Ued496 Moose Ashley Personal Teaching Philosophy-2

Running head: PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy of Teaching Ashley L. Moose Regent University

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Introduction My personal teaching philosophy is grounded in my personal relationship with the Lord. As with everything in my life, I want my philosophy of teaching to be biblically based. This means that the focus and purpose of my job as an educator is to bring glory to God. I am a Christian educator, not an educator who is a Christian; my relationship with the Lord defines who I am as a teacher. My beliefs about who students are and what they can become are all based on scripture. I believe that each and every child has a soul of eternal value. I believe that each and every child is capable of living an amazing and fruitful life through the strength of Christ, and I believe that each and every child’s life will be used to glorify God, whether they come to salvation or not. These cores beliefs about students shape the way that I will operate my classroom. My objectives as a teacher are to teach students how to be people of good character, to teach them life-long skills that will help them become successful, and to help them find what they are passionate about in life. Teaching Goals My first goal in teaching is to teach my students how to be people of good character. The current culture of America is a culture that is focused on success, money, and power. Our children are being raised to crave fame. They are being told that they should do anything and everything to be successful and to never let anyone get in the way. I believe that these messages are harmful to the character of children. Rather than teaching our children to crave success, we should teach them how to treat others and how to live lives of integrity and character. We should teach them that sometimes doing the right thing might not lead you to fame or power, but that God honors integrity. This goal would be a lot easier to reach if I were to teach in a private

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school where I could explicitly teach that Christ is the reason that we live morally sound lives. However, I desire to teach in a public school. I believe that this goal can be reached through classroom management. I will run a classroom that is founded on a few “rules” that all of my students will be expected to follow - tell the truth, be kind to one another, help out when you can, and do your best in everything that you do. One thing I have learned during student teaching is the value of clearly and explicitly stating expectations and consequences related to student behavior. I will clearly explain what I expect of my students and I will hold them accountable to my expectations. I truly believe that students thrive when they are challenged to do more and be better. I will use classroom management and rules as a tool to challenge my students to live a life of great character. My second goal in teaching is to teach students life-long skills that will help them become successful adults. This is a goal that I have added to my list after the first half of my student teaching. There are many amazing parents of students who truly pour their heart into their child and do their best to raise them and equip them with skills that they will need as they grow. However, there are also many parents who either do not know how or do not care enough to take the time to foster life skills in their children. There are students who come into a 2nd grade classroom lacking the ability to read, write, or even have a normal social interaction. One of my goals of teaching is to equip each and every student with the ability to read for understanding, write effectively, and verbally communicate their thoughts and emotions. I want to teach my students not only how to read, but how to critically think about what they read. I want to teach my students not only how to write, but how to write with a purpose and how to engage readers. Lastly, I want to teach my students how to communicate their thoughts and

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emotions in an effective and calm manner. There are so many children who lack these types of skills, but I believe that these skills are necessary for anyone to be successful. My last goal in teaching is to help students find what they are passionate about. I firmly believe that every single person on the earth has a specific purpose designed for them by God. I also believe that God uses every single person, Christian or non-Christian, to glorify Himself. My desire as an educator is to not simply get information into my students heads so that they can pass SOLs. I want to guide my students to use their education to discover what they love in life. Some students may love music or sports, but they will not be able to chase that passion without being able to read or write. Some students may love reading and writing, but they will not be able to chase that passion without being able to pass a History or Science course. I desire to help students find their passion, and then equip them with the tools that they need to follow that passion. My ultimate desire in this goal is that students would one day come to know Christ as Savior and use their passion in service to Him. Conclusion My personal teaching philosophy has evolved and become much more detailed during my student teaching experience. I have always known that my goal in teaching is to glorify God, but I have struggled to figure out how to do so in the public education world. However, as I have spent time in a 4th grade and Kindergarten classroom, I have learned how I can teach students in a manner that glorifies my Savior. As I teach my students to be people of good character, to grow skills that will help them be successful, and to find what they are passionate about, I will strive to do the same.