My mission as an educator is to facilitate for my students learning and lives.
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About UsMy name is Ross Richard, I graduated from Alma College in 2014 with a Bachelor’s in elementary education and a minor in early childhood education. I graduated from Perry High School in 2010. I am in my second year of teaching. I am a strong advocate of hands-on learning. I love having a class that seems very crazy and loud with lots of learning going on. I am looking to further my education in special education in the next few years and get my masters at some point.
I am the youngest of 4 boys in my family. My oldest brother is only 4 years and 4 months older than me. We have always been very close. I am also coaching football and baseball this year. I love being outdoors and being active whenever I can. I still enjoy watching cartoons, playing on the playground, and eating lots of candy. I like to make a classroom that my students like to come in to each day. I love seeing their artwork in my room and seeing the children light up when they see their faces on the walls or the things that they made. |
Philosophy
Children demand special attention from different role models in their lives. A child may not understand how his or her teacher is affecting their lives but each and every day that the child is in school they are being influenced to act a certain way. Our jobs as teachers is to control a classroom but still allow the students to explore different problems and find one of many solutions that they can learn from. A child must have a teacher who can encourage the child, make the child feel safe, and create an atmosphere that is safe each and every day.
As a teacher, my goal is to help educate and bring the child to his or her fullest potential. A teacher must allow his or her students to feel as though they can risk discovering something new and share their findings with the class. In order to fulfill my goal, a child must be able to direct his or her own learning, learn respect, and allow the teacher to steer him or her in the right direction.
The interests and events that hold a strong meaning to the child will determine the curriculum that the teacher will need to develop. Using discussions about interests and events that the students show an emphasis in will determine the subject that is taught on. Input from students will inform the teacher of different ways to teach about the subject. Children become motivated when they are learning about something interesting to them. If a child’s motivation is captured, the teacher can take the students further faster. Steering students instead of forcing information on them will allow the student to build his or her own ideas and test those ideas to find out if they work. Taking the primary source, the teacher, out of the classroom encourages students to find answers to their own questions. This search for information demands hands-on activities where the students can test their theories. These hands-on activities must be done using proper materials and within an area with plenty of space. While discovering the answers to the students’ questions, a respect for materials, other classmates, and his or her environment must be learned. To create this safe environment rules must established by a collaboration of ideas from the teacher and the students. Students will need to consider the thoughts of their classmates and the teacher when they decide to break a rule. Also, students will have ownership over the problems that happen within the classroom. Class meetings about the rules will allow students to share their ideas and express themselves. Consistent rules will teach the students to respect the expectations that are to be met during each activity.
Children during this day and age have a gift that children used to only dream of, technology. In order to meet requirements set by the state, teachers must turn to the internet to find different strategies and techniques that reach the child’s interests. As a teacher, my classroom will involve many different materials that allow the child to use electronics at an appropriate time. The use of iPads, smart boards, and of course computers will be involved in my classroom. My classroom website entails different educational games that children can use with their parents permission. The predicament that our nation is facing concerning families is at an all time high. Divorce rates and single parent families continue to grow. As a result teachers are forced to overcome the challenge and step in as a role model. As a teacher, my goal is to see to every child’s home crisis and treat them accordingly. Using prior knowledge to situations, the approach taken towards a child must be done carefully. With the hectic life that is being lived by many children today, a relaxed schedule must be maintained by the teacher. By keeping to the requirements set by the state, I believe that a slow paced day will allow the children to become more relaxed and settled.
Teachers must provide their students with the necessities to survive and flourish in their community. A subject that must be taught is math, of course. Math includes the use of clocks, addition, and the recognition of numbers. For a child to follow a schedule they must be able to interpret a clock, whether digital or analog. Applying money in everyday life demands the use of addition and subtraction. With the changing of seasons and weather each day, a child must be able to discern whether it is raining or sunny. A child must also know what season it is. During each morning, a certain amount of time will be set aside to determine what the weather is for each day along with the day of the week. Recognition of letters and symbols must be acquired by children in order to teach them how to read and recognize signs. A teacher must take a careful approach towards teaching letters and symbols so that the child does not get any letters mixed up or mistaken for another. With our language being the toughest to learn, it is important to take small steps each day to introduce the works of our language.
Including hands-on activities in each project will allow the children to test problems and find answers using their own techniques. I believe that the best way to find the correct answer is to eliminate the wrong answers. When a student is engaged in the learning process then they will be able to better understand each problem better because they can remember the technique that they used to find it better. Using different technology will attract the attention of the students. With the children’s attention set on the lesson, the teacher can use this time to teach each child when the children don’t think that they are learning. A child who learns without knowing that they are learning is the easiest way to lock a subject in the child’s head. Having a planned agenda each day will allow the teacher to know what needs to be met. If a teacher does not know what needs to be accomplished each day, the class may seem out of order and the students will not know what to expect next. When the students have a schedule to go by each day they learn to respect the rules that are entailed each day with the different lessons.
A teacher’s classroom must entail a work place. Places where the students can think about the different problems put in front of them and work individually. A student can sit down and discover different ways to solve a problem. A child’s work area must be clean and organized for the student each day. The classroom should be a quite place when the children are at work, but full of conversation when the children are discovering new ways to solve problems. If the children do not engage in contact between one another; then they will be unable to share ideas between each other. Conversation is a must between children in order to learn. A calmness must rule over the classroom along with an eagerness to learn. The teacher must have the appearance that the students must behave until they are released to explore. The calming effect that a teacher can have over their students determines how the children act.
School must be included in a child’s life in order to teach different language skills, math skills, and social interaction. A child must be able to communicate and be understood while talking to friends, families and authority figures. Children must discover the different ways to use money and how to estimate prices.
As a teacher, my goal is to help educate and bring the child to his or her fullest potential. A teacher must allow his or her students to feel as though they can risk discovering something new and share their findings with the class. In order to fulfill my goal, a child must be able to direct his or her own learning, learn respect, and allow the teacher to steer him or her in the right direction.
The interests and events that hold a strong meaning to the child will determine the curriculum that the teacher will need to develop. Using discussions about interests and events that the students show an emphasis in will determine the subject that is taught on. Input from students will inform the teacher of different ways to teach about the subject. Children become motivated when they are learning about something interesting to them. If a child’s motivation is captured, the teacher can take the students further faster. Steering students instead of forcing information on them will allow the student to build his or her own ideas and test those ideas to find out if they work. Taking the primary source, the teacher, out of the classroom encourages students to find answers to their own questions. This search for information demands hands-on activities where the students can test their theories. These hands-on activities must be done using proper materials and within an area with plenty of space. While discovering the answers to the students’ questions, a respect for materials, other classmates, and his or her environment must be learned. To create this safe environment rules must established by a collaboration of ideas from the teacher and the students. Students will need to consider the thoughts of their classmates and the teacher when they decide to break a rule. Also, students will have ownership over the problems that happen within the classroom. Class meetings about the rules will allow students to share their ideas and express themselves. Consistent rules will teach the students to respect the expectations that are to be met during each activity.
Children during this day and age have a gift that children used to only dream of, technology. In order to meet requirements set by the state, teachers must turn to the internet to find different strategies and techniques that reach the child’s interests. As a teacher, my classroom will involve many different materials that allow the child to use electronics at an appropriate time. The use of iPads, smart boards, and of course computers will be involved in my classroom. My classroom website entails different educational games that children can use with their parents permission. The predicament that our nation is facing concerning families is at an all time high. Divorce rates and single parent families continue to grow. As a result teachers are forced to overcome the challenge and step in as a role model. As a teacher, my goal is to see to every child’s home crisis and treat them accordingly. Using prior knowledge to situations, the approach taken towards a child must be done carefully. With the hectic life that is being lived by many children today, a relaxed schedule must be maintained by the teacher. By keeping to the requirements set by the state, I believe that a slow paced day will allow the children to become more relaxed and settled.
Teachers must provide their students with the necessities to survive and flourish in their community. A subject that must be taught is math, of course. Math includes the use of clocks, addition, and the recognition of numbers. For a child to follow a schedule they must be able to interpret a clock, whether digital or analog. Applying money in everyday life demands the use of addition and subtraction. With the changing of seasons and weather each day, a child must be able to discern whether it is raining or sunny. A child must also know what season it is. During each morning, a certain amount of time will be set aside to determine what the weather is for each day along with the day of the week. Recognition of letters and symbols must be acquired by children in order to teach them how to read and recognize signs. A teacher must take a careful approach towards teaching letters and symbols so that the child does not get any letters mixed up or mistaken for another. With our language being the toughest to learn, it is important to take small steps each day to introduce the works of our language.
Including hands-on activities in each project will allow the children to test problems and find answers using their own techniques. I believe that the best way to find the correct answer is to eliminate the wrong answers. When a student is engaged in the learning process then they will be able to better understand each problem better because they can remember the technique that they used to find it better. Using different technology will attract the attention of the students. With the children’s attention set on the lesson, the teacher can use this time to teach each child when the children don’t think that they are learning. A child who learns without knowing that they are learning is the easiest way to lock a subject in the child’s head. Having a planned agenda each day will allow the teacher to know what needs to be met. If a teacher does not know what needs to be accomplished each day, the class may seem out of order and the students will not know what to expect next. When the students have a schedule to go by each day they learn to respect the rules that are entailed each day with the different lessons.
A teacher’s classroom must entail a work place. Places where the students can think about the different problems put in front of them and work individually. A student can sit down and discover different ways to solve a problem. A child’s work area must be clean and organized for the student each day. The classroom should be a quite place when the children are at work, but full of conversation when the children are discovering new ways to solve problems. If the children do not engage in contact between one another; then they will be unable to share ideas between each other. Conversation is a must between children in order to learn. A calmness must rule over the classroom along with an eagerness to learn. The teacher must have the appearance that the students must behave until they are released to explore. The calming effect that a teacher can have over their students determines how the children act.
School must be included in a child’s life in order to teach different language skills, math skills, and social interaction. A child must be able to communicate and be understood while talking to friends, families and authority figures. Children must discover the different ways to use money and how to estimate prices.
Photo used under Creative Commons from James Brennan Molokai Hawaii