I

believe that the purpose of school is to educate children and prepare them

to succeed in cultures both similar to and diverse from their own. Students can be

successful if they are taught problem-solving skills, social skills, critical thinking,

and how to be open and accepting of others different from themselves. These are

skills and dispositions that will be useful to them in and outside of school, both at

the current time and in the future. Students will gain these skills through the way

content is taught. My classroom will be collaborative in nature; students will be

learning from each other, as well as from the teacher. Both the student and the

teacher will be active in the learning process. Group work and whole-class

discussions will be common, teaching students social skills and the disposition of

openness and acceptance of others ideas and experiences. Additionally, students

will engage in solving problems of substantial depth amongst all content areas,

which will teach them creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. This

approach to teaching also accounts naturally for differentiated instruction; students

can make modifications for their learning styles, and the teacher will also work to

accommodate problems and classwork for a diverse group of learners.

However, inquiry and project-based learning should be used in collaboration

with other learning methods. The teacher should be knowledgeable in all content

areas and should pass content knowledge along to students. I believe that obtaining

knowledge and understanding is an essential starting point for practicing higher-

order thinking skills such as application, analysis, evaluation, and creation.

Knowledge and understanding are best taught through explicit teaching methods:

giving short lectures and presentations, reading texts, showing videos, and
modeling. Modeling content and thinking patterns are important for students to be

able to develop as learners, on their own and with others.

In addition to the teaching methods described, I think students best learn

when they know they are cared about, safe, and have a sense of belonging. The

relationship that the teacher will form with each individual student is crucial for

students to learn content, skills, and dispositions. It is also crucial for classroom

management.

In my class, classroom management is based on the premise that no

individual can control anyone but him or herself. I respond to misbehavior by

providing choices for the child to fix their misbehavior and giving logical

consequences rather than having a set punishment for anyone who misbehaves. For

example, if one student is talking to another student during a read aloud, she will be

given the choice to stop talking for the rest of the read aloud or to move to a

different spot. If she does not make either choice and the behavior continues, a

logical consequence may be that, after the read aloud, she must write her response

to the text while the rest of the class discusses their responses with partners.

Additionally, I believe in giving specific encouragement to students for positive

behavior, thoughtful or creative work, skills they are gaining, etcetera because I

believe this motivates them to continue in their learning and development.