Experience Builds Philosophy Analysis

Experience Builds Philosophy Through experiences in my profession, my philosophy continues to change. I tend to focus on advocating for students and promoting self-advocacy through training and involvement in my classroom. As I progress, the empathy that is shown towards my students inflates. This understanding has helped me work in collaboration with other teachers in ensuring that each student is in a least restrictive environment at the same time providing individual needs of each student. The manner of how advocacy is exhibited changes as the student progresses through high school. Starting out as a high school freshman, the term “self-advocacy” is foreign to them. My responsibility is to campaign for them while continuing to ensure
that their learning occurs in an atmosphere that is satisfying as well as formative. The importance of having appropriate strategies is valuable to the success of the student.
The students are not always aware of how to define their disability so consequently it carries over into the classroom. Until the students have the skills necessary to self-advocate, I work with the students, teachers, and parents to carry out the Individual Education Plan while implementing strategies that will promote self-confidence within each student. As my educational experience advances, my goal is to continue helping my students gain the knowledge base needed to become productive adults. With this knowledge, different levels of self-advocacy are established. It is my hope that when each student walks across the stage at graduation, not only are they ready for the world of work, they look back and find the same respect in me as I possess in them.