My Core Beliefs and Values About Teaching

1. All students can learn something in my class

1.1. This means that all the students that come into my class can learn something from me

1.2. This matters to my confidence as a teacher and my caring that my students learn something important in my class (it also helps me be able to decide what thing I specifically want students to take away from my class)

2. No student knows everything

2.1. This means that I can teach every student something in my class even if they think or seem to know everything

2.2. This matters to my belief in myself as a teacher and to helping my students learn new skills that they don't already know about

3. All students are different

3.1. This means that each and every one of my students will have different backgrounds and different ideas to bring to the class

3.2. This matters to my ability to teach all of my students even though they come from different backgrounds and help them have the same access to knowledge even though they are different

4. All students are continuously forming beliefs about the world

4.1. This means that what I teach my students helps shape how they see the world

4.2. This matters because it helps me remember that I always need to be an example and I need to help my students develop their ideas about the world through my teaching

5. The students needs are more important than the lesson

5.1. This means that I will need to not only cater lessons to my students needs while planning, but also be willing to change my planned lessons to be able to focus on what they need

5.2. This matters to my willingness to change my lesson on a whim to focus on what my students need as well as recognizing what they need rather than what I want to teach them

6. All students deserve my effort as the teacher

6.1. This means that each and every one of my students deserves my time and effort in order to help them learn (even if they drive me crazy!)

6.2. This matters to how I will treat each of my students, cater my lessons to their needs, give them help on a class wide and individual basis, and it matters to how well I know my students

7. There aren't stupid questions or students, they may just not understand the material

7.1. This means that students or questions may seem stupid, but that stems from them not understanding the material

7.2. This matters to how I will respond to seemingly stupid questions, and gage how much my students know

8. The teacher is not better than the student

8.1. This means that I as a teacher am not better and may not even know more than my students, we can all teach each other

8.2. This matters to how I will treat my future students and will help me realize and recognize what they can teach me

9. It is my responsibility to help my students succeed

9.1. This means that if my studnets aren't succeeding in my class I am probably not doing something right as the teacher

9.2. This matters to how I will care about student success and the measures I will take to make sure that my students do succeed

10. Not all students think or believe the things I think or believe

10.1. This means that my students and I might disagree on some things, but that is okay

10.2. This matters to how I will treat my students beliefs and viewpoints respectfully, even if they contradict my own

11. All students should be treated fairly

11.1. This means that I should treat all of my students with the utmost respect and fairness

11.2. This matters to how I will treat my students when they make mistakes or need discipline as well as when they share their viewpoints in class

12. I can learn to love or at least respect all my students

12.1. This means that I can learn to respect or even love all of my students and their view points

12.2. This matters to how well I will know my students and how I will show respect for them in the classroom as their teacher

13. Teaching is more than lecturing

13.1. This means that I need to make my lessons more student driven and make them exciting

13.2. This matters to how my students will respond to my lessons and to how it will help them learn in different ways

14. Learning should be fun

14.1. This means that I should make my class enjoyable to my students in order to foster their learning

14.2. This matters to how I plan my lessons and how I care about my students learning to love English

15. All students should be treated equitably

15.1. This means that each and every one of my students deserve to be given what they need in order to learn

15.2. This matters to how I know my students and their learning needs and how I will help them on an individual level

16. I am human, my students are human

16.1. This means that my students and I are not perfect, we are all learning and growing

16.2. This matters to how hard I am on myself for making mistakes and how hard I am on my students for making mistakes

17. By: Lindsey McCully