PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

     Education is a fun, exciting, and challenging process if it is planned carefully and wisely.  It can be a two-way process and no one can ever take it from you.  Knowledge is a rewarding experience that can last a lifetime and should not be taken lightly.  Education can be handed down from generation to generation.  It is good to remember the “old way” of doing things but as the times change so must we be willing to change with the times.  A person can aspire to be anything he/she wants to be if there is a true will to do so and there is someone to stand along side of them.

     At the heart of the learning experience, the teacher is the focal point.  A teacher must evaluate himself/herself on a daily basis especially if the lesson did not go as well as planned.  Perhaps it is easy to put the blame on the students for a lesson that has flopped when in fact this is when the teacher should be re-evaluating not only the lesson, but the overall structure of the lesson and how it was presented.  A teacher must be aware of the non-verbal feedback from the students during the lesson. Questions that have helped me to make a lesson even better are:

1.      Are my rules in place and enforced?

2.      Am I consistent in all that I do?

3.      Do I treat the students the way I want to be treated?

4.      Am I a role-model for the students?

5.      Do I set high expectations for my students?

6.      Is the learning taking place fun?

7.      Do I have their attention?

8.      Does anyone in the class feel insignificant and if so, what do I do about it?

9.      Do I recognize every student as an important person?

10.  Do the students feel from my actions that I care about each one of them?

A teacher must ask these questions of himself/herself if learning is going to take place at its highest level.  Students are very perceptive and know if their teacher truly means the best for them and their future.

     Learning can be a challenging process, but should never be a trying experience.  Of course there must be a willingness on the student’s part to learn and this is almost sure to happen if someone is there who shows he/she cares.  Everyone is a teacher at heart and can make a significant difference in someone’s life.