Education is one of the few unifying and common experiences in our society, as a teacher there is a great responsibility to give as many students the best experience as possible with learning, institutions and adults in general. Schools are not neutral places, but they should be both open and reliable to our students as they are discovering themselves. The relationship is easily soured, even accidentally, and hard to repair in the short semester we have with them.

There is bad blood, especially in science, which has a negative reputation despite the popularity of pop science and technology in our culture. II hope to empower students to be independent learners and their own informed advocates, because knowledge really is power and it belongs to everyone. I think that there has historically been a disconnect between what students need and how curriculum is delivered, but this doesn’t have to be so. Content comes from the world around us and isn’t more valuable if we make it unapproachable.

A major focus of my teaching philosophy is that it is my duty to set students up for success with quality assessment and preemptive classroom management. Create units, lessons, and assessments which make the best use of my students time and attention by being pointed and applicable. I hope that this will enable faster feedback and effective instruction so that students will be able to accomplish our learning goals. Secondary students are still young, exhaustive homework and stress create a negative association with school and learning in general which I do not think is exactly necessary in our classrooms. Instead, I will try to develop them as active and interested learners with a grounded understanding of the content they feel they can confidently use in their lives, that it’s worthwhile.

From a classroom management perspective, secondary classes are only mine for an hour a day so I have to make the best of the time we have. By focusing on clear daily expectations, and a somewhat regular routine students can focus on other things. Optimizing classroom layout for the activities you have by arranging desks and materials in accessible ways is important, along with having clear ‘flags’ or actions which signify the beginning and ending of instruction, as well as others for the lesson as a whole will bring consistency to your classroom. By also planning flexible time for group discussion and unexpected questions reduces stress on me as a teacher and won’t require as strict of classroom management. It is also important to be clear in what you and do not expect behaviour-wise; when is it okay to talk etc. so that everyone is on the same page.

All of this is getting at proper preparation which then allows for flexibility in other aspects such as format and students grouping and hopefully will allow for more complicated activities without wasting time managing students. It is also important to realise that they are young adults, as a teacher I can let them know how they are progressing but beyond directing them and the class I cannot drag them to do learn the do not wish to. I can assist them with as much as energy as I can but not much more than they are willing to put in themselves or it will detrimental to me, other students, and them.