My 
name is Katharine Otolski, I am a sophomore at Ball State. I am working on a major in Special Education and a minor in Geology.
Teaching Philosophy: Spring 2015
My Teaching Philosophy
The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but do not tell you what to see. Teaching has always been an important passion of mine, and it is important to bring your passion to your job. “Passionate teachers organize and focus their passionate interests by getting to the heart of their subject and sharing with their students some of what lies there, sharing the beauty and power that drew them to their field in the first place”(Thomas, 2007, p. 64). I want to help people find their passion; I want to help each one of my students to succeed. I believe that the role of teacher is to inspire, encourage the imagination, and instill a love of learning. I have always believed that it is important to give students the proper tools students needed to be successful and happy in life. A teacher is an important person in every child’s life. A teacher does not just teach academics, they also share and instill values on each student. “Nevertheless, raising individuals with basic moral values remains the primary responsibility of the families, schools and society” (Bektas & Nalcaci, 2012, p.1247). I believe that important values a teacher should instill in their students would be achievement, ambition appreciation, balance, commitment, confidence, flexibility, and motivation (Lin & Jou, 2013). I believe that every student needs to be confident in his or herself; they must learn to appreciate the fact they stated motivated in order to reach their achievements. I want to help my students find their ambitious drive towards a thirst for knowledge. A student achieves so much more than academic knowledge in a classroom, I believe each student is rewarded through their achievements, and knowledge of his or herself.
I determine student progress based on positive-growth, made throughout the year. I do not want to know if they can memorize facts; I want to know if my students understand a concept. I base this on whether or not they can 100% teach and back up a concept to someone else; if you can teach it you know it. I believe that learning happens everywhere, and twenty-four seven. You learn through a new lecture a teacher prepares, you learn from experience, and you learn when you make mistakes. A person never stops learning. However, I do believe that in a school a student needs his or her classroom to be a place that normally is a calm, happy, positive learning environment (Lin & Jou, 2013). In order for a teacher to maximize learning in his or her classroom, a teacher needs to be a calm, patient, gentle, flexible, and understanding person. Thinking back to my own education, not everything I learned in school clicked right away. As a teacher, this is an unavoidable experience with your students; since this is the case, a teacher must be a calm, understanding, and patient. “A teaching style is influenced by the nature of the learner, the teacher, the situation and the content of the curriculum” (McCollin, 2000, p. 9). In order to maximize learning a teacher cannot just lecture, since many students learn through a visual or hands on approach. Teachers can do this through the incorporation of modeling with play dough, drawing on a whiteboard, or many other techniques. “Content relevance and interest was seen by some as an important condition in helping to motivate the class” (Brown, 2000, p. 7). I believe students learn best when they are having fun and not sitting in an uncomfortable desk listening to lectures at all day.
I have many goals in life; I also want my students to have many goals in life. I want my students to grow to be the best they can be, and this is done through goals. I want my students to set a list of goals they want to accomplish at the beginning of the year (Canfield & Wells, 1976), I want them to work toward this goal all year, and by the end of the year I want to watch the look on their faces when they realize that they reached their goals and then some. The teacher’s goal should be to have the student take total responsibility for these activities (Johnson & Graham, 1990). Students have a role in education and it is to own the fact that this is their education. Teachers need to consider a number of other factors. These include the importance of feedback in goal attainment, students’ level of commitment in attaining the goal (Johnson & Graham, 1990). Students get exactly what they put into school, if they never attend class or never complete their homework, they will never learn. If a student is always present and completes their homework, they will learn more than they know. This is what I want for my students. I want them to acquire a lasting knowledge of everything they can and enjoy this time of their lives. That is how I measure success. It is that moment and the look of happiness on a student’s face when everything clicks for a student.
As a teacher you cannot be the one to set goals for your students. The student must be the one to set goals for themselves; however, as a teacher you are able to help your students set goals. You get to know and understand a student by pushing them to the level you know they can reach. As a teacher my goal will be to grow every year, my goal is to learn new techniques of teaching, my goal is to become the best teacher I can be (Mansfield, Wosnitza, & Beltman, 2012). I have many goals in life; however, I have a major long-term goal. My long-term goal is to work my way up to become a principal or a superintendent. I want to be able to help make decision for schools, to help make schools a better place for all children. “Experience suggests that districts would find it more productive to create evaluation systems that would focus on improving teacher skills rather than on evaluating teacher performance” (McGreal, 1980, p. 415). What makes a teacher successful is his or her students. When your students accomplish something, you know that as a teacher you have done something correctly. My philosophy will affect how I run my classroom, it affects how I approach my students, it affects my teaching style. “New teachers can learn to make significant and very meaningful contributions in the classroom. Our strategies will encourage future teachers to articulate a more integrated belief about teaching as they seek rewarding professional growth” (Pike & And, 1997, p. 128). My philosophy is a direct relation of who I am and who I want to be as to teacher.