Basic Teaching Beliefs
Management, Assessment, and Strategies
Management
Effective discipline comes from a teacher who cares. The goal in discipline is to help the students become the best people they can be and to change misbehaviors into positive behaviors. When students know that a teacher truly cares for them, they are likely to respond well to discipline. Rather than becoming aggressive and argumentative when discipline is enforced, students are more likely to accept the discipline as given and learn from it. In addition to making sure that discipline comes from a caring place, it is equally important to ensure that discipline is consistent and clear. When clear boundaries are enforced consistently, students feel free to explore and ask questions. Students feel relief in knowing that there are clear, consistent boundaries set in place to nurture them into becoming better people.
Assessment
Meaningful assessment is connected directly the objectives of a given grade/subject, and should be planned before instruction. The goal in assessment is to identify what students know and don't know in relation to the objectives in order to improve instruction and help students learn well. In order for assessment to be utilized effectively, it must also occur frequently and be used in a variety of formats. When assessment is used to guide instruction, students will learn more efficiently than they otherwise could have. When assessment is given in a variety of methods, students with different learning styles will have opportunities to express their thoughts in unique ways, which will not only capture the students interest, but will also create opportunities to differentiate assessment.
Strategies
Differentiation is one of the most important, yet most often overlooked aspects to instructional teaching strategies. All students are different, and all students should be guided toward learning in each subject. If a teacher uses whole-group instruction to teach 25 students, chances are some students will already know that information, while others will stay completely lost during instruction. In order to reach all learners and challenge all students to grow, differentiation must happen. In using instructional strategies, teachers must plan for differences among learners.
In addition to planning and delivering differentiated lessons, a teacher must also create engaging lessons. School should not be a boring environment that students don't like being a part of. Rather, school should be fun and interesting to students. When students are interested in learning, their learning will increase. A teacher should create engaging lessons by using a variety of teaching techniques and incorporating fun games and activities into their lessons.
In addition to planning and delivering differentiated lessons, a teacher must also create engaging lessons. School should not be a boring environment that students don't like being a part of. Rather, school should be fun and interesting to students. When students are interested in learning, their learning will increase. A teacher should create engaging lessons by using a variety of teaching techniques and incorporating fun games and activities into their lessons.