I am a current 8th grade World History teacher, also Massachusetts-certified to teach English (at both a high school and middle school level), Social Studies at a high school level, and ESL.

My philosophy of teaching changes constantly depending on factors like classroom dynamic that particular day, what subject matter we are dealing with, what needs to get done that day, et cetera. Some things, however, remain constant. The most important thing to me is creating a classroom community. The classroom must be filled with respect -- respect from me towards the students, from the students towards me, and from the students towards each other. I want everyone who enters my classroom to feel comfortable and supported by myself and by each other. I feel that this is crucial. When students feel comfortable and supported, they gain the confidence to say what they feel and not worry about getting the answer correct or looking "cool"? in front of their classmates. I want students to have the comfort level to be able to bounce ideas off each other, to be able to learn and grow from each other, and to be able to be themselves. Another huge element to my teaching philosophy is differentiated instruction. I think the quotation from Ignacio Estrada says it best: "If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn."? I feel as though it is our job as teachers to get material across to students, and it must be in a way that works best for the student, not the teacher. Teaching when a large number of my students have learning disabilities or are non-native speakers, it is especially important to be able to cater my teaching to my students? individual needs. I don't think differentiated instruction has to be catering a lesson plan to each individual student, but I do think that the teaching needs to be tweaked for students as the situations arise. Above all, my philosophy is to have fun with teaching and love what you do. When you love what you do, the students can tell. It creates a much better classroom dynamic. My teaching philosophy is to aim to make a difference in the lives of my students.