I believe that every student, regardless of background or status, deserves an education that will provide the skills needed to succeed. A classroom should be an open, welcoming place where multiple intelligences are recognized and various paths to learning are supported. Students can learn from each other as well as the teacher, and diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives should be shared. I believe that the classroom should be a place of equality, where each student is treated fairly and given the attention needed to meet goals and achieve objectives.
I believe that it is the teacher’s responsibility to build and monitor a classroom community that encourages students to participate in class and listen to each other’s ideas. In part, this can be accomplished by giving students the chance to share their own experiences and work with others in small and large group situations. Teachers must recognize that community among the students will grow slowly throughout the year and must be carefully maintained.
I believe that writing is critical to a student’s development and ultimate success but they will not understand or embrace this until they can see the connection to their own lives. I want to ensure that my students can read, think critically about the subject matter, and write in response to that reading. I believe that teachers should encourage all forms of reading, even books outside of the literary canon and other nontraditional reading materials. Comic books, magazines, and web articles count, too.
I believe in using a variety of writing exercises to promote learning: creative writing, argumentative essays, personal journal entries, and so on. Students need to participate in many different writing assignments so that they leave high school knowing how to write more than just a five-paragraph essay. Different styles of writing encourage students to incorporate different skills, including writing dialogue, storytelling, or making persuasive argument.
I want my students to become comfortable sharing their work with peers. Students need to practice giving feedback to their peers, while receiving and incorporating feedback into their own revisions. It’s difficult to learn how to revise a written piece and incorporate constructive criticism; by reading peer work with a critical eye, students can practice not only providing feedback to others but also identify elements of their own work that can be improved.
I believe in the necessity of writing for every person – it is a skill that everyone needs to learn whether they plan to use it in the future or not – they probably will use it. In every situation where I’ve worked with writers, pieces have been submitted to me with the qualification that, “this is not good – I am a terrible writer.” And, nearly every time I’ve found that the person is just wrong. There might be structural issues or maybe some incorrect grammar, but there are also aspects of the piece that show great promise.
I believe in providing students with feedback that is useful to them and helps them understand what they’ve done well and what they could improve. I don’t believe in using any techniques that make my job easier at the expense of my students’ education. While I recognize that English teachers face a mountain of grading and paperwork, I would prefer to give them thorough feedback on fewer assignments then waste time providing feedback that is not beneficial.
