Why is it important "to know" your students?

As a teacher, it is very important "to know" the learners in my classroom. My school experience growing up was fairly simple for me because I am a visual learner, and most of my teachers taught specifically for those learners. The only subject I had difficulty with was math. I could not look at a formula and remember it because I could not comprehend how or why it was useful. I would say I am a tactile learner when it comes to math; in order for me to learn and figure out questions, I need manipulatives to strategically understand its concept. I need to visually see it in front of me.  Math was terrifying and I dreaded going to those classes. I could not handle participating in a subject that I did not understand. I do not want my students to experiences these feelings in my classroom. I am creating lesson plans that meet all the different learners in my classroom (auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic), so that all my students are learning what I am teaching. I want my students to know what success feels like; I do not want them to dread my classes. I will be teaching math and science in my practicum and those seem to be the subjects that most students dislike. It will definitely be a challenge for me but I am looking forward to it because I want my students to feel excited when they step inside my classroom. In order for me to achieve this goal, I need "to know" all the different learners in my classroom and meet their individual needs.

Teaching Philosophy

Creativity and Education

Has creativity been pushed out of education?  Yes, I believe it has.  I feel like the problem these days is that kids are pushed out of creativity at a very young age.  We watched Sir Ken Robinson's video on how schools kill creativity and what he said was very true.  Fortunately, we are changing this; we may not see this in our lifetimes, but it is evolving.  Our job as educators is to teach our kids young.  Why are there not many music teachers in elementary schools anymore?  I had one when I attended school in Dubai and thoroughly enjoyed going because I always needed to have that mental break and was comfortable with it.  Most kids between kindergarten and grade two cannot sit at a desk for long periods of time and enjoy music classes because they are fearless.  This is the same for drama, dance, theatre, and art.  Why are most students not being introduced to these classes until middle school?  At this stage in their lives, they have already been educated out of creativity, unless they grew up seeing creativity during extracurricular activities outside of school.  Since these classes are not in many of our schools, we need to incorporate them into our classrooms.  We need to educate them to drive for what they enjoy and want.  Many children do not have a problem with playing sports because children attend physical education classes at the beginning of their schooling.  Have you ever wondered why more students grow up being athletes rather than musicians or actors?  We need to incorporate creativity into our lessons so that our students are not educated out of it.

Why is Inclusive Education Important?

Inclusive education is important because children who have special needs are not at fault and should not be penalized for it.  Many kids grow up wanting to go to school and children with special needs feel the same way.  They do not want to be grouped and to not be included.  Saying that people with special needs must be in seperate classrooms is like separating children by race and gender.  After watching the documentary about Woodlands in New Westminster, all of the survivors wanted to be treated equally.  People with special needs all have the same wishes and goals in life as people without it.  We cannot treat them poorly because they do realize when they are being treated unequally.  It is our job as teachers to include our students in all activities so that everyone is involved and participating together.  That is what we are there for and they should not be discriminated against.  Could you forgive a teacher who treated you like that?