“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Equality
My philosophy is based on the belief that education is built upon the foundation of equality. The purpose of education is to ensure all those who walk the path of knowledge gain the ability to think critically about their worldview as well as themselves in a process of continuing growth and self-actualization. The educational philosophy I adhere to is based on an amalgamation of values, beliefs, and goals that were acquired through the many years spent in multitudinous classrooms in China teaching English as a foreign language.
Teacher roles
Motivating students
My purpose is to motivate students and encourage them to see the long-term beneficial impact that education offers. It is my mission to build a positive relationship with students and their families in order to instill a long-lasting positive perception of continuing education. Using the expectancy-value theory of motivation, when students have a sense of accomplishment, feel what they do is worthwhile, and are in an environment that is supportive of their individual needs, students have the sense of motivation needed to have successful learning experiences (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). When these students have the support they need from teachers and family, they will be motivated in the learning environment, leading to better attitudes about learning and increased chances of having a more fulfilling, successful life. This kind of learning goes beyond the classroom door and into the reality that students live day in and day out. By creating a favorable, safe, and supportive space that celebrates individual differences and efforts, these goals can be achieved. Students can take the knowledge of what they learned and apply it to all aspects of their life. They become engaged with society as productive, future global leaders.
Teaching style
My teaching style has ceaselessly transformed over the years as I often found myself inspired by the work of John Dewey and his progressive education. My student-centered progressive learning approach encourages students to be active rather than passive participants. When I teach, I am not seen as the leader of the class, but more as a facilitator who is there to support students’ inquiry-based learning. Interconnectedness plays an immense part worldwide therefore I integrate part and whole class group work, individual and group presentations, collaborative and cooperative learning projects, and projects that students can relate to in their daily life such as creating posters made of recycled goods to boost environmental awareness. By allowing each student to have their own responsibility within their group, they are developing social awareness and the leadership skills needed in today’s society. Throughout each step of these creative processes, well-developed critical thinking skills in the form of brainstorming is cultivated. It is imperative in foreign language learning to ensure that content is relatable in order to foster motivation. Through differentiated instruction, I use an interactive hands-on approach. As there is a lack of technology in many classrooms throughout China, I include various learning resources such as powerpoint presentations and material-based projects that require low-cost daily resources such as paper, plastic, or glass. Because I am a teacher, this does not mean that I have lost my curiosity for the world around me. I am not dependent on textbooks as my enthusiasm and energy create a humorous and captivating classroom of wonder. I like to see my students leave the classroom with a smile and this positivity has continued to drive me to be flexible and fervently passionate about teaching.
In a language class, communication is key to demonstrating understanding and mastery. I use formative assessments to monitor my students’ language growth. Many students are frightened by the word “test,” and their anxiety goes through the roof. Through formative assessment, these students see the work they do as an opportunity to show others what they’ve accomplished rather than a stress-inducing experience.
Improvement
I am always seeking ways to improve my teaching practices. Through professional development seminars, continued collaboration with peers, and an intrepid attitude of being willing to take risks, this leads to rewarding endeavors such as acquiring new skills and teaching methods. In my classroom, I strive to refine my student-teaching roles and responsibilities, interactions, inclusiveness, and student assessments. I focus on student portfolios, my teaching activities, and feedback from my peers in order to gauge the effectiveness of my teaching. Judging the effectiveness of one’s teaching is not based on a letter grade, but rather the attitude and outlook students have established about learning. A teacher wants to create a room of lifelong learners and this is feasible if teachers instill their vision in the classroom by structuring the classroom for success. Creating a sound, yet flexible management plan that includes teaching expectations, observing student behavior, interacting positively, and fluently correcting students is a positive behavior support system that guarantees effective teaching.
Far from the end
Teaching has become a way for me to give back to the global community in hopes to make a difference. To this day, I still remember a special moment with my kindergarten teacher over 25 years ago that brought happiness to me. Surrounded by students, I approached her, telling her I could count to one hundred. With patience like no other, she stopped conversing with the others, sat there quietly and listened to me count all the way from one to one hundred. Without missing a beat, she let out a breath, her eyes full of surprise and said, “I am so proud of you!” I felt my heart swell with bliss. Whether it be through the teachable moments we have or sincere comments we give our students, it all has meaning. It’s those moments that may seem insignificant, but can play over and over again in a student’s mind. Like Mrs. Beisner, I aspire to bring a jubilation to my class that only a passionate, loving, and inspiring teacher could. Starting where I am, using what I have, and doing what I can is only the beginning.
I stayed firm in my decision to make teaching my career after working closely with countless underprivileged children in some of the rural villages in southern China. As I swiftly observed, the distinction between classrooms in the United States and in China were like a vast chasm of dissimilarities. Soviet psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, helped to define a student’s development based on the sociocultural theory perspective of the interaction between the environment, society, and culture, therefore, in an educational setting, the interactions that students have with their families, teachers, peers, and climate impact their cognitive and social-emotional developmental learning both in and outside the classroom. This has given rise to what is known as the "Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)" which Vygotsky defined as a learner's current level of development and what is achievable with scaffolding from others (Shabani et al., 2010).
Each student has their own portfolio of work in which both the student and I look at to see how their language skills have improved over the course of the academic year. I meet with each student several times throughout each semester to recount what they’ve learned and how they feel about their work. When students are able to comprehend how far they’ve come, the hard work becomes worth it. Group work based on reciprocal teaching is also a favorite method of mine in assessing as it not only shows their academic successes, but also their leadership skills and how they have grown as an individual. By offering more formative assessments, the varying factors that can affect academic performance do not significantly impact student motivation. The better I can understand my students through providing the appropriate language support, the stronger the teacher I become.
Jessica
“从现在开始。使用您所拥有的。尽你所能。”
平等
我的哲学基于这样的信念，即教育建立在平等的基础上。教育的目的是确保所有走上知识之路的人都有能力在持续增长和自我实现的过程中对自己的世界观以及自己进行批判性思考。我坚持的教育理念是基于价值观，信念和目标的融合，这些价值观，信念和目标是通过在中国众多的以英语为外语授课的教室中度过的多年而获得的。
老师责任
在与华南一些乡村的无数贫困儿童紧密合作之后，我坚定地决定教自己的职业生涯。正如我迅速观察到的那样，美国和中国的教室之间的区别就像是巨大的差异。俄国心理学家列夫·维戈茨基（Lev Vygotsky）帮助人们根据环境，社会和文化之间相互作用的社会文化观点来定义学生的发展，因此，在教育环境中，学生与家人，老师，同伴和其他人之间的相互作用气候会影响他们在教室内外的认知和社会情感发展学习。这引起了所谓的“近端发展区（ZPD）”，维果茨基将其定义为学习者当前的发展水平，并且通过他人的脚手架可以实现这一目标。(Shabani et al., 2010).
激励学生
我的目的是激励学生，并鼓励他们看到教育所带来的长期有益影响。我的使命是与学生及其家人建立积极的关系，以灌输长久的对继续教育的积极看法。使用激励期望理论，当学生具有成就感，感到自己的工作有价值并处于支持其个人需求的环境中时，他们就会具有获得成功学习经验所需的动机。当这些学生获得老师和家人的支持时，他们会在学习环境中获得动力，从而导致对学习的态度更好，并拥有更多充实，成功的生活的机会。这种学习超越了教室的门，变成了学生日复一日地生活的现实。通过创造一个有利的，安全的和支持性的空间来庆祝个人的差异和努力，可以实现这些目标。学生可以学习所学知识，并将其应用于生活的各个方面。他们与社会互动，成为富有成效的未来全球领导者。
教学风格
这些年来，我的教学风格不断变化，因为我经常发现自己受到约翰·杜威的工作和他的进阶教育的启发。我以学生为中心的渐进式学习方法鼓励学生积极主动，而不是被动参加。当我教书时，我不被视为班长，而是被视为能够协助学生进行基于探究的学习的促进者。互联互通在世界范围内占有举足轻重的地位，因此我将部分和整个班级的小组工作，个人和小组的演讲，协作与合作的学习项目以及学生日常生活中可能涉及的项目整合在一起，例如制作回收产品制成的海报以提高环保意识。通过让每个学生在小组中承担各自的责任，他们正在发展当今社会所需的社交意识和领导技能。在这些创新过程的每个步骤中，都以头脑风暴的形式培养了完善的批判性思维技能。在外语学习中，必须确保内容具有相关性以激发动力。通过差异化的指导，我使用了交互式动手方法。由于整个中国许多教室都缺乏技术，因此我提供了各种学习资源，例如PowerPoint演示文稿和基于材料的项目，这些项目需要低成本的日常资源，例如纸张，塑料或玻璃。因为我是一名老师，但这并不意味着我对周围的世界失去了好奇心。我不依赖教科书，因为我的热情和精力创造了一个幽默而迷人的奇迹教室。我喜欢看到我的学生笑着离开教室，这种积极的态度继续驱使我变得更加灵活，对教学充满热情。
在语言课中，交流是证明理解和掌握的关键。我使用形成性评估来监控学生的语言发展。许多学生对“测试”一词感到恐惧，他们的忧虑情绪笼罩在屋顶。通过形成性评估，这些学生将他们所做的工作看作是向他人展示他们已完成的工作的机会，而不是产生压力的经历。每个学生都有自己的工作档案，我和学生都在研究中，以查看他们的语言技能在整个学年中如何提高。在每个学期中，我会与每个学生多次会面，以回顾他们所学到的知识以及他们对工作的感觉。当学生能够理解自己走了多远时，辛勤的工作变得值得。基于互惠教学的团队合作也是我最喜欢的评估方法，因为它不仅显示了他们的学术成就，而且还显示了他们的领导才能以及他们如何成长。通过提供更具形成性的评估，可以影响学习成绩的各种因素不会显着影响学生的学习动机。通过提供适当的语言支持，我对学生的理解越好，我变得越强
改善
我一直在寻找改善教学实践的方法。通过专业发展研讨会，与同伴的持续合作以及乐于冒险的勇敢态度，这带来了收获，例如获得新技能和教学方法。在课堂上，我努力提高学生的教学角色和责任，互动，包容性和学生评估。我专注于学生档案袋，我的教学活动以及同龄人的反馈，以评估我的教学效果。判断教学效果的依据不是字母等级，而是学生对学习的态度和看法。老师想创建一个终身学习的房间，如果老师通过构建成功的教室将自己的视野灌输到教室中，这是可行的。建立一个合理而灵活的管理计划，其中包括教学期望，观察学生的行为，积极互动以及对学生的流利矫正，这是一个积极的行为支持系统，可确保有效的教学。
离终点还很远
教学已成为我回馈国际社会以希望有所作为的一种方式。直到今天，我仍然记得25年前与幼儿园老师一起度过的一个特别时刻为我带来了幸福。在学生的包围下，我走近她，告诉她我可以数到一百。她没有其他人的耐心，就停止了与其他人的交谈，静静地坐在那里，听着我的声音从一数到一百。她毫不犹豫地喘了口气，充满惊讶的眼神说：“我为你感到骄傲！”我感到我的心因幸福而膨胀。无论是通过我们具有教学意义的时刻，还是我们给学生的真诚评价，这一切都具有意义。这些时刻看似微不足道，但可以在学生的脑海中反复播放。像贝斯纳尔太太一样，我渴望为全班同学带来欢乐，只有热情，爱心和鼓舞人心的老师才能做到。从我身处的地方开始，利用自己拥有的，尽我所能只是开始。
Jessica
References
Shabani, K., Khatib, M., & Ebadi, S. (2010). Vygotsky's zone of proximal development: Instructional implications and teachers' professional development. English Language Teaching, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n4p237
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy–value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 68-81. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015