Frankie Faidley

Philosophy of Education

Through all the education courses I have taken while earning my Master of Science in Teaching at Drake University and my experiences in the classroom, I have created a personal teaching philosophy that I am proud of. My teaching philosophy is something that I look forward to implementing in my future classroom. Below I have chosen a few of my favorite ideas or thoughts to share.

The first concept that I want to get across to my students is to have a growth mindset. I want my students to be lifelong learners just like I am. As a teacher I want to constantly be aware of the latest teaching research that can benefit my students. Besides reading and being updated on the research articles, I plan to keep up on the latest teaching research by attending professional development conferences that could benefit my students.

The second concept that I want to share is the importance of planning lessons around students’ needs. When I think of how best to do this I think of the term differentiation. Differentiation allows me to create lessons while thinking about all the different levels of learners in my classroom. Along with incorporating differentiation I want to make sure my lessons are actively engaging. Students who are engaged are more likely to pay attention and focus during class instruction.

The third concept that I find important is the value of assessment. Without proper assessments I wouldn’t be able to plan lessons that directly benefit what my students need. In order to see the differentiation that my students may need I need to create assessments that correctly align with the standards. These assessments will allow me to see who understands the lesson, who may need additional practice and who may need more direct instruction in order to learn that skill. I can collect my assessment in a variety of ways whether that includes informal assessments or formal assessments.

Lastly I want to make sure that my students know that I have high expectations for them. I want to make sure I am pushing my students to their highest ability when it comes to their learning. Research has shown that students perform better when teachers believe that each student can reach high performance goals. I want to set up a classroom environment where all my students know that I believe in them and as their teacher I will help them reach their learning goals. I also want to have a classroom environment that fosters my students growth when it comes to their emotionally, mentally, and physically well-being. Throughout all my years of education I can’t remember every teachers name that I had but I can remember those teachers that took the time to get to know me and influenced me as a future educator. I want to be that teacher for all of my students. I hope that all my students will see how much I truly care about them and their educational experience.