Respect

The last, but most important element in my philosophy is respect. I teach my students to treat their school, peers, other school faculty, other’s belongings, and themselves with respect. I also feel that in order to teach a student about respect, I have to show them respect also. My students understand that if they show me respect that they will gain my respect. At the end of the day, my students and I expect each other to respect everything in our school and our schools surroundings. I also believe that by teaching them respect in the classroom it can also carry over into other aspects if their lives.

Tough Love

In order to teach my students the fairness in life, I show them tough love. I believe that by showing my students tough love I am increasing their responsibility as a student. My students understand that no excuse will help them when an assignment is due and they don’t have it done. Each one of my students expect me to have each of them on the same level and they know that they are going to be treated with the same rules and consequences as everyone else in the classroom. In the end, tough love will make them into responsible adults.

Commitment

Throughout life you always hear the word commitment and in my classroom you will also hear that same word. My students expect me to be committed to them while they are in my class and in return I expect my students to be committed to their work that I give them. I think my both of us being committed will help all of us as a class to work to our highest potential. I believe that this is an element that my students can carry with them throughout their whole life. My students know that I am committed to them and that the commitment will always be there.

Creativity

In order for me to work to my fullest potential, I have to be creative. My students learn in all different learning styles, so I have to be creative to cover all of their styles. I also instill in my students to have creative minds when doing their work so that their personalities can shine. In my classroom, my students expect me to teach in creative ways and I expect them to learn in creative ways.

Leadership

In my opinion every teacher should exemplify leadership in their classroom. My students expect me to get in front of our class and carry out the lesson plans everyday. Without leadership skills I would not be able to instruct my students. I also expect my students to produce leadership skills while working in groups. I believe that before you can lead, you have to follow. My students will follow my leadership skills and one day be able to lead in their own instruction.

Competing With Technology

As an educator I believe that we are constantly competing with technology and the new advances of our society. One question that always comes to my mind is, "What is so wrong with paper and pen?" Then I have answered that question many times. The same answer I continue to come up with is the fact that we are competing with the world around us. Students are more technological advanced than students were a decade ago. I believe that in order to gain the attention of the students, educators must use new and innovative ways to teach. Technology plays an important role in the classroom, because it is a new teaching tool that students look forward to.