My primary goal for this semester is to continue developing my teaching philosophy. Questions underlying this development are "What is the purpose of education?" "What do I believe about my students and learning that must influence the way I teach?" and "What do I know about myself and my worldview that will shape my teaching?" Literacy never stops being part of teaching and learning, so the questions "What is true literacy?" and "How can I as a teacher promote literacy in the fullest sense of the word?" are very important. If I can even begin to answer these questions at the end of the semester, I'll know that I've been successful.
Literacy itself, and really all language, is a mystery. How did human beings evolve an ability to speak, to read, to write, to communicate so effectively and through so many methods? And the worlds that literacy allows us to enter are magical. How can I convey to my students the wonder and excitement that literacy brings? How can I encourage them to enter not only the magical, fictional worlds that come from reading and writing stories, but also to take advantage of the real world opportunities that come from critical literacy? My goal, at the end of the semester, is to wrap my head and hands around strategies that will help me do this.
3 comments:
Erin, You raise some good questions and hopefully by the end of the semester you will be able to answer some of the questions. How do you think this course will help you reach these goals? What in the syllabus helped raise these questions for you.
Thinking about standards-based teaching began to raise questions for me about what external standards I will be responding to as a teacher, which triggered thought about my internal standards. Because my values are shaped so much by the way I see and understand the world, it's important for me to be aware of them. Also, knowing myself as a learner requires me to take a look at my assumptions about learning and literacy, especially if I want my teaching philosophy and my pedagogy to be consistent.
Thanks, Erin.
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