A couple of weeks ago, I needed to draft a teaching philosophy for some of my course work. It turned into a perfect time to think about what my classroom has been like this first year and lay out some personal goals as well: 

Math is for everyone.  This has been my guiding philosophy in the classroom since I started working as a teacher.  It was not always the case but the longer I have worked with my own struggle and led students through productive struggling, the more true I realize it is.  Not only is it for everyone but it fosters authentic community as I work together with my students to develop their understanding.

Students in the math classroom do not need to be talked at all day.  Instead, they need a mentor figure much like an athlete needs a coach who knows them and can help them strengthen skills and work on areas of weakness.  They need coaches who are all in for them and invested in seeing them succeed.  This has been the tone of my entire first year in the classroom.

In my classroom we explore the textbooks together.  I am the leader but only in chunking the instruction so that the pacing of core math classes becomes, I do, we do, you do, and then quickly turns back into I do, we do, you do as a process throughout the lesson.  My classroom is built on a constant feedback and practice loop.  Students are given many opportunities to not only respond to the whole class, but to each other and also within their workbooks.

In support groups, my students are given opportunities to go through micro lectures together with me and to continue to collaborate with games and activities.  But, I also ensure that they have plenty of time to work on their own weaknesses with constant monitoring through observations and also through constant data collection, be it from diagnostic tools or even my own informal formative observations as I walk through the classroom.  In my classroom we are a blend of computer learning and tactile note taking.

My classroom is a mirror of the engineering design process.  Every group of students is not some stale static cohort of robots but a dynamic group of students who are becoming who they will be.  They need a teacher who is going to be both mentor and coach who can speak into their lives and adapt constantly to a world and generation that is constantly evolving.  My room is and will always be that safe space where students will have the support to develop their confidence and their math abilities.

It’s not a perfectly polished statement but it is what I’m striving for.  What’s your classroom like?  And if you’re here and not a teacher, do you have a personal philosophy for your own workplace?