Ms. Lam's little Educator Journal
My Passion and Philosophy
Teaching is more than a job. Teaching is holding a key to unlock the future. My pedagogical belief is that every student is a unique individual who has the power and a voice to make changes in their lives. As an educator, I will help students to discover their talent, ensure they reach their highest potential and become honorable characters and community contributors.
For me, teaching is a continuous profession. I am going to continue my learning from my school community, parents, and of course–my students. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to communicate to my students that learning never stops. Throughout my education, I had many horrible teachers but only a few inspiring teachers. I had teachers that would put me down and hurt my feelings. I choose teaching as my profession because students need positive adults to believe in them. I enjoy every moment in the classroom. I consider every teaching opportunity as a treat. A treat that I would always enjoy and appreciate. This is why I want to take this attitude to the classroom and share with the children. I want to influence them to be confident of who they are and have a memorable and happy childhood.
As a teacher, I ensure my classroom is always in the state of be an intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically safe environment that would support students to reach their highest potential. It is my desire to motivate students in meaningful challenges and encourage them to become life-long learners. I also believe active learning is one of the best strategies to engage students learning. They will have experience in the classroom to learn from each other and recognize their responsibilities for themselves and for their community. Besides the basic content knowledge, I highly value problem-solving skills with reasoning and critical thinking. It is my belief that children are able to be a complex thinker.
Create a “Safe” and Caring Community
The priority of my teaching is to create a safe and caring community in the classroom. By “safe”, it means intellectually, emotionally, psychologically and physically. Every student is part of the community. They will create a community ball to symbolize as a part of the community. Each student will learn to respect, encourage and celebrate their diversities and differences. When a classroom is harmonious, teachers can spend more time on instructions and less time on students’ behaviors. Students will be able to work with each other and gain more knowledge by feeling safe to express their thoughts and ideas
Enjoy Learning – Be a Life-Long Learner
As an educator and a life-long learner, the most important thing is to let children know that they can learn at anywhere and anytime. For many of my lessons, I asked students to pay attention on their way home to see what they observed. What they think is interesting to them. Have a sense of wonder and write it down or draw it out. Be a life-long learner does not always have to associate with school. Students just need to find things that are meaningful and interesting to their life. This is how learning becomes fun and memorable because students are motivated with their intrinsic motivation.
Be Responsible
In Social Sociology’s Role Theory, most of everyday activities are categories by roles with our gender, culture, social, etc. Therefore, responsibility is not something a parent or a teacher can easily teach. It is something a teacher needs to allow students to experience. Therefore, my role is to influence and encourage them to make good decision. In my classroom, students will be given the opportunity to explore their roles and recognize the importance of the responsibilities. They will recognize that they are responsible to their family, community, country and the world. More importantly, students will recognize the effect they have on people around them based on their decisions. Students will understand the purpose of their responsibility, take charge of their action and committed to their roles.
Be Happy
I have been fortunate to work and to volunteer at a local grieving children center named Kids hurt too. As a facilitator, I witness many broken families and listen to many grieving children’s feelings. This unforgettable life experience helps me realized the importance to appreciate my family, friends and whatever I have. Even though sometimes, I could hear myself complaining about my study and work, but I know the fact that I am fortunate to decide what I want to do for my profession. I will integrate my lessons with opportunities for students to show appreciation to the people and things around them. I believe that if people are appreciative and grateful, we would be more satisfied with our internal values instead of external materials. For children, this would lead them to a more memorable and joyful childhood.