My Personal Teaching Philosophy

My Role as Teacher
In my classroom, my role is to encourage, motivate and facilitate learning for my students. I do this by constantly preparing for units and lessons, critically reflecting on the good and bad portions of my teaching and changing those parts that need to be changed and forming positive relationships with my students in a caring environment. I am a creative, resourceful teacher who tries to implement fun, exciting and engaging activities by providing students with meaningful experiences. My daily goal is to make learning fun and exciting, to make the child want to come back to school to learn more.

My Role in the Special Education Setting

In an Inclusive Education setting, I constantly try to understand my students, form relationships with my students and plan and prepare for the different abilities within my classroom. Each child is taken into account during the planning process and pedagogical strategies, the process or the product to suit each childs needs. I believe that social interactions within the Special Education Classroom are vital in developing social skills for each child later on in life. I must also continue my own learning and professional development, particularly in dealing with children that have been diagnosed or are suspected of having a disability that will affect the childs development or learning ability. Every child that walks into my classroom is an individual who deserves the best education that I can give. I am a goal orientated teacher, with goals for my own teaching and for my students both personally and educationally. I am a reflective teacher, my days, lessons and interactions with each child. I believe in critical reflection, the process of analysing my practice in order to change it for the better.

Assessment and Reporting

I believe that assessment is an ongoing process that should not simply be a pen and paper test at the end of the year. I believe in giving the students creative assessment tasks that allow them to show their knowledge through work samples, verbal and physical expressions and through one on one interactions. I always on the lookout and am planning for assessment opportunities in the classroom. I conduct diagnostic, progressive and end of unit tests to assess for learning and to show the student how far they have progressed through the unit.

Ultimately, the students are at the centre of my teaching. My goal is to see them develop and progress both personally and academically as they prepare for their futures. Kane Baltetsch