Educational Philosophy

May 2016

Philosophy of Literacy Instruction

I grew up in a home where reading was valued and books were treasured. I can’t remember a day that went by where I wasn’t reading, whether it was for school or for fun. Although I have far less time to read now, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like to have the time to lose myself in the pages of a favorite classic or a new, exciting novel. Because of my parents, grandparents, and teachers I have become a lifelong lover of reading. This is probably the one thing I hope, more than anything else, to pass onto my current and future students. Based upon both research and personal experiences, I have specific ideas about literacy instruction and assessment that will enable me to do just that.

An important factor in literacy instruction is that children find it engaging and exciting. To do this, we have to allow students choices. I hugely admire the concept of “The Daily 5” as discussed by Boushey and Moser (2014). Their system of reading instruction breaks apart the literacy block into short segments of time where both the students and the teacher are able to make choices about what they will do (Boushey & Moser, 2014). Students are given five choices through which they will rotate within the block, in an order of their choosing. These choices are: “Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Word Work.” (Boushey & Moser, 2014, pg. 15) During this time the teacher is able to choose whether he or she wants to pull a small group of students or conference with individual students (Boushey & Moser, 2014). I have seen from experience in my internship classroom that my students are highly engaged in reading during our independent reading time, where they get to choose what they read. I hope, in my future classroom, to implement the Daily 5 or a similar system to give my students the power of choice and to show them that learning can be active and exciting.

Another aspect of literacy instruction that I want to build in my classroom is literacy across the curriculum. I believe that it is important that students are not just reading books during reading time but also in math, science, and social studies. I remember growing up that some of my favorite books were historical fiction novels and biographies. One social studies project that I will always remember from 2nd grade had to do with us reading a biography about someone from American history and then creating a “cube” that gave information about that person. We also had to dress up like that person and give a short speech as if we were them. More recently, I have studied children’s books that explore science and math concepts that I think are great ways to introduce students to concepts like fractions. Cunningham and Allington (2016) show the importance of students being exposed to reading and writing in other subjects. They discuss that children who are getting good science and social studies instruction tend to have much more extensive vocabularies than those who do not receive such instruction (Cunningham & Allington, 2016). I know that in the future I will have all different kinds of students in my classroom, all with different interests. I hope to help my student who claims that he doesn’t like reading to learn to love it by showing him that he can read about things that interest him, like the Civil War or astronomy.

A third belief that I hold about literacy instruction is that it should be designed with the end goal of comprehension in mind. Comprehension is being able to think about and understand what you are reading (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). If a student doesn’t understand what he or she has read, what is the point of he or she having read it at all? There are many strategies about how to promote comprehension but one that I find to be particularly useful and worthwhile to know is that students need to activate background knowledge and make connections when they are reading (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). When students already have some knowledge about a topic they are able to “understand more completely the new information they read.” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007, pg. 17) Also, I have seen that when my students are able to make connections to a character or an event in a story that we have read in class, they are better able to understand and remember the story. They love to read stories about animals because they already know a lot about them and are able to make connections to their lives, like their pets or a recent trip to the zoo. In my classroom it will always be of the utmost importance that we understand what we are reading and are always wearing our thinking caps. I believe that students can only love to read when they understand what they have read.

Assessment in literacy needs to be ongoing and should include the three different kinds of assessment described by Cunningham and Allington (2016). These three types of assessment are: diagnostic, summative, and formative (Cunningham & Allington, 2016). An example of a diagnostic test would be one used to determine a student’s reading level while a summative assessment is like a unit test (Cunningham & Allington, 2016). However, I believe that the most important kind of assessment is formative. These assessments can happen at any time and come in many different formats. Cunningham and Allington (2016) provide many examples such as, “a writing sample, a student-teacher conference, or a teacher eavesdropping on a student discussion as they work with partners or in trios to complete a task…” (pg. 195) In my classroom I am able to quickly assess whether or not my students understand a lesson by having them participate in a “Turn and Talk” with a partner. These conversations give me insight into the ways my students are thinking, and allow me to see if we are ready to move on or if I need to review.

Another important aspect of literacy assessment is that students are able to respond to literature in many different ways. There are times where students need to do something like respond to a prompt by writing a short paragraph, but there are also times when response can be done in other, innovative ways. In the class I took last semester about teaching children’s literature, I learned about and practiced some of these alternative responses. For example, students can write something other than a paragraph! Students can write newspaper articles, poems, social media posts, and even eulogies about books or stories they have read. They can also create collages, timelines, graphic organizers, and journal entries. These different forms of assessment are a way to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all the learners in my classroom. They ensure that all students are being reached and are able to respond in a way that they will find both enjoyable and meaningful. Assessments like these will contribute to having high student engagement in the classroom, which is a necessity for any effective instruction or assessment (Cunningham & Allington, 2016).

In conclusion, when I imagine opening the door of my future classroom I always see a place that reflects the passion I have for reading and literacy. I want my students to have nearly uncontainable enthusiasm when it comes time to talk about what they have recently been reading. Literacy instruction will give students choices, allow them to read all types of books, and teach them how to think about what they read. Literacy assessment will further promote student differences and choice and will continually be occurring. Most importantly, when my students leave my classroom they will walk the rest of their life’s journey as lovers of and advocates for reading and literacy.

References

Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2014). The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades (2nd ed.). Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.

Cunningham, P., & Allington, R. (2016). Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and Write (6th ed.). New York City, New York: Pearson.

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2nd ed.). Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.

Philosophy of Mathematics Instruction

I truly used to see no problem with drilling students in order for them to become fluent in their basic facts. What I’ve learned from the course is the difference between drill and practice. Van de Walle (2016) discusses how drill should only be used to allow students to review what they already know and understand well. When students are learning new topics they need to engage in meaningful practice that allows them to develop an understanding of what they are doing, as well as come up with several strategies for solving the problems (Van de Walle, 2016). The idea behind there being more than one correct way to solve a problem shows another shift in my thinking. I was taught that there was always a certain way to solve a problem and if you did that correctly you would ultimately get to the one, correct answer. However, Van de Walle (2016) advocates the idea that students come up with their own strategies, called “invented strategies” to solve problems (pg. 255). I’ve also learned that it is much more important that students understand how they should go about solving a problem, rather than being focused on getting to the “right” answer, because there may not always be only one correct answer (Van de Walle, 2016).

A third change in my thinking has to do with the usefulness of all of the mathematical tricks I learned during my time in school, for example, to “leave it, change it, and flip it” to solve fractional division problems. From the numerous conversations we’ve had about such strategies during class, I can now see that while these tricks may at times allow us to solve problems quickly, they actually teach no understanding of the material and sometimes aren’t even that efficient.

The final two ways in which my thinking shifted will perhaps have the most significant effect on how I choose to teach my future students mathematics. I used to think that problems provided by the math textbook or math workbook had to be fine for students to do because someone had been paid a lot of money to create them and someone else had been paid a lot of money to edit them. I also used to think homework was something that should be given every night so that students could practice what they’d learned that day. It was certainly what I had grown up doing. However, I’ve learned from class and from Van de Walle (2016) that problems need to be equitable and reflect the lives my students lead. One way to do, something I’ve been able to practice, is to rewrite problems so that students’ names and aspects of their culture, like a kind of food, are included (Van de Walle, 2016). Also, homework, I’ve learned from class discussion, should never be given on something the students have just learned, because they probably don’t yet understand it. They do not need to go home and be frustrated, nor do their parents need to be frustrated. Additionally, the student could practice something incorrectly and then have to be retaught. I’ve learned that homework should be used to review older material, so that students can review and practice their skills.

I’ve learned so much from this course and look forward to continuing to expand my mathematical thinking in the fall. I also look forward to more opportunities to put my new learning into practice in the classroom.

References

Van De Walle, J., Karp, K., & Bay-Williams, J. (2016). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

My Management Philosophy:

December 2015

After reading Chapter 4 of Levin and Nolan’s (2010) textbook, Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-making Model, and learning about teacher authority bases, I would consider myself to be a referent authority. A teacher who is a referent authority has control of her students because they like her and have a positive relationship with her (Levin & Nolan, 2010). Referent authority is seen as being effective when the teacher knows that the students have a good relationship with her and she communicates that she cares about her students (Levin & Nolan, 2010). A teacher shows that she cares by taking extra time to do things like communicate both orally and in writing to students and through “displays of sincere interest in students’ ideas, activities, and especially, learning.” (Levin & Nolan, 2010, pg. 91) In the future, I want to have a classroom that runs smoothly and where students are well-behaved because they see me as a referent authority figure. I want my students to like and respect me, just as I will like and respect them. I also want to take the extra time that will be needed to get to know my students personally, like what they like to do or what sports they play, so that we can have a positive relationship that goes beyond me just teaching them how to read or add. These are important concepts of learning, but it is also important to teach them to build relationships and care about others.

The ideas of teacher authority bases and referent authority go hand-in-hand with another concept discussed in Chapter 4 of Levin and Nolan’s (2010) textbook, Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-making Model, theories of teacher influence. I most agree with the “student-directed theories” discussed within the chapter. In a student-directed classroom there is emphasis placed on building classroom community and allowing students to make decisions about how best to deal with behavior issues and how they want their classroom to look and run (Levin & Nolan, 2010). There is a lot of time spent at the beginning of the year teaching students how to get to know one another and make these decisions. Other concepts like conflict resolution are also taught (Levin & Nolan, 2010). Another key factor is how student misbehavior is viewed and managed. A teacher in a student-directed classroom looks at why the child is misbehaving, what needs that he or she has are not being met? Consequences are meant to be natural (where the teacher doesn’t have to do anything) or logical (fit what happened) (Levin & Nolan, 2010). I want my future classroom to be a place where students are involved in the decision-making process. I want to take the extra time that will be needed to teach them how to talk about behavior and classroom management so that their classroom belongs to them just as much as it belongs to me. I believe that all students can be taught to manage their behavior, with the guidance of a caring teacher who knows that all of her students are individuals too and need to be viewed as such.

Referent authority and student-directed theories of influence also relate to Linda Albert’s model of cooperative discipline as discussed in Chapter 5 of Charles’ book, Building Classroom Discipline (2002). Albert explains different reasons why children are not behaving, like the need for attention or not wanting to fail (Charles, 2002). Albert also discusses the “3 C’s of Cooperative Discipline,” which are capable, connected, and contributing (Charles, 2002, pg. 73-75). Students need to know that they are capable of being successful in school, connected with their teacher and other students in the class, and that they can make contributions to not only the class, but also the school and larger community (Charles, 2002). I agree with Albert’s work because she looks at the real reasons why students are misbehaving. I never want to write my students off as simply being “bad eggs.” I want to be able to dig more deeply into their lives and find out where the real problems lie. Perhaps they are dealing with a stressful home situation or don’t know how to ask for help when they do not understand in class. In my future classroom I want my students to see themselves as being capable, connected, and contributing so that they like being in school and know that they are important members of our classroom community.

Through the combination of being a referent authority, having a student-directed theory of influence, and pulling from Albert’s model for cooperative discipline, I hope my future classroom will be a place that is well-run and efficient community so that both academic and social learning is able to occur. This efficiency and community will come from my students and I knowing, understanding, and appreciating one another so that classrooms problems can be solved by the students themselves, with guidance from me. It will take time, but management will not rest on my shoulders, but on the shoulders of every person in the classroom.

References:

Charles, C. M. Linda Albert's 'Cooperative Discipline'. In Building classroom discipline. Boston. Allyn and Bacon. 2002. Ch. 5. pp. 67-84.

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. F. (2010). Principles of classroom management: A professional decision-making model, (6th Ed.). Boston: Pearson.

September 2015

I believe that all children are capable of learning if given the opportunity. One of the best things that we can do for our students as teachers is to give them the self-confidence that they need so that they can go follow and achieve their dreams.

I believe that classrooms should be safe spaces for students where they are able to be themselves so that they can learn. Students should learn about not only what the curriculum strictly says but also about things that interest them or are an important part of their culture. Students should get to engage with one another and their teacher every day, through converstations and activites about the work they are doing and about their lives and world around them. Higher-level, analytical thinking is important in the classroom so the students think more deeply about what they are learning and why it matters. Students should be taught to find learning and school exciting, interesting, and important.

Student learning should be assessed on different levels and in different ways. Sometimes assessments do have to be tests but other times they can be projects or skits. Emotional and social growth is often just as important as academic growth.