TeacherWorkSampleLevelIII-FirstGrade.doc.docVIP

Teacher Work Sample First Grade Plant Unit Philosophy Statement “As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.”(Dr. Hiam G. Ginott) The role of a teacher is someone who understands the authority and power they possess, and tries on a daily basis to honor it with respect and diligence, while educating children from the ages of 3 all the way through their college years. I believe that teachers should be able to help the children they teach to explore and interpret not just the classroom, but the world around them. Teachers should be able to understand the idea that different types of children learn by different types of ways, and you need to be prepared as well as able to accommodate the ways that all children learn, not only the ways that you are most familiar with. I know that the students who I teach will not just leave the classroom as children who go to school they will leave my classroom as an overall well rounded individual. As a teacher, I want to be the one who is able to spark a young mind, or challenge old beliefs while I am forming stronger ones. I want to give the students in my classroom the drive and desire to continue learning, even if it gets hard at times, and I know from experience that it will. Elementary schools should focus on the techniques that they are teaching young minds, the skills they need to use those techniques, and the form in which those techniques and skills are needed. There needs to be more interactive learning centers, group demonstrations, and plenty of discussions. Who better to learn from than your peers? Vygotsky has a great perspective on learning which is that learning takes place through social interaction. Therefore the classroom