Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is most closely steeped in progressivism. According to the progressivism philosophy it is crucial that a teacher make all the lessons meaningful to the students. It is also vital that the teacher meets the needs of their students. Progressivism also states that students will learn more effectively in social settings. In the progressivism philosophy it is essential to teach subjects not in isolation but as a blend of several subjects combined. The progressivism philosophy points out that the way in which students' knowledge is acquired is by using previous knowledge and experiences to solve new problems

I believe one of the most important elements of the progressivism view is the necessity of making every lesson and activity meaningful to the students. The students must see the relevance of the activities that they are doing. The students will learn more if they see the point of a lesson and how it relates to them. I will include lessons in my classroom that relate to the students' everyday lives, using situations and scenarios that they have in their day to day activities.

As pointed out in the progressivism philosophy I also believe in the necessity of meeting the needs of each student. To make sure that I am successfully meeting the needs of my students I will do my best to assure that the curriculum is centered on the experiences, interest, and abilities of the students. In my classroom I will do many pretest diagnostic tests, and use other tools to access the prior knowledge of each student. This will help me to see the abilities as well as interests of my students. Once I have the diagnostic information I will structure my lessons to meet the needs that I discovered. This will ensure the students see the importance and relevance of the material that they are learning.

I agree with the progressivism view that students are social beings who learn through active interplay with others. Through my own learning experiences at Florida Gulf Coast University I have seen the successfulness of cooperative work. It is important that students be given many opportunities to work with their peers. While working in cooperative groups students can learn many vital skills. I will frequently have the students