Philosophy of Education

Given that I have been teaching since 1992, and that I do not remember ever having to formally write a philosophy of education, this has been quite an interesting module for me. After doing the Education Philosophy Inventory, I was not surprised to find that I scored fairly equal across most of  the categories, with virtual ties in Essentialism and Progressivism, and the highest score in Existentialism. 

Every year in every course that I teach, one of the first things that I do is to state my personal goal, which is for every student in my classroom to be able to learn the subject that I teach to the best of his or her ability.

Since mathematics is a subject which is very logical and foundational from one course to the next, it makes sense that I would favor essentialism as an educational philosophy. However, I also believe that the learning process is best served when the students can link what they are currently learning with what has come before and what is yet to come. I emphasize to my students each day that what they are learning is far more important than mathematics. What I teach is how to think, how to problem solve, and how to communicate both orally and in writing in a very specific way that only mathematics can teach. This leans more in the direction of progressivism, which is most likely why I scored almost equally in both of these areas. 

Walking into my empty classroom it should be immediately apparent that the course is student centered. My desks are not in rows, but rather are in pods. Students have access to the answers, and solutions where possible, to most of their homework problems. Immediately upon entering the room they get out their homework and begin by discussing which problems they had difficulty with and why. It is this focus on the process rather than the answer that helps to define the focus in my courses. Having solutions available online using My Big Campus has been very helpful this year for the students. After small group discussion we turn to whole class discussion, and then on to a flow between teacher centered instruction and small group practice. I like to have a more student centered classroom than one that is teacher centered where possible. 

I strongly believe that if a student is given the right tools, resources, and interventions, academic success is possible for every student of average ability in the honors courses that I teach. I allow students to correct quizzes and tests, with an analysis of why they missed the problem and how they correctly found the new solution. I believe that everyone can learn from their mistakes, and it is this analysis that allows us all to grow. By providing additional opportunities for practice as well as one-on-one or group help in a face to face or virtual platform, it places responsibility for learning back into the hands of the students, leading to my highest score in existentialism. I work diligently to get to know every student in my classroom very well, and preferably by the end of the first quarter. I take great pride in being told by many parents over the years that I know their child well and know their child's strengths and weaknesses. As I get to know each student, I work to help each child learn to work towards their strengths and to learn to build up those areas of weakness. For example, I have had A+ students whose personal assignment from me was to work as part of their learning team and to speak during classroom discussions, in some small way, each and every day.

Overall, this has been a very informative module, and can help enlighten me where technology can further be incorporated into my classroom to effect authentic change that will enrich the learning process. The use of My Big Campus and screenleap.com are just two ways that I use the 1:1 computing platform that we have available to our students. I am looking forward to learning more ways that technology can be used to make the learning in my classroom more effective for every student. 

Since I am new to a school system which has been 1:1 for the past couple of years, I am excited to learn about ways that I can utilize the technology that already exists in my school to help the students to learn. I have always embraced technology, but I do not feel as if I am really doing everything with the kids that I could be doing. We currently use My Big Campus, but other than posting documents and some limited discussions, I do not feel that I utilize that platform nearly as much as I could. Mathematics at the upper level is so full of symbology and notation that typing mathematics is a critical issue. Also, utilizing technology such as online assessments creates another issue. Everything that is uploaded is a separate picture file and becomes very time consuming. I am sure that there are resources out there to help me, I just don't know where.

One area that I have been able to work with successfully is teaching entirely from my computer and screencasting with a limited number of students at a time. I hold virtual study sessions online in the evenings and am able to work one on one with some of my kids who have been out due to extended illnesses or surgeries. I am also very proficient with Smartnotebook as well as using a Bamboo pen tablet daily as a teaching tool.

I am really looking forward to working with others in this course to learn new ways of implementing the technology that is available in ways to enrich the learning process.