TEACHING PHILOSOPHY REFLECTIONS

I reviewed the teaching philosophies of Morgan, Paula and Delci.

What I liked about Paulas’ statement was that she addressed mutual respect. As a teacher, you must let your student know that you are not there because you have to be there, but you want to be there. It is important to let them know that you truly care about teaching and their learning.

Delci addressed humility. What do you do when your student asks you a question and you don’t know the answer? I think this is a great opportunity to teach your students that learning is forever. My answer would be “I don’t know, but tomorrow I will have your answer and I will be learning in the process.” This is a challenge of teaching, but for me, a challenge and an opportunity to learn. I don’t think of it as a failure but rather an opportunity. The student gains confidence at the same time.

Morgan talked about enthusiasm, and conveying that to students. If they see that the teacher is excited about what they are teaching, the student is more likely to be excited about what they are learning. I liked her strategies for obtaining feedback about her teaching. “One minute papers” is a great idea. Personally, I don’t like using evaluations at the end of the course. I like the idea of having evaluations throughout the course so that you can modify approaches to meet the needs of the current students and learn about the effectiveness of your teaching at the same time.