My Teaching Metaphor

Teaching philosophies are intertwined in all educational strategies, ideas and

implementation plans. Similar to cooking, teaching requires time, patience, and a supportive
environment. Mentoring students in school to enhance performance and encourage their greatest
potential is a personal teaching goal for me.
My passion for my career shows in my preparation, effort and organized lesson plans.
When I am cooking, I am always looking to improve and change my recipe to help make the
ingredients blend together into one cohesive dish. Each lesson plan takes time and commitment
to create. Because of my commitment to be an effective teacher, my students are able to have a
successful and meaningful academic career.
I believe in order to have successful classroom, the teacher, students and environment all
need to be congruent with one another. Measuring and blending ingredients together build a
structured and well-rounded dish go hand in hand when creating lesson plans to meet the needs
of all students when trying to build a classroom community. Just like all classrooms,
modifications must be made to better fit the need of the students. Simple changes can make a
world of difference in a student’s life. As a teacher, I make alterations to my lessons every day.
The same circumstances occur in the life of a chef. They too make changes to their lesson plans.
While cooking, chef’s alter recipes to make the final product taste better. Having a strong
relationship with my students is what I strive to do each day of the year.
I want each of my students to play an important role in my classroom. Each student is
unique in their own way and I will have a welcoming classroom to meet the needs of all students.
Providing the correct environment when cooking is crucial to making the dish come together.
The classroom culture is dependent on numerous factors similar to ingredients in a timeless
recipe. Assuring each ingredient is properly used adds to the success of the dish. My classroom
environment is dependent on a positive learning culture and endless support of each individual
student to reach their own potential. In my classroom environment, I teach to my students
abilities, but also challenge them to learn. Guiding students to think critically and outside the box
will help them become better learners and gain independence in their learning. In my teaching, I
am always looking to try new things to make the learning experience more authentic for the
students. Creating a new dish requires experimentation. In order to make the dish tasteful and
presentable, it takes practice and risk. In both experiences, I am always looking to improve my
strategies. By doing so, it will allow students to learn in a more relevant and effective way.
My teaching style is effective because of the results I see in student’s work, attitudes and
motivation to learn. The students I teach are supported every day when trying to accomplish their
goals. I want all of my students to feel supported and welcome in my classroom. Each student I
teach brings a different aspect to the classroom. When creating something in the kitchen, each
ingredient provides a different taster and alters the result into something cohesive and tasteful. In
my classroom, my students mesh together to create one well-rounded, safe and positive
classroom community.
Motivating students to do their best in school is a part of my teaching philosophy. In order
for students to trust me, I build strong relationships with each student. I need to be familiar with
not only their learning strategies, but who they are as a person. Becoming familiar with the
ingredients in a recipe before adding them to the dish could affect the final product. By
becoming familiar with all students in my classroom, I become the students central figure in their
educational experience. Each and every day, I embrace the opportunity to mentor students to be
the best they can be when they are in my classroom as well as in the community that surrounds
them.
My teaching philosophy is effective, meaningful to students, and provides endless
opportunities for students to learn in unique ways. Motivating students to work to their potential
and instilling positive belief into their work will help guide my students to have success in and
outside of my classroom. The educational strategies, ideas and implementation plans that I use in
my classroom require time, patience, and a supportive learning environment. The passion that a
chef has in cooking, resembles to passion I have in teaching. I am always preparing and putting
my best effort into making sure the students’ learning experience is authentic and meaningful to
help them become life-long learners.