teacher+philosophy+statement

Teacher Philosophy Statement Dan Del Duca The excitement of teaching in a learning community is the constantly evolving and changing environment, much like a garden. Like a bulb planted in the garden in late fall, each student needs just the right conditions to flourish and find success by the end of the year. As a teacher, it’s my challenge to make these personal connections with my students early in the year so I can understand how my curriculum and teaching need to be adjusted to help my students find success. The journey in this classroom environment can be surprising and challenging at times. As a teacher, I can play so many different roles in making my classroom learning environment work productively. After a year of active work in my classroom, I am always surprised and rewarded by watching the academic and personal growth of my students. September comes as a time of renewal and further growth, just as I watch my new students working and becoming connected to campus garden once again.

What is so engaging about teaching in a middle school is that rather than just focusing on specific academic content, a good teacher will take advantage of the high energy of the students and their sense of wonder to create an authentic learning environment. I want my students to be life long learners and be able to make connections with world around them. By developing good problem solvers and critical thinkers, my students will make a difference in the world. For example, my students learn about simple machines in the month of December. They have the opportunity to learn about the different classes of levers they use in everyday life. I like to give them the chance to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. I have the students collect lots of useful data using an Xpult (catapult) and ping pong ball. I test the students with a traditional test at the end of the unit. However, I find the Xpult challenge at the end of the study just as useful in assessing each student’s understanding. Students work to figure out the different variables from their data collected to shoot 10 straight shots successfully into a bucket 3 meters away. I find the way the knowledge is applied in my class to be just as important as the actual content in my curriculum.

One of the biggest challenges in teaching is to reach all the students who are learning at different levels. Over the years, I have been developing strategies of differentiated instruction in my classes. I have been conducting action research in my classroom over the last five years. Through observations in journals and student feedback, I have made the teaching in my classroom more intentional. One of my favorite lessons over the past few years involves teaching the different models of an atom in chemistry. I have my students draw a model of an atom on paper first. My students then take a large marble board and arrange the atom physically using different colored models. The final lesson involves having the students take the role of protons, electrons, and neutrons to act out different atoms on the periodic table. As a class we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each model. The more active student likes acting out the model, while a more analytical student may prefer drawing the atom on paper. The model of teaching in my classroom is about understanding the material. Each student is acting like a scientist, evaluating each model for understanding rather than simply finding the correct answer.

A teacher’s greatest intentions may not always be realized in the mind of a student. A few years ago I gave one of my students a flip camera to use during our stream study of the Mill Creek. I was amazed by the short movie that the student created. He certainly understood the value of chemical and macro-invertebrate tests we were doing in the stream, but he also took the time to tell the story of a small minnow he collected and named in his bucket. As a teacher, I want to hear the voices of my students. I frequently ask for my students feed back in the classroom, on the question at the end of a test, or even on-line on Survey Monkey. I had an interactive activity involving a three dimensional food web with my students and I invited a colleague of mine to observe the lesson. Her perspective and suggestions were helpful for me as a teacher. I want to take the time to visit other classrooms to have a better understanding of how my students learn best. A colleague in our lower school came to my class this fall to take video of my classroom teaching. This feedback has been helpful to me as a teacher. I measure a students understanding by the enthusiasm the group has at the end of each unit of study. I provide the traditional tests that help students learn, but I also make sure to find alternative assessments that offer ways to celebrate everything we have learned. At the end of our chemistry unit, for example, the class works together to make edible home-made mozzarella cheese. My study of insects in the spring ends with a creative “Bugathon” where students present different performances to the class to help them review for the final exam in May.