My Philosophy
Solomon Ortiz once said “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students. “(Ortiz, n.d.)” I hope to make a lasting impression on my students. Through my years in high school I had a few teachers that made an impression on me. My purpose of education is do give each student the chance to learn. My role as a teacher is to find out how to get my students to learn.
My hands-on approach to learning I believe is critical to helping my students learn and retain the information I will be delivering. I believe the combination of instruction and physically doing the task will help them retain the information. Using the method of instrumentalism, which is a scientific based learning. John Dewey used methods of looking at a problem and ways to solve them. Everything can be solved. In construction technology this theory works very well. Having the students building things from wood working to electrical is a lot of hands on.
Piaget’s theory of constructivism using what they learn in real world experiences. Having the students work on projects in groups, this type of learning I find helps. The students that struggle get help and understanding from the students that have a good grasp on the subject. This also helps the students that understand reinforce what they know. These are a couple theories that I use in my teaching method. I don’t believe that there is one method to teach. I believe that we must adapt to the students. They don’t all learn the same and there for they should not be taught all the same.
I will be drawing from my many years of experience in my trade. Understanding the best ways that I have found that worked for me. Through the years of teaching apprentices and production workers how to do things, I have taken from my experiences to build a way of teaching that I think works.
Problem-solving methods, which in the Ontario curriculum is something children need to learn is an approach to learning. In the Ontario Curriculum under Problem-Solving Methods and Approaches. Page 18. The method is “Divide and conquer”. This is one method that they talk about breaking down the problem into subproblems. When you do this the problems become easier to solve. I show this to my students when trying to solve an electrical circuit. Telling them to take each small problem and solve them. The overwhelming issue of the big problem should not be looked at, when all the small problems are taken care of the bigger problem is gone.
Another way that I have found that works well is a 3-step method. I would take the problem and explain it to them what I have done while doing it. Then I would have them work on a problem and talk them through it. I would then have them do another but in this case, I would just observe them and what they do. When they are done, I would review with them what they did and how they could do it different and explain any errors in their method. The thing with this is that failure does not define them. I find that you learn more sometimes by your mistakes.
On the student’s life through high school, I want to inspire students to achieve more and realize that they can do anything, that they can succeed. The skills that they learn in their tech classes can be carried into all their learning. A problem is just waiting for you to solve it, not stop you. My vision of what I would like to see with all my connection in automotive, beverage and woodworking industry to show all the possibilities for their lives. Get them exciting in technology through robotics, lasers, CNC’s, woodworking, electrical and other types of technology. What they want to learn and do is only limited how they strive for themselves. Don’t let others or themselves keep them from succeeding. I will always strive to be a better teacher and them a better student.
References
Brainy quotes
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/solomon_ortiz_346229
https://youtu.be/qqAgJ40ATT4 https://youtu.be/Yi8S4YkZI04
https://www.slideshare.net/pranaybhuiyan1/education-philosophyof-john-dewey http://infed.org/mobi/jean-jacques-rousseau-on-nature-wholenessand-education/ https://educationalroots.weebly.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.html