Today, I took a short online quiz to determine what they thought my philosophy of education was. After taking the quiz, I wasn't surprised with the results. I most closely aligned with the philosophy of Progressives, but Existentialism wasn't far behind that. I teach in a charter school that is project-based, I teach kindergarten students, and I am very passionate about my job. The word that I kept reading over and over that summed it all up for me was "whole child." Well, of course I teach to the whole child. They have an entire world beyond the confines of our classroom and my job is to make sure I understand that, so that I can reach them where they are and with what matters to them. But, as I was reading article after article defining what it means to be a progressive teacher, I realized that there are a lot of misconceptions of what it is (and isn't). I am a very organized person so a lot of times that carries over into my classroom, but ultimately if my students have a desire to learn something we will go that direction that day. I enjoy structure and routine, but it works differently in my classroom. I have standards to teach and they do get taught, in a way meaningful to the students in my classroom.
Monday, September 3, 2012
My Philosophy
As I set down to write my THIRD posts of the day, I began to worry that people reading this blog (if anyone is) are going to think I am boring, that this blog is boring and then I started to panic a little about how I am going to jazz this up so I can have followers. I then quickly remembered that this is not the point. The point is that I am getting my Masters and this blog was a part of the process. So bear with me and I will try to get better at this as I go.
Today, I took a short online quiz to determine what they thought my philosophy of education was. After taking the quiz, I wasn't surprised with the results. I most closely aligned with the philosophy of Progressives, but Existentialism wasn't far behind that. I teach in a charter school that is project-based, I teach kindergarten students, and I am very passionate about my job. The word that I kept reading over and over that summed it all up for me was "whole child." Well, of course I teach to the whole child. They have an entire world beyond the confines of our classroom and my job is to make sure I understand that, so that I can reach them where they are and with what matters to them. But, as I was reading article after article defining what it means to be a progressive teacher, I realized that there are a lot of misconceptions of what it is (and isn't). I am a very organized person so a lot of times that carries over into my classroom, but ultimately if my students have a desire to learn something we will go that direction that day. I enjoy structure and routine, but it works differently in my classroom. I have standards to teach and they do get taught, in a way meaningful to the students in my classroom.
For example, last week, the students caught a frog on the playground when another teacher was on duty. They brought it in and put it in an unused aquarium and then we needed to decide what to do. In my class, we took a little of the afternoon off from our traditional lessons to learn about frogs. Needless to say, the frog was let go. We read way too many sources that said a wild frog in captivity would die and the students did not want that. We learned a lot that day, just in a non-traditional way. Did I know that frogs was the direction I would go that day? No...but the students had a desire and a need so that's the direction we took.
Today, I took a short online quiz to determine what they thought my philosophy of education was. After taking the quiz, I wasn't surprised with the results. I most closely aligned with the philosophy of Progressives, but Existentialism wasn't far behind that. I teach in a charter school that is project-based, I teach kindergarten students, and I am very passionate about my job. The word that I kept reading over and over that summed it all up for me was "whole child." Well, of course I teach to the whole child. They have an entire world beyond the confines of our classroom and my job is to make sure I understand that, so that I can reach them where they are and with what matters to them. But, as I was reading article after article defining what it means to be a progressive teacher, I realized that there are a lot of misconceptions of what it is (and isn't). I am a very organized person so a lot of times that carries over into my classroom, but ultimately if my students have a desire to learn something we will go that direction that day. I enjoy structure and routine, but it works differently in my classroom. I have standards to teach and they do get taught, in a way meaningful to the students in my classroom.
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Hi Angela. I have been reading and enjoying your blog. The afternoon of frog information and decision-making sounds wonderful (I wish I was in your class!). And I am willing to bet you met more than a few standards with a wonderfully Progressive (and spontaneous) lesson. I'm excited to read more of your posts in the coming months.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Melissa (I work with Mark on various projects)
I love that you had a froggy day and also posted an article about another class and their froggy day!! Super connection:)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading how you are able to balance your organizational needs with the needs of your students through PBL. I'm excited to learn from you this semester:)
Your blog is dynamite! You should feel proud of your accomplishments with sharing your insights and enthusiasm for teaching in a non-traditional school and classroom. I'm sure your students will always remember the excitement of a creative, fun loving organized teacher. I can't wait to visit your school in the near future.
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