Teaching Philosophy

I'll be honest for a moment. I love my job. It's one of the most satisfying things I've ever done. I get to spend time every day caring about middle school students.

I changed around my "teaching philosophy." I was doing a lot of lectures at the beginning of the year, but I've changed that. Now, I try to allow them class time each day to learn the material for themselves. Ironically, I started doing this mainly because I was so sick of telling the students to be quiet all the time, so I basically gave up and took the easier route. However, it's caused me to view teaching in a completely new way. Let me give an example.

The other day, I gave my class one whole class period to read through the section we were going over (about Pilgrims coming to America on the Mayflower) and create their own short story about the event using a fictitious family. Here's what I have found using this method:

1. They learn it better if they do it themselves. It's just a fact. When I lecture, many of them tune me out. When they have to engage their own minds, they have to learn it.
2. They have more fun. They like the chances to be creative, and subsequently they like my class.
3. I connect with them better. When I was lecturing, my interaction with the students was almost always negative. Be quiet. Pay attention. Stop doing that. Stay on task. When they are allowed the chance to learn for themselves, I have much less "crowd control." Although I still have to do crowd control, I spend most of my time encouraging the students, giving them advice, helping them learn. This has caused me to enjoy the students more, and the students like me more as well.
4. They learn how to learn. Instead of being spoon-fed all the information, they are finding it for themselves. Of course, sometimes I have expected too much from them, and had to tone it back down, but often I find they surprise both themselves and me. They are practicing a skill that they will use the rest of their lives. They are learning how to pick something up, figure out what it is saying, and then be able to say it again in their own unique way. And trust me, they have some very unique ways of saying things.

So, because of my new teaching philosophy, I have been able to connect with the students better, which is why I am a teacher in the first place. The students have a test tomorrow, and I find that even this is a way to connect with students. Of course, with the right attitude, every second can be an investment into students' lives!