My Philisophy of Education
My philosophy of education is based on my goals for myself as a teacher and goals for my students. One of my goals is to inspire students by giving them positive feedback and scaffolding when needed. I want to give meaning to the lessons. So many foreign languages teachers present their information through lectures and drill & practice activities. I want my students to feel challenged. I will have them read, listen to, and walk authentic material so that they can learn for themselves instead of having someone lecture the information to them. Of course I will go over the information after they have developed theories about, for example, how to conjugate using the formal command tense after examining an authentic recipe in the target language.
I believe that one way to introduce a new culture to students is through realia. Whether it is pictures, posters, movies, artifacts, magazines, books, music, etc., realia emphasizes information about a new and different culture. It will get the students interested and get them to ask questions about, for example, why Mexico’s coat of arms is what it is or why are those people wearing strange pointed hoods during Easter in Spain. Realia gets students motivated to learn about the culture and maybe be more accepting of the differences between the target culture and their own culture.
Another goal is to contextualize lessons – to give them meaning for the students. Learning the vocabulary and grammar used to describe oneself or other people will build a student’s vocabulary, but they may not know how to use it in the real world. With new lessons, I will give the students activities of examples that shows the importance of the lesson. For example, students have learned how to describe themselves and others. They are in Mexico City with another group of students from school, and they have gotten separated from the group. Some people have agreed to help them look for the group, but they need to know who to look for. By knowing how to describe people, this will help the student to locate their group with the help of others.
My classroom will be a very relaxed environment for the students so they won’t feel anxious. Some students may feel nervous about volunteering for an answer, so I will allow students to “shout-out” their answers as a class. Students are more likely to participate if they’re not the only one answering the questions. The number one classroom rule will be to respect each other and their property. I won’t put up with students insulting each other, or throwing someone’s book around the room. It is rude, disrespectful, and veers away from the learning environment. I am a strict teacher, but I am fair, and students really do appreciate order and rules in the classroom.
I want my students to be open-minded especially of the new cultures they will learn. I want my students to be honest and respectful. I want students to be motivated to learn this new language and its culture. I want my students to feel challenged everyday, but to learn about the culture and maybe be more accepting of the differences between the target culture and their own culture.
