Runninghead: FELICIA MARTINEZ PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

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Felicia Martinez
09/24/2015
Orientation to Education 1010
My Philosophy

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The reason that I want to be a teacher is because growing up, I found school to be a better
environment than my home. I felt that the teachers paid more attention to me and cared more
about my education than my parents did. This is what kept my interest in learning and made me
want to provide the same security feeling to others. My philosophy is that my students should
have at least one place where they feel safe and accepted.
Growing up, I always felt out of place because my family was always moving around. I
had a hard time making friends, and the teachers usually viewed me as an outsider just like the
students. I hope that when I run my classroom, I can try to make most, if not all, of my students
feel accepted. Growing up is tough, but growing up alone is even harder. I know that you cannot
make people be friends; but I believe you can teach your students to be polite, and caring. Your
classroom may very well be the only place that they will be treated with such.
I know firsthand what its like to be the smartest kid in class, as well as the slowest.
Either way, I was viewed as nonproductive and out casted. When I moved to a new school in the
third grade, I was ahead of the class and viewed as the smartest. That made me the weird kid
that no one wanted to associate with because I was not only an outsider, but too smart. The next
year I moved twice, and ended up being the slowest kid in the fourth grade. No one wanted to
associate with me then because I wasnt on the appropriate academic levels, and slowed down

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the rest of my class. I hope that when I become a teacher, I can influence my students to accept
the fact that there is a varied level of learning; and that all are acceptable.
My philosophy is that there is no right or wrong way of learning. Everyone learns in
ways that are specific to them and at different paces than others. I dont believe that anyone
should be defined by how they learn, or by how fast that they do because at the end of the day
they are still being educated. I believe that education should be encouraged and praised instead
of made to seem like a punishment. Not all aspects of education can be made to seem fun
unfortunately, but it still should be recognized and encouraged. I believe that as a teacher, you
should encourage your students to pursue education, even if you yourself dont fully accept it.

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Reference: Introduction to Teaching by Kauchak and Eggen Tenth Edition

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