A Personal Mission

With consideration of my personal goals and teaching objectives, my teaching mission is two dimensional. The first dimension focuses on the instructional aspect of teaching. I am a strong believer in the constructivist school of thought. I believe that children “own” knowledge that they have constructed for themselves. My mission then, is to provide the platform for them to do this. My goal is to tap into my students’ prior knowledge to make the correct connections to their next step of learning, then to provide for them the necessary support to build onto that knowledge. Being a constructivist teacher means to abandon the traditional lecture style of presenting material. It also requires having a plan to lead your students where you want them to go without step by step direction. Being a constructivist also means being flexible at times and allowing the students to lead the discourse and recognizing when that is a better alternative. I am also an advocate for cooperative learning. In my experience, I have seen how students working together generate more ideas and delve deeper into the subject matter than when they work individually. A group of students with varying ability levels learn from each other academically but also socially. They learn how to communicate, negotiate, and appreciate each other. The cooperative group often produces work of a higher caliber than an individual working alone.

The second dimension of my mission statement focuses on the relational aspect of teaching. First of all, my hope is to develop authentic relationships with my students and for them to do the same with each other. To have authentic relationships, is to build trust and to have my students feel safe in my classroom. I want them to feel that they are welcome and that they can share without fear of recrimination and without hesitation. Sheryl Horvath – 7th Grade Mathematics Teacher