Teaching Philosophy Statement

Teaching is not a career I choose to do, but one I was destine to do. I did not choose it, it chose me. I cannot remember a time when I did not want to teach, inspire, and make an impact on the lives of others. It is just who I am, who I have been, and who I will always be.
As a teacher, I hold the future in my hands. I have the enormous privilege and responsibility of teaching children skills that they will use for a lifetime. To do this, I have to take in account that my students have different learning styles, while also understanding they come from diverse cultures and environments. This makes getting to know them vital to planning lessons that will reach and teach each student. Teaching students, however, goes way beyond students

The impact a teacher makes is often subtle and unnoticed by others, but makes a significant difference in the life of the individual. This may not be to a student, but to a parent or caregiver of a child. My role to ignite that spark of learning is also a key factor to why I teach. I strive to give students a reason to come each day. I want to spark the desire in children to be better than they were the day before. This leads into being an inspiration to others. I make every effort to always be at my best because I never know when I may be inspiring a student to take a risk, a parent to try a new strategy, a person to become a teacher, or a teacher to be an even better teacher.
In order to be the best teacher possible, I feel that is important to continually educate myself on the newest trends, strategies, and techniques in education. My philosophy is that the day a teacher does not feel they need to learn something new, is the day they need to leave the classroom. For this reason, I am constantly involved in some form of professional development whether it is attending conferences, reading the newest book on educational trends, planning and conducting professional development for my colleagues, or attending other professional development

Knowing the struggles and challenges that my own children have faced has only made me a better teacher. If as a teacher, I can ease these struggles and challenges for my students and my parents than I have done my job. I have to be an advocate for my students and I have had to fight so that they can get the best education possible. If my experiences can help someone else, then I can count that as a success. When I started teaching, I was a single person who devoted my life to my job. I did not have an understanding of what life was like outside of school for my students. I eventually married and with that I gain additional responsibilities. This gave me a little glimpse into a world that did not revolve around school. I soon became a parent and my eyes really started to open, but it was not until my oldest son started school that I developed a true understanding of how what happens at school effects what happens at home. I eventually became a parent with multiple children in school and involved in multiple afterschool activities and it definitely changed who I was as a teacher. Because my husband’s job forced him to be away from his family, I soon became a single parent of six. This experience probably had the biggest impact on me and because of it, I am who I am as a teacher today.