these three strategies have worked with me the best.
The teaching and the learning environment should be positive for both the teacher and for the students. like the importance of having a positive environment for the teacher will produce a good atmosphere that will allow the teacher to work and give their best effort (Peters, 2013). In return, the students will have a positive environment that will enhance their learning process. For example, I was in a girl's school and the school environment was good for the teacher as the principle was always involved in the school, as she will attend the assembly and greet the teachers and she will keep in touch with the teachers and giving them all the information that they needed. She also met with me and gave me advice that guided me through my teaching path. Like the most important thing is the learning of the students, and I must keep in my mind that I will make a change in the student's life.
Planning for learning:
" What gets planned, gets done" (Beers, 2006). I believe having everything planned for your lesson is an important aspect to have a successful or effective lesson. planning for your lesson or planning for learning will assist the teacher to explore the curriculum, what she\he intend to deliver to the students, and what materials that they will need (Beers, 2006). I think planning helped me to improve as a teacher, as it allowed me to explore the curriculum that I should teach to the students, it improved my questioning techniques as I had all my questions written in the lesson plan, and it involved me to do more differentiated activities that suited the student's abilities. For example, I had a lesson observed by MCT, I was planning to have one activity and a plenary at the end, however, the students finished earlier than I thought and there was still time to do another activity. I had a plan B in my lesson plan, so I used it, as I had games websites related to the topic and a video.
Managing learning:
In my perspective, managing the learning of the students is an important step to be a professional teacher. During my teaching experience, I found that having the ability to manage the students is a big step that a student-teacher should achieve. First, I really find it important to manage the behavior of the students, because if I can manage them, then I will be able to have their attention. For example, when I have a lesson I always keep in my mind that I must stop if someone is talking, walking around the classroom, however, I do ignore sometimes but I find it much useful to have their intention during the whole class, as it will allow me to manage them and to achieve more academically.
Reflection:
Donald Schön presented, that the person will reflect on the action that he saw, on the prior understanding that he had, and after that, he could try or experience a solution that will fit the situation. " He does not separate thinking from doing. Because his experimenting is a kind of action, implementation is built into his inquiry (Smith, N.d.)." Reflecting on my lesson helped me to realize what works in teaching this specific group, as not all strategies and methods will work for all classes. Reflecting assist, me to check my lesson, and to think of the next step, that I can apply to improve my lesson or the students learning. it helped me to know my ability as a teacher, what mostly I am good at, and what should I change. For example, after reflecting on my lesson, I realized that I didn't have an effective teacher voice, that helped to control the students. therefore, it was an area that I kept trying to improve in and kept reflecting on it.
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