Teaching Tools by Taylor

I was a mere 18 year old girl when I began teaching. The children I had in my first classroom are now finishing up the second grade. Over the years I have been faced with many challenges educating young children. Every challenge I have overcome has helped me formulate my own teaching styles and philisophies. 

            If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. Every student can learn. Just not on the same day, or in the same way. When children enter my classroom they will feel safe and validated. In my classroom everyone is treated fairly. In my classroom children have rights. They have the right to be heard and the right to be respected. Children deserve to feel loved. The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving of ways. Every child will have the right to express how they feel in the confines of my classroom. Every child that walks through my doors has a story to be heard and a right to tell it. Children don’t care what you know until they know that you care. I believe that every child is capable of learning and capable of succeeding. It is our jobs as teachers to show them where to look, but not what to see. It is our job to give them the vehicle for the journey, but not tell them which roads to take. Children need individualization in the way we teach them in order to thrive in their learning. Children need structure in their home and learning environments. Children need consistency in their lives to grow to their full potential. Children with special needs deserve one on one supports in the classroom. All children no matter the color, the disabilities, the abilities, the strengths, or the weaknesses; deserves to never be given up on.

            Children who come from successful families come to school to learn. Children who come from struggling families come to school to feel loved. We need to give families the tools to be successful. We directly affect the child when we help the family grow. The most important work a parent will do is inside the four walls of their own home. We need to empower families, not enable. Families should be involved in their child’s education. A large part of our job is to get families excited about their child’s education. The connection between school and home is the most important one.

            Teaching is a team sport. Behind every successful classroom is a strong teaching team. Teachers set the tone for a classroom. Teachers should teach from the heart, not from the book. When you teach you should be passionate. When you teach you should be intentional. When you teach you should make an impression. Great teachers create learning experiences that put students in the driver’s seat and then get out of the way. It’s a teacher’s job to teach a child how to read a map, not pick the destination. Teachers should value and plan for diversity in their classroom. Lesson plans should reflect what every individual child needs. I believe that teachers should look at every child as their own person. Our lessons should be teaching values and empathy. Our lessons should be fresh and updated. Our lessons should provide the information of today and a look into the past. Most importantly teachers should love teaching. When you love what you do… the children under your care flourish.