Educational Philosophy
Every teacher has a philosophy of education even without realizing it. An education philosophy is made up of one’s teaching methods, the classroom environment, learning assessments and technology integration. A teacher’s philosophy can also be more teacher-centered, student-centered or a mix of the two. I will be evaluating my personal teaching philosophy and determining if I am teacher-centered, student-centered or a mix of both.
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When looking back at my 4 years of teaching reading interventions I would say, like most teachers, I fluctuate between Essentialism and Progressivism. To qualify for reading interventions the student must be below the 10th percentile in oral reading fluency, under the 25th percentile on their MAP scores and not performing on grade level reading expectations in their classroom setting. In other words, they significantly struggle with reading fluency and or reading comprehension and are behind their grade level norms. This means that I have to get back to the basics, Essentialism. We typically focus on the basics of decoding and encoding skills to help develop tools and skills for reading and comprehending independently. In my classroom there are not typically opportunities for group work because we are trying to build up that independent stamina within their reading knowledge and skills. I will say however, that I do want to take in my students' input with what and how I am teaching. This year my students were constantly requesting to take home decodable books to show off their new learned skills at home. So of course, I took that input and gave them passages and books that they could take home to show off their skills. While due to the nature of being a reading interventionist I hover closer to the Essentialism side of teaching I know that when reteaching concepts I do also embrace Progressivism. I will ask students while reteaching, “How do we feel about this concept? Do we feel like we understand it?” If they say they do, then we can move on as our time is valuable because we only get 30 minutes a day together. If they can give me feedback and correctly model the skill or concept, then I can move on to fill in different gaps.
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My method of teaching over these last four years has two different applications. I wear several different hats at my school. While I was teaching reading interventions in a traditional classroom setting, I also did recess and lunchroom supervision as a paraprofessional. Anyone who has worked in an education setting with students knows that teaching doesn’t end in the classroom. It is happening constantly throughout the day in every part of the building. When teaching reading interventions I flip between a teacher-centered approach and a student-centered approach. I need to make sure that my students are explicitly learning the information, tools and skills they need to be able to go back to their classrooms for grade level instruction. It leaves less room for student input. I would say about fifty percent of my teaching method is teacher-centered; I am at the whiteboard or on the document camera giving explicit instruction and modeling encoding and decoding skills. Then I shift to a student-centered approach where they have a chance to apply those skills independently while I walk around coaching them through either reading a word with a new sound pattern or a sentence. When looking at my teaching methods for recess and lunchroom supervision I would say it matches as well. I am flipping between teacher-centered and student-centered, particularly in terms of discipline and SEL. I think that it is very important that students learn how to problem solve conflicts with adult guidance. If for example a student approaches me at recess to say someone hurt their feelings, I ask them to be specific. "What did they say that hurt your feelings? Did you tell them it hurt your feelings? What happened before they said that?" Then I ask the other student to come over so we can come to a solution. I take this time to have a teacher-centered method of reminding them that there are two sides to every story and that I want to hear both. I will allow each student to tell me what happened, but they cannot interrupt each other. After each student has given me their side of the story, I explain to them what I heard. I have found that if I take the time to model the conversation part with me giving a direct explanation then later on in the school year I am able to take a step back and allow them to have the conversation with each other while occasionally guiding from the side. This is something that I will definitely continue utilizing in any future school library classroom I teach in.
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In terms of my classroom environment, I want it to be a safe place of learning for all of my students. I try to create a warm and inviting physical space that allows the students some flexibility. Routines and expectations are very important in my classroom. They know what to do and my expectations. I do not give assigned seats until it is apparent that they are not making wise decisions about where they are sitting. Students also do not have to sit in their seats, if they want to stand, they can, they just have to stay by their desk. I have found that allowing these simple choices helps them to have more success. I also try to create an emotionally safe classroom environment. For example, if I’m in a bad mood I will often start the group by saying, “Hey guys. I am feeling very frustrated right now. I am going to try my best to take some deep breaths and be patient.” Relationship building is another important aspect of my classroom environment. I do my best to learn about my students so that they know that I value and appreciate them as individuals. This is something I also plan to continue doing in any future school library classroom.
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Learning assessments are an extremely important part of my job as a reading interventionist. We are consistently benchmarking our students' progress in our class and reporting it to their teachers, who in turn keep us informed about the class performance of those students. Every year we do an oral reading fluency benchmark in the fall to set a goal for the trimester. Every other week we progress monitor oral reading fluency with a one-minute cold read for accuracy. These are formative tests that we utilize all year for data to check for growth. If that student reaches their reading fluency goal, we set a new goal to continue bringing up their skill level and confidence. We also pull independent work from our group time to be able to compare throughout the year for progress. It’s also a good way to check in with their classroom teacher to see if the student is applying the skills in the classroom. Classroom unit tests and MAP testing are summative tests that we also use to look back at historical data for growth. If the student is consistently reaching their oral reading fluency goals, achieving MAP scores that are 25 percentile or higher and grade level work in their classroom over several trimesters they can exit interventions. If they plateau or begin regressing, we can begin the process to see if we need to consider an evaluation. While assessments won't be as rigorous as a school librarian, I will still be able to provide feedback to classroom teachers any observations or unofficial assessments I use for library instruction.
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I use technology integration within all of my reading intervention groups, something I am confident I will continue in a library classroom setting. I often cast my document camera or images to go along with a passage we are reading. This is a great way for me to model strategies and expectations for students. Another integration used in my room is different grade and age level appropriate computer programs. For our first graders we use a program called Lexia that utilizes games and activities for self-paced phonemic awareness, as well as encoding and decoding skills. Typically, we would use that program on days that we are doing individual progress monitoring with students. For second-fifth grade we use IXL which is a resource that aligns with our reading curriculum. On IXL you can assign different skills to students to practice (similes, metaphors, words with ar, etc.) independently or as a group in a “group jam”. Group jams are another great tool to help model different strategies for students. We often use group jams before taking a quiz on that same platform. Our third through fifth graders also use a program called Read Naturally two days a week. Read Naturally lets them choose a passage in which they do a prediction, cold read, three echo reads, three practice oral reads, answer comprehension questions and a hot timing. This is done somewhat independently; however, they need a teacher for the cold and hot timing as well as reviewing the short answers. If they missed their fluency goal or any quiz questions those are reassigned.
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My philosophy of education is a balance between teacher-centered “sage on the stage” and student-centered “guide on the side” in terms of my traditional classroom teaching and during my recess and lunch supervision time. I predict that it will still be true when I begin teaching as a school librarian. I work hard to make sure that my students receive the best instruction that I can give them while also taking their input into account or finding opportunities for choice and relationship building.