Attributes

The first attribute that I was to work on during my teaching rounds was my Teaching Philosophy. It was imperative that i investigated and discovered what my teaching philosophy is whilst completing these teaching rounds.
Plan and enactment
In order to further my skills and figure out what my teaching philosophy is, I created a five step plan featured below: 1. Undertake a small reflection of my current teaching philosophy across all key learning areas and standards. 2. Consult with supervising teacher – What is their philosophy?, has it changed? 3. Consult with Deakin university mentor teacher - what constitutes a teaching philosophy? 4. Reflect on teaching philosophy evident in practice after teaching each lesson sequence. 5. Review initial reflection and make changes to create an ongoing reflective document.
Throughout enacting each step of my action plan, I endevoured to collect as much evidence as possible. Further discussion of how each step was carried out as well as any evidence is displayed below:
STEP ONE - Undertake a small reflection of my current teaching philosophy across all key learning areas and standards.
Before meeting with my mentor and supervising teacher, i took the time to create my own word web with all of the teaching attribute that i find imperative in a primary classroom. The photo below shows what i came up with:
STEP TWO - Consult with supervising teacher – What is their philosophy?, has it changed?
On my first day of teaching rounds i sat down with my supervising teacher during APT time and discussed what is a teacher philosophy, what is her teaching philosophy and has it changed over the years?
My supervising teacher explained to me that she has a very student centred and open ended philosophy to teaching in her classroom. I watched my supervising teacher for the next few days and analysed the different ways in which she would teach her class. As the days went on, i found that we have very similar strategies and values within teaching. On the last day of my placement we once again sat down during APT time and discussed whether or not i had changed my initial plan (from step one) or whether or not it had stayed the same. I found that after putting my philosophy into practice whilst on teacher rounds i was extremely happy with it and I did not need to change anything. However, i know as times change i will need to constantly change and develop my teaching philosophy.
STEP THREE - Consult with my Deakin University Mentor Teacher - what constitutes a teaching philosophy?
Throughout my professional journey as an educator I have learned to incorporate a variety of ideas and methods into my classroom. These beliefs and strategies I think make up my teaching philosophy. * Instill independence and confidence within each student of my classroom. * Incorporate various modalities to enhance the learning environment. * Provide students with scaffolded instruction, allowing them to learn at their maximum potential. * Set high, yet achievable expectations for all students. * Implement goal orientated, standards based lessons and units. * Assess and track data to individualize and modify instruction. * Hold students accountable for their own learning using student-centered approaches. * Offer positive reinforcement, praise and encouragement to all students. * Create a comfortable, safe and caring classroom environment. * Continue building knowledge through professional development opportunities.
Through these practices, I will create an exciting, standards- driven atmosphere where students can utilize personal abilities to contribute positively to our learning community.