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Admission to Teacher Education Admission to Student Teaching Professional Program Exit
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Educational Philosophy I believe all children are born with a desire to learn. Children are innately good and with proper guidance, structure, motivation, and real world experiences they can be successful academically, socially, and emotionally. All children are unique and have different learning styles and abilities. Children need to explore, experiment, and experience the world around them and make it relevant to their personal life. I agree with William Glasser that if a child’s basic needs for successful social relationships, for love, control, freedom, and fun are met than a child will be motivated to learn and they will be able to resist anti-social behavior. My belief is that a teacher’s role is to motivate, encourage, guide, and listen to the students. My role in the classroom will be a motivator, a guide, and a coach. I will adjust my role to the student’s individual needs and act as a resource when they need help. I will provide hands-on and real life experiences in all curricular areas and I will give positive, specific, and timely feedback. I will hold high expectations of all my students and promote an ownership of their work. I believe the classroom environment should be caring and supportive. Children should feel safe and allowed to take academic risks without fearing ridicule or shame. Through collaborative learning, my students will work and grow together academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. My classroom will be literature-rich and offer plenty of active learning experiences. I will include child-centered learning centers where the students are allowed to explore and experiment. I believe all parents should be involved in their child’s education. As the teacher, it is my duty to keep parents informed of their child’s academic and social needs. Parents should feel comfortable in coming to me when there is a problem with their child. I hope that all parents will be involved whether it is volunteering in the classroom or offering support and encouragement to their child, as well as the teacher. My belief is that a student’s discipline problem is a result of an unsatisfying education. If children are not motivated to learn and find no relevance in learning then they will exhibit inappropriate behavior. I will focus on the problem rather than the student and be willing to change my teaching style accordingly. My students and I will have an equal partnership in the classroom and they will be actively involved in classroom decisions. Rule making and consequences will be developed together by the teacher and the students. Through conflict resolution and problem solving, the students will learn to resolve their own problems with little guidance from me. We will have morning classroom meetings where we, as a group, can discuss the rules, changes in the rules, model the consequences, and role play problem solving techniques. The students will be encouraged to discuss and take responsibility for their own behavior. My ultimate goal is to maintain a safe and motivated learning environment with self-directed, responsible, and empathetic students. Cynthia Zaradich
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