My Teaching Philosphy
Many people can go their whole lives without finding their true passion. Teaching Foreign languages has always been my passion. I believe that teaching what I am passionate for, allows me to make a difference in someone’s life. As a foreign language teacher, I will encourage my students to be aware of their own language and culture, as well as others' and help them gain communicative competence in a second language.
As a foreign language learner, I have the ability to teach my students effective methods and ways to study and learn another language. Similar to John Dewy, I believe that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place. The principle that guides my teaching is that I firmly believe that effective teaching is student-centered. I believe that all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning and that I, as a teacher, am a facilitator rather than transmitter of knowledge. I strive to make all my
students’ learning experiences significant by teaching them a material they will be able to apply in real world settings.
I believe that the process of learning another language is more effective when you are able to use what you are being taught to express something meaningful. In order to fluently learn a foreign language, one must be merged into the culture and traditions. However, I know that not every child has the opportunity to travel and have the experience of studying abroad. For this reason, I have turned to the use of technology, as one is of the most important tools in my classrooms to create a more productive learning environment where the students are able to explore the different aspects of the Hispanic culture by themselves doing research and oral presentations supported by power point presentations and videos. Technology is also a relevant tool to address the different learning styles.
Parents play a big role in their children's education; therefore, I like to coordinate extracurricular activities in which the parents can also get involved in the educational development of their children. I believe that the participation of the parents in school activities has significant impact in the academic progress of the students.
As a Spanish teacher, my goal is to serve as a role model to my students. I will expose my students to the richness and the diversity of the cultures in the Spanish speaking world and I
will also bring the hopes and the inspiration to them to proficiently learn a second language and so to unite the world.