Kristen Welton

Teaching Philosophy

I believe in becoming a great teacher by creating engaging lessons that inspire children to be lifelong learners.

 

I believe in becoming a teacher

When I decided to become a teacher people would say to me, “I can definitely see that.”  In my own mind, I thought why?  Why am I naturally a teacher to others?  I could say it is because of my positive attitude that brought me to my work with elementary students.  My energy and nurturing nature lends itself to being someone to take care of a class.  However, taking care of kids is not the job of a teacher.  A teacher is someone that inspires students to become lifelong learners.  A teacher is someone that is a guide in a student’s discovery of knowledge.  A teacher provides students with opportunities to learn.  I became a teacher because I wanted to play an important role in our future.  I wanted to help students in learning something exciting.  I wanted to be a motivator.  I wanted a role or career that is both challenging and rewarding. 

 

I believe in the goal of becoming a great teacher

Becoming a teacher was a goal I have already reached.  I knew I wanted to be a

teacher ever since I was the teacher in the board game of Life or when I played

school with my sister growing up.  However, now that I have reached the goal

of becoming a teacher I have new goals I would like to reach in my educational

career.  My primary goal is to be a great teacher which is the kind that you look

back on and knew they made a difference in your life.  However the question

remains how do you become a truly great teacher?

 

I believe in following steps to becoming a great teacher

I would like to be the teacher that students come back to and say, “Thank you.”

  I have a goal of being the teacher that inspires students.  Based on the

Charlotte Danielson rubric for my teaching evaluation there are four main

components that make a great teacher.  One area involves knowing the

content and applying what you know to your planning process for engaging

lessons.  Teachers need to know the learning goals, create assessments, and

from there create engaging lessons.  They should use this backwards design

to create successful lessons.  A teacher should also use the TPACK design

framework that involves the balance of a teacher’s pedagogy, the content,

and technology to create successful lessons.  The second area involves creating a classroom community.  Students should feel safe in sharing ideas and working with those around them.  A teacher should allow students to feel comfortable working in a positive environment.  The third area is classroom management.  Students should know expectations about their behavior from the start.  When students know the expectations they will know how they should act and be safe.  Lastly, a teacher should create a professional environment of always learning and sharing their ideas with other teachers.  There is one thing missing from the rubric that is important for being a teacher.  You need to love what you do.  The passion that you have for being a teacher helps to create an exciting learning environment.  Students can tell you are excited and it motivates them to learn. 

 

I believe in new strategies to help students learn

I believe that all students are unique, and they all can learn.  I am dedicated to the success of each student’s individual learning.  I provide engaging and thoughtful lessons.  I create lessons that provoke students to think in different ways.  Students learn to problem solve and critically think in project based learning.  They use their own innovative mind to think of creative solutions to authentic problems.  They achieve learning goals through engaging learning activities.  With project based learning my goal is for students to become prepared for jobs that have not even been invented yet.  They will become their own lifelong learners and discover ideas through projects.  Their engagement is contagious and my high expectations of their achievements guide their success in my classroom.

 

I believe in reflecting on teaching

To become a great teacher does not stop with lesson planning or carrying out a lesson.  One of the most important parts of being a teacher is the reflection on teaching.  There are always options for how to improve lessons.  Teacher’s need to be able to reflect on whether a lesson was successful in inspiring students to learn more and did the students achieve the learning target or learning goal.  The teacher has the opportunity to use these reflections to continue to improve and to also become lifelong learners just like their students.