Teaching Philosophy

Raquel Sherman- Raquel.I.Sherman@gmail.com

Think, my professor instructed. Take the time to really think about the phenomena in front of you. What a simple request, right? I thought so too originally. At the beginning of my second semester of education courses my professor engaged the class in an enactment in which we, the students, had to take on the role and mindset of a 7th grader. Though this task may seem basic, when you have the knowledge of a fourth-year undergraduate it is actually quite difficult to assume and maintain the mindset of a 7th grade student. As a result, I found myself transitioning between my twenty-one-year-old self and thirteen-year-old self throughout the enactment, only to find out that they were both perplexed by the activities to come. The exercise that my professor presented was designed to engage students minds and spark their curiosity with an everyday phenomenon involving a light bulb and a candle. We were told to simply write down our ideasit did not matter whether they were right or wrong, scientific or nonscientificand that there would be no judgment. Struggle. I sat in my seat watching the demonstration, reminding myself to think like a 7th grader, think like a 7th grader, yet when it came time to brainstorm my ideas on paper, I experienced a mental block. Upon hitting this brick wall, twenty-one-year-old Raquel instinctively stepped in and tried to help the brainstorming process. However, she could not, and my mind went blank! I felt so ignorant how could I not know the scientific explanation of this middle school activity? At this point in my studies we had spent a significant amount of time and effort discussing the significance of letting students come up with their own ideas and explanations, and here I was struggling to come up with an idea. I felt defeated by this exercise, though all I had to do was think. So why was it so hard? Reflect. It wasnt until after the lesson when I reflected on my experience that I realized how significant this experience was. My apparent inability to think made me feel both frustrated and embarrassed, two emotions that are all too common among students. By participating in this enactment, I was able to understand how my future students might feel while using the same thought processes in my classroom. I had to experience the lesson from their perspective in order to truly understand how it could affect them. This experience inspired me to reflect back on my secondary education and realize that I had a skewed view of learning, and in turn, thinking. Memorization, rather than comprehension, seemed to be my biggest priority. I realize now that

memorization is not the best way to fuel the learning process and I want to steer my students in a direction that emphasizes comprehension and learning, rather than memorization and regurgitation. I am trying to use my own mistakes as a student to fuel my ideas as an educator. As my experience illustrates, the route that I am aiming for is the more challenging path, and my students will need to be guided through this process. That is where I come in. Guide. It is a common misconception that secondary school teachers are solely responsible for providing students with content. In my opinion, this could not be more false. As an educator, it is my job to guide and facilitate learning that will be useful in and out of the classroom. While I might be considered a bit of a science nerd for my love of Chemistry, I realize that not all people feel the same way that I do, therefore, I view the content of my class to be a realm through which my students will learn and develop their learning and communication skills. My goal as an educator is not for students to be able to write a perfect electron configuration four years after leaving my class (although that would be wonderful, wouldnt it?), but rather to prepare students for life by providing them with the skills that they need to learn and succeed in any context. I strive to do this by not only asking questions, but challenging them to ask their own questions to foster a sense of inquiry and exploration that will follow them on whatever path they choose. Inquire. Science is an amazing venue in which individuals can develop essential learning skills. Through science one can foster abilities such as using data to support an argument, asking questions and designing ones own means to an answer, or working cohesively with others towards a common goal. These are skills that are necessary in all walks of life. We engage in our own experiments every day. Whether it is figuring out the fastest route to work or finding the best laundry detergent, we are unknowingly using skills that are rooted in scientific exploration. Encouraging students to ask a science-based question and then experiment to find the answer is simply a small-scale example of what humans have done forever. Asking questions is the first step towards new discoveries and school should foster that sense of inquiry in students minds. Connect. When students ask their own questions it fuels their desire to find an answer and explore new ideas to truly engage with the information at hand. The most essential step in developing these skills is helping students recognize that they can transfer them to fields and situations outside the realm of class. Therefore, I take responsibility in creating an interdisciplinary classroom. Creating lessons and assignments that incorporate scientific ideas with learning and communication strategies gives students a chance to experience the cohesion of life inside and outside of school walls. As a result, I focus my efforts on connecting scientific ideas

and strategies in other contexts by emphasizing the application and relevance of science, which can both be easily overlooked. For example, linking laboratory experiments with business letters displays the importance of science in industry, as well the significance of communicating effectively and professionally. In addition, students are given an opportunity to use their creativity to make the letter their own. In my opinion, it is making connections among different fields that truly makes a well-balanced classroom, despite the content labels assigned to secondary classes. Support. While a strong understanding and implementation of education practices is important in a classroom, I consider the single most important ingredient to creating a comfortable, productive, and fun learning environment to be an enthusiastic, caring, and thoughtful teacher. When students recognize that a teacher cares about their well being, learning, and the community, it creates a connection that no lesson can generate. Trusting that a teacher has your best interest in mind is one of the most essential parts of a successful classroom experience and can even make the most challenging assignments worth working through. Using my enthusiasm for learning and my overwhelming desire to get to know and help my students, I will do my best to foster trusting relationships that will not only aid their learning, but ultimately have an impact on who they are as individuals. Challenge. In order to achieve my goals as an educator it is my job to challenge my students minds in a way that not only allows them to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, but use these strengths to overcome their weaknesses; to create an environment in which students feel comfortable making mistakes and taking on new challenges; to direct students through learning processes that can be used in many contexts; to not only show students the connections between ideas, but to help them learn how to make them on their own; to show students the value in making mistakes and learning from them; to foster a sense of confidence that will create success. It is my job to teach them how to learn, and this will be the biggest challenge of all.