Why teach?

I've been having to answer this question a lot lately: What is my teaching philosophy?

My dream is to see the achievement gap close in my lifetime and I teach with that mindset everyday. The achievement gap is real and it is one of the most (if not the most) pressing social issues America faces today. Teaching in a high needs classroom well is one of the most direct ways that I can make a positive impact towards closing the achievement gap. When I became a teacher, I committed to the relentless pursuit of excellence in teaching (i.e. high quality instruction). This commitment is one of the most important qualities of an outstanding educator.

Teachers are classroom leaders. Their role is to lead students to academic success. What is easy to casually write in an essay is much harder to enact in a classroom. I think that teachers can lead students to academic success by first understanding what their students bring to the table (and they bring a lot). It would be ignorant to assume that I am the only one in the classroom with knowledge because I have been assigned the role as teacher. Each student brings a wealth of knowledge from his or her personal experiences and it is important as a teacher to tap into that wealth of knowledge. Knowing what your students know is only part of teaching. The next essential step in leading a classroom to academic success is motivating the class to desire academic success. In my classroom, we do this through goal setting. We have a large classroom goal for the year and students have individual goals for the year. As the year progresses, we reflect on our progress towards our goals and we recommit to achieving academic success regularly.

I think that a major part of my teaching philosophy is to model what I expect from my students. If I expect excellence, I must then model it. This requires me to be prepared for my lessons, working relentlessly, transparent in my mistakes, full of integrity, and open with my own goals and reflections of my goals. What may seem like lofty goals have been actualized in my classroom. My students have scored an average of 80% or above on assessments, which indicates a mastery of the subject.

In addition, I deeply desire that students leave my classroom with more opportunities than they had before. Part of those opportunities is excellence in academics, which I discussed before, but there are other facets to increasing opportunities for my students. I think that it is important to paint pictures of where students can take their education, so we focus on possible careers that are applicable to their lives. I also think that it is important to come alongside students as a mentor-like figure and offer guidance not only about future careers, but present jobs, possible internships, conflict resolution, and higher education. I am committed to my students achieving success beyond my classroom.