Until last week, I can honestly say I never gave my philosophy of teaching a second thought. In fact, until about a month ago, I still looked at teaching to see me though while I earned my MBA in Marketing. Now I’ve begun to look at myself in a different light, and in considering my teaching philosophy, I can see that my thoughts and beliefs about this profession are already changing.
Philosophy Proven Wrong
I used to think that the hardest thing about teaching would be dealing with the kids. Now that I have some experience in the classroom, I know this is not the case. Dealing with students is challenging, thought-provoking work, but it isn’t the most difficult thing about teaching. Sure, you must deal with dozens of diverse personalities, learning abilities, attention spans, and teenage angst, but contrary to my previous beliefs, working with students is fun and exciting, and by no means is it the most difficult thing about teaching.
I now know the hardest thing for me is being prepared every day with a lesson plan that will both interest and excite my students. Some days, it seems like I hardly have time to turn around before the day is over. My prep periods are taken up with grading past assignments, and my nights are taken up with homework of my own. I often find myself asking where I can find the time to develop exciting and interesting lesson plans.
My New Teaching Philosophy
Coming up with lessons for my middle school students is fairly easy because I have last year’s lesson plans to draw from. They appreciate that I spend time with each of them explaining new concepts, and get a real thrill when they can use what they’ve learned to help a fellow student. 
Because my class is all about computers, they also appreciate that I reward them with time to play fun brain games or fun math games if they’ve had a productive week.
Coming up with lesson plans for my high school classes is much more difficult. I’ve been missing some essential software, and it’s been difficult to keep them interested in doing busy work until the new software arrived. I have discovered, and have started utilizing the fact that they like to have a say in what we’re doing for the day. While their first preference is to play games, they are creative and innovative in planning lessons, and enjoy things more when they help come up with the plan.
Conclusion
My teaching philosophy will continue to grow as I gain teaching experience. I know that to be successful in the classroom, I need to provide my students with the means to take part in planning what we do. Students are a wonderful resource, and I need to take full advantage of their creative process.
