Teaching Philosophy and Learning Quality Over Quantity

My philosophy in teaching is that both the teacher and students have certains obligations to fulfill when entering the classroom. Within the first week of discussion, my students have already exceeded my expectations. They were attentive, prepared, and eager with worksheets in their hands; there is no doubt that they will fulfill their role of bettering their education and creating that environment to do so. Previously, I have gained an immense insight on how to become a successful leader. Now, the ultimate goal for this semester is improvement and to better fulfill my obligations so that I can make this discussion a great experience for everyone.

One aspect I would like to improve on is communication between both my peers and students. With students, I would like to work on constructing and asking critical questions. The consistent problem I had last semester was asking superficial questions that had no real valuable applications but rather tested content. But because the dynamics of my particular group are very driven and prepared, I am motivated to provide higher quality questions. To achieve this, I plan on preparing questions ahead of time with additional consideration in addressing common misconceptions and drawing connections to topics. To implement these questions, I will visit groups during activities where I will have them explain their reasoning through problems and then leave them with critical questions to build another layer of understanding of the content.

In other instances of communication, I will give advice on how to approach the workload having already taken the course, being available after class, and responding promptly to emails as a reminder that I am there for my students and root for their success. By doing so would help me build relationships as a respectable peer and valuable resource, enabling students to approach me with ease about their concerns, but also helping me fulfill their needs as a teacher.

As a leader, it is my obligation to improve and to lead well but the only way to do so is watching what it means to be a leader in practice. This semester, I plan on communicating more often to my mentors by shadowing various leaders and asking for feedback about my ideas. With a new appreciation for structure of the meetings, I hope to take the presentations to heart and try to implement them into my own lesson all of which have immensely helped me develop as an individual and unified the shortcomings in my own discussion. Acknowledging the resources I am surrounded with will not only help me personally but enhance my relationships with my peers as a team player who all strives to improve the overall quality of Biology 190 course.

Overall, I strive to adhere my teaching style to include each individual learner. Now that I have a greater idea on the variety of methods I can provide such as: active writing on the board, providing drawings and images, on- hands activities of model kits and Play-Doh, games and competitions, mnemonic devices, and critical thinking questions/ application problems -the next step is how to optimally implement them.

With time as my greatest obstacle, I’ve learned quality over quantity. I will only have a few group activities that surround crucial content followed by critical questions and sufficient time for communication amongst peers and myself. I will also be integrating note takers because I believe my students and myself will benefit greatly. 

Notetakers would save time from drawing diagrams and provide structure allowing me to dedicate those spared seconds towards explaining concepts thoroughly and motivating students to write meaningful notes that can be used for studying. I will try provide exam reviews because the class is more more ambitious and are more likely to attend and benefit from it. I hope that such extensive efforts will stimulate continuous excitement but also establish a more substantial learning experience so that each student can walk away having learnt something valuable.