Special Education Teacher

Name: Brittany Tice Date: November 13, 2010____________________

EDU 221: Introduction to Education
Thursday: 4:20-7:00 p.m.
Fall 2010
Instructor: Professor Dick Percy

Philosophy of Introduction to Education

Passion and compassion - two words with very different meanings, but for me, one is the driving force behind my determination to teach. It’s been a long and winding road for me to reach this point of my life, and for me to discover my true destiny to be a teacher. It is now that I realize that my compassion for children is what will strengthen my teaching aptitude and the combination of my education and compassion make me a qualified candidate for any teaching position. In short, my compassion for children is what drives my passion to teach.
As I consider the road that is ahead of me, I am thrilled with excitement and eager to explore the many opportunities that lay ahead of me. Most of all, I am passionate about the structure of my future classroom and objectives I plan to tackle in my future career. I feel I owe my students the best possible upbringing and education. They deserve a stimulating and supportive environment that brings out the best in them. I want to encourage my students to broaden their imaginations and reach for goals they considered unattainable. I will strive to instill morals in my students and encourage them to treat each other and their community with respect and understanding. My students will be my primary responsibility - their needs will be placed before my own and their development will be my priority. Before we can know where we are going, we must first know where we came from, and the same is true for the educational field. While I am striving for excellence in my career, I must educate myself on the strides my field has made throughout history. Vital lessons can be learned from our nation’s history and the mistakes made in the past. I must reflect on these past strides the educational field has made and continue to look forward. At the same time, I will be able to identify potential regressions the field is trending. I know I can make not only make an impact in the lives of my own students, but in the lives of students everywhere if I stand firm in my beliefs and fight for equality and justice of all children and demand that they be granted all the opportunity to achieve their dreams. Following current political and economic issues affecting education will allow me to understand the direction the field is heading and make educated opinions and allow me to make a stand for what I so passionately believe in, and my involvement in these issues will ensure the educational field will continue to progress. At the same time, identifying and addressing current issues confronting education will empower me to make the proper steps in my quest and further educate me. These current issues will explain to me which groups of children are being neglected or offended by our public education system and pinpoint which matters I need to fight for or against. The important key is education; I need to be educated in education. To do this, I will continue my education after receiving my bachelor’s degree. If I fail to do so, I will be failing innocent children and depriving them of their right to a quality education. I will also attend all school board meetings and be voice for these children in my community. I will also continue to vote in state and federal elections in hope that I may make a difference concerning these issues and so I can change the lives of children nationally. One of the issues confronting education that I am most passionate about is the amount of government involvement allowed in our school systems. Since education is a major focus in the nation’s politics and recipient of federal and state funding, the government naturally enforces strict regulations and guidelines on our school systems. While the degree of this federal involvement varies, the most common obstacle teachers are forced with in this regard is standardized testing. Personal opinion on the matter aside, the fact of the matter is that today’s children must be able to show their knowledge and understanding through this type of assessment. Elected officials have deemed these topics and concepts vital to the development of our nation and the assessment of my students will essentially become the assessment of my school and most importantly, myself as a professional. One of my main focuses in the classroom will be to prepare my students for these standardized tests, academically and mentally. I will vary my approaches in teaching these central concepts in anticipation of reaching a greater sense of understanding for all my students in hopes that they will then succeed on such assessments. While not all will positively respond to the method of testing, I must encourage them to do their very best and attempt to prepare them for this method of testing. I will practice this method of assessment with my students prior to the official testing so they may feel comfortable with the method of assessment and feel less stressed on test day. Regardless of the result of the tests, I will determine what makes a successful school year and I will continually support my student’s learning and be proud of them for all of their already tremendous accomplishments. I will provide each student with the level of support and understand they will need to guarantee an overall successful school year. Furthermore, to become more experienced and a more informed student of education, I dedicate myself to a minimum of thirty hours to participating in K-12 classroom field experience. I will partner with the leaders in the career field and analyze their instruction, relationships and classroom management strategies to gain insight into the field and take away from the experience their best practices so I may be better prepared for my students. I will approach each day with my mentor as the exceptional opportunity is it. I will enter the classroom each time with a new objective I intend to accomplish and will cherish each second I’m able to spend in the classroom. Not every career enables their freshmen professionals the ability to have immediate hands-on experience; this opportunity is truly a rarity and such a blessing. This allows me the chance to learn from quality observation of senior educators and interactions with children in the same setting I expect to one day teach in. I will also be able to share in the instruction of these students and experience the joy when they grasp new concepts and understand the fundamentals. This precious time will provide me with a background that no classroom can provide me and allow me to refer back to these moments when I have a classroom of my own. In addition to analyzing my mentor teacher’s classroom management and relationships, I will also evaluate his or her usage of modern technology in the classroom. After all, modern technology has taken this country by storm; virtually every profession has been influenced by technology and education is no exception. To be successful educator in the twenty-first century, I must be willing to embrace technology and explore options as to how I can incorporate technology into my classroom and lesson plans. My students will benefit from my use of new tools such as smart boards or PowerPoint presentations or Webquest online lesson plans I will prepare for them. My main goal in teaching is making my students respectable and productive members of society, and in order to be productive in today’s age, my students will need to have some technological literacy. While I don’t anticipate them word processing homework assignments, I do expect to explore advances in technology together and I will teach them how to use these advances to their advantage. I must remain up-to-date in the latest developments and learn how I can effectively incorporate technology into my classroom and still remain a student focused atmosphere. I need to able to showcase my ability to embrace technology and my creativity and organization to potential employers so they may be able to develop a firm understanding of my capabilities. One ingenious way to do just this is to create a website portfolio to demonstrate these abilities, along with my teaching philosophy, experience, growth and potential as an educator. I intend to treat this portfolio as a working resume and will constantly keep it current. However, to set my portfolio apart, aside from my extraordinary qualities and capabilities, I plan to entitle a section of my portfolio specifically for the parents of my students to track their child’s activities, learning and progress in my classroom. I welcome as much parental involvement in my classroom as possible, and so I am always considering any additional ways I can allow my parents to be in touch with their child and I think a special section on my website portfolio is perfect. This way the parents can learn more about me personally as a person and teacher so they may feel more comfortable with me and my position as their child’s educator. My biggest challenge in all this will be balancing all my aspirations to become a well-rounded and successful teacher. I will never be perfect and will continuously be learning to better myself for the sake of my students. I plan to grow and develop just as much as my students do each year. I bravely accept this challenge and believe I am more than capable to conquer any obstacle that comes my way. I refuse to allow anything to inhabit my students from becoming successful citizens or degrading my classroom climate, and I am fully prepared to fight for my students’ futures. It is this compassion for my students and my passion for their success that makes me an asset to any school district and a blessing to a child and above all, an exceptional teacher.